May 15, 2019
The way we market our brands and businesses always changes with new trends and technology advancements presented every year. Direct Mail is one of the most effective and popular ways to market. Lately, the direct mail mix has been changing. There is a noticeable increase in targeted letters and postcards. With coupons especially, they have been moved toward a digital setting, where customers can have them handy on their phone as well as given a tangible copy.
Direct Mail has always been an efficient and effective way of marketing. There is some worry that direct mail marketing will move to a more digital setting because of certain challenges. Although these challenges are somewhat accurate, a majority of companies stay committed to their direct mailing efforts. Printers anticipate a significant growth in direct mailing over the next few years. Professional marketers believe that direct mail will increase around 4%-5% each year. In order to keep direct mail alive, marketers are personalizing their message with image and text elements that are pleasing their customers.
There has been a noticeable decline in first class mail volume over the past few years which a positive thing for marketers is because it gives them a chance to stand out with less clutter in the mail. Sending direct mailers is proven to be the most effective way to acquire new customers. Response rates for house lists are around 9% while prospect lists only have a response rate is about 5%. Studies show that holding a tangible copy of a marketing message is more desirable to a prospect. Also, research shows that our brain is 20% more engaged with print advertising. These statistics show how much more powerful direct mail is. Marketers can play around with their prints by adding eye catching designs or a glossy touch that make it memorable to a customer. Customers say that they are more likely to trust direct mail as opposed to the spam emails they receive multiple times a day.
Many marketing service providers believe in a new approach that will reach consumers in a new way. This new approach is to combine direct mail with digital marketing in order to reach the market in more ways than one. Marketers found that this approach leads to a 28% higher conversion rate. For example, sending a direct mailer to a customer and following up with an email. This way they are getting a tangible copy of the message plus a follow up email if they are more likely to respond to that and vice versa.
Many companies are including more online and mobile channels to their marketing to keep up with current trends. In order to connect with the newer generations, they must be seen on social media sites and other mobile platforms while also keeping up with direct mailing. Grabbing ahold of this generation will increase customer lifetime value since these new generations are our future.
In order to determine the best way to market, companies must keep up with these current trends while also trying new techniques to see what the most effective way to market would be. Direct mail still has a powerful place in the marketing world and with proper use and an addition of digital marketing, this will allow marketers to achieve high quality results.
