Whether you are engaged in a dedicated Internet marketing campaign or a mix of marketing methods for your business, the bottom line is converting prospects into customers.
Business owners and marketers are constantly testing and evaluating the effectiveness of a variety of integrated marketing campaigns. There is a much bigger variety of communication channels available to the marketer today than was available in the past and a good marketer has to be alert, organized and ready to make changes swiftly in order to be using the most effective and efficient marketing at one’s disposal.
60% of catalog recipients visit the website of the company that mailed them the catalog. (United States Postal Service)
Direct mail recipients purchased 28% more items and spent 28% more money than people who didn’t get that piece of direct mail. (United States Postal Service) It is therefore important for marketers and small businesses to realize that direct mail will continue to influence more consumers to purchase than any other channel.
Websites, email and social media are continually playing a bigger role in the marketing efforts of small businesses. These are online communications channels and they are adding a whole new dimension to brick and mortar businesses and traditional marketing methods like space advertising and direct mail. Online marketing has become more complex as algorithms continue to change, bid prices continue to rise and the platforms continue to update their methods of ad delivery.
While on the surface it might appear that traditional marketing methods are shrinking, nevertheless there is still a lot of print media in existence – a lot of magazines, newspapers and direct mail. The key to success is how to use it effectively. This is because online marketing today has become more cluttered and competitive. With online advertising, marketers are fighting for everyone’s attention, while print media has very little clutter in comparison.
42.2% of direct mail recipients either read or scan the mail they get. (SmartBizGenius.net, 2021)
When it comes to direct mail marketing, your campaign has a number of goals in mind. Whether you are looking to increase the number of phone calls, have people visit your establishment, or complete an action on your website. More recently, businesses have been sending out direct mailers with the intent of having customers purchase items from their websites. This is because website tracking is much easier to measure and helps the inquirer learn more about your product or service on their own time. Also, willingly given information from the inquirer can help trigger a number of multi-channel remarketing campaigns. Which can help build awareness at the earliest stages of establishing brand loyalty.
Know who your audience is, what they are looking for and how they want to be communicated to. Once you have answered the 3 questions, then it’s important to determine if there are any life-changing events in their life, that you can use for marketing. A few life-changing marketing events are those that have recently been engaged, people who have recently purchased a home, and/ or expectant mothers. Once you have collected all this information and narrowed down your target and if there are any life events that affect them today, then it is time to start working on your message.
Many small businesses will begin by offering their local area, coupons to their business. This is great for getting price-cautious shoppers that are looking to score a deal, but not those that will spend. Also, coupons only speak to certain products and services. Rather your direct mail marketing could highlight a new product, dish, or service your company is offering. Highlighting new aspects of your business generates quality leads that are engaged and truly interested in your service. Another route in advertising is to establish an emotional connection with your audience, whether it is sharing customer quotes or writing a compelling piece on the change your product or service could have on their life.
Bear in mind that the user has to read the url off your mailing piece, then type it into the browser by hand. Keep it short and simple and easy to type. Getting the respondent to actually do something in response to your direct mail piece is hard enough. Don’t make it any harder than it has to be.
More commonly today, direct mail pieces will include a QRcode. These codes can easily be tracked and grants access to your company’s website easily. They not only allow the user to gain access to the website, but you can also include catalogs or menus in QR codes placed on your direct mail piece In fact, this ease of access to your website, can easily double your website visits from direct mail advertising.
Don’t send prospects to the home page of your website because they will likely become confused and you will lose them. Always have a specific page with the specific offer and call to action. Don’t let prospects wander all over your main website. If you need more than one page for the offer, then consider a mini-site that is dedicated to just that one single offer.
This is the old “tried and true” principle of compelling the prospect to take action now and not put it off forever. Include it in your mailing piece. These CTAs (Call to action), have been found to deliver quality leads at a higher rate then other CTAs.
Choosing a mailing list in your direct mail campaign is just as important as the mailing piece and response structure. When it comes to selecting a list broker, be sure that they have the data you are looking to purchase, they are reliable, and they are well versed in data. Too often companies will go with the cheapest mailing list, expecting that they are all created the same. However, cheap mailing lists lead to a high number of undelivered mailers and/or them being addressed to the wrong person.
Nobody wants a list full of duds. Mailing lists can get old very fast and require constant maintenance. Maintaining proper data hygiene for your own house list can be a huge job for a small business. Consider using a mailing list service to maintain your mailing list instead of trying to do it in-house.
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