Do you remember in 90's when your mailbox was full with postcards, promotions, coupons, and the like? Back then we were thinking that the era of ‘snail mail’ spam was upon us and probably would be for a long time to come.
But who knew in those days, it wouldn’t be too long before we’d be bombarded not with postcards, but with email instead. Take a look at this graph from Statista Insights; in September 2017, we can see that 59.33% of all emails sent were spam.
The majority of companies now focus their marketing efforts on email, and clearly, it does have its benefits; it's cheap, trackable and instant. However, that doesn't mean that direct mail should be a thing of the past; it can still prove to be very effective - particularly with so many people fed up with spam mail, getting something through the post almost feels like a novelty these days.
Companies today assume that direct mail is an outdated marketing outreach, they read the numerous articles about email being the best, which in turn means they lose focus on other channels, such as:
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Direct Mail
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Radio Ads
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TV Ads
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SMS
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Flyers
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Phone Calls
In this post, we'll focus on direct mail, because we believe it is still an effective channel when used correctly and with good intentions. We'll go through four ideas for how to create direct mail campaigns that can even outperform email.
Thank You Postcard
We've all received thank you emails when we interact with a company website, so many in fact that we rarely pay attention to them and therefore take no further steps to engage with that brand. Getting a thank you postcard in your mailbox, however, is a different experience; it's more likely to make you feel genuinely valued, and to take the time to read it properly.
Coupon Postcard for Cart Abandoners
By now we're all aware of the technique of retargeting shopping cart abandoners using banner ads or emails, but how about doing it via postcard instead? Customers who are constantly being shown ads for the same products, or receiving emails from the same brand, can soon become irritated and decide not to engage with the company on that basis.
While money marketers choose to double their ad budgets at this point, it makes more sense to try a different tactic instead. Try sending postcards with a limited-time deal or discount for customers who have left your site without completing the check out process; you can always start off small with just a select number of customers, and see how it works out.
EBook Introduction Flyer
Whitepapers and eBooks are in abundance these days, which is fair enough considering they often prove to be great at attracting and converting leads. The problem here though, is that many visitors to your site will just read the first few phrases of the summary and then leave your website.
By printing flyers with a short introduction to your eBook on them, you're able to target your audience more directly, and provide them with more of an opportunity to understand what you're offering and how it will help their business.
Webinar Invite Postcard
Ideally, we'd all love to start a webinar with at least 100+ attendees, but as we all know, it's not always easy to attract a large number of people to watch these types of online events. Sending invites via postcards can be a good idea, as it seems much more personal than an email, and also serves as a physical reminder of the event.
Of course, this doesn't mean you shouldn't send out emails too; it's still a very good idea to send one three days before and then the day before the event, for example. But using both channels means your audience will be reminded of the event in advance and you're more likely to see a higher attendance rate.
A short Conclusion
Hopefully, this post has given you food for thought when it comes to direct mail marketing, and you'll consider giving it a shot. It can actually become pretty fun, considering the wide scope of different images, styles, and messages you can use to put your point across - just make sure you have valid addresses first!
