Direct mail marketing strategy done right

If you’ve found yourself recently doing a search for “how to do direct mail campaigns,” you’re in the right place. Direct mail is a classic marketing strategy because direct mail works (and research backs that up). However, what makes a good direct mail campaign and the effectiveness of it hinges on creating a direct mail marketing strategy that will make your next advertising campaign a success.

When to include direct mail as part of your marketing strategy

One of the benefits of direct mail is that it can be effective on its own, but its effectiveness increases when used in conjunction with other marketing tactics. If your audience is receptive to direct mail, welcomes higher mail volume (around the holidays, for example) and you are creating a comprehensive marketing or advertising campaign, direct mail can be a great addition.

Engage a data provider that helps you target your audience

Blindly sending direct mail and casting a wide net, however, can make for a very expensive and untargeted (also inefficient) campaign. To spend your direct mail marketing dollars wisely and maximize campaign effectiveness, you will need to target as specific an audience as possible. And to do this, you’ll need to engage a data provider that helps you integrate direct mail in marketing by targeting the most receptive audience possible.

Further, when you narrow your reach with customized demographics and psychographics, you can get your mail into the hands of the right people at exactly the right time.

How to use direct mail marketing effectively

Direct mail effectiveness is dependent on a number of factors: Timing, design, personalization and a direct mail strategy that fits as part of a larger marketing vision. With that in mind, the data-driven marketing specialists at Deluxe share their direct mail marketing tips and direct mail best practices.

Timing is everything

How do you know when that piece of direct mail will get into the hands of just the right person at exactly the right time? Answer: By incorporating event-based marketing. Event-based trigger marketing uses business and consumer data to ensure direct mail campaigns are timely and relevant.

Life and event triggers are beacons for marketers. For example, consider the scenario of a shopper who previously purchased high-end coffee and is now spending that budget on diapers. Or another person making high-dollar purchases at a home improvement store and comparing mortgage rates online. Or the family with multiple cars selling one and not having purchased another, indicating they are downsizing. These are all life moments – or life and event triggers – that are opportunities for organizations to engage new customers through direct mail campaigns, provided they are seeing the right message at the right time.

Timing is also important when it comes to knowing how often to send direct mail. No company wants to be seen as sending junk mail nor wasteful direct mail pieces that go directly into the bin. The optimal length of time between mailings is 21 days, according to the Association of National Advertisers. However, direct mail frequency best practices depend on your budget, when and if you have relevant promotions, seasonality factors and more.

Design mailers with your target audience in mind

The key to catching customers’ attention with a direct mail piece is often that they see a solution to a problem they’re having or that they see themselves using your product or service. Making direct mail pieces eye-catching, quickly understandable and relatable is vital.

Be sure any imagery is representative of the audience you’re targeting. Marketing a new Spanish-language service, for example, will be much less effective if the audience you’re sending mail to does not communicate in Spanish.

Aim for variety whenever possible. While printing and sending the same mailer over and over may seem like a win for the budget, it doesn’t grab people’s attention and is less likely to be effective.

Personalize your direct mail

The simplest way to personalize direct mail is, of course, to address the recipient by name. However, so much more can be done to make a direct mail piece feel special and exclusive. From individualized promotional codes (which also help with direct mail tracking efforts) to creating the appearance of a handwritten letter, personalization can greatly increase response rates.

Incorporate direct mail into a larger marketing strategy

Utilizing an omnichannel approach to marketing campaigns helps ensure you are able to achieve the recommended seven touchpoints generally needed to get someone to take action. These can start with in-person or direct online interaction, be as hands-off as someone seeing a social media post, or even involve receiving a follow-up phone call.

The idea is to create a variety of moments during which a potential customer can see or engage with your brand. It takes time to inspire action.

Measure performance and set benchmarks

When it comes to direct mail marketing, there are many considerations when it comes to effectiveness evaluation. Creating a realistic budget that includes mailing lists, postage, printing and even unique tracking mechanisms will help ensure you’re maximizing your direct mail ROI.

Other key performance indicators (KPIs) include:

• Average order size
• Response rate
• Conversation rate
• A calculation of campaign cost vs. revenue

When working with a data marketing solutions provider, you can precision target prospective customers and respond quickly to any life event triggers to improve ROI and lower marketing costs.

What are keys to a successful direct marketing campaign?

Targeting exactly the right audience at the right time, utilizing effective, appropriate and attention-getting creative, creating a compelling offer and tracking and measuring results are all key elements in how to do direct mail marketing.

What makes good direct mail campaigns are how seamlessly they integrate into a wider marketing strategy and how effective they are at getting consumers to take action. Data analytics are crucial in allowing your organization to gain insights about potential customers, their behaviors, wants, needs, life events and challenges. Armed with that knowledge, you can effectively utilize direct mail marketing as one of the touchpoints to showcase your products or services as a sought-after solution.