Today, many companies rely on digital marketing strategies to connect with (potential) customers, build brand awareness and achieve conversions. Other companies additionally use traditional channels, such as direct mail. There are many advantages to direct mail. It is very personal, allows far-reaching segmentation and personalisation, is well appreciated, is a good generator of traffic to online and you can also measure the results well. Also nice: you can integrate it quite easily with the existing marketing channels and thus substantially increase your (online) turnover.
This is how direct mail works
Even (or especially) in this digital age, direct mail is still a channel that is relevant and delivers results. In fact, direct mail is said to generate up to six times more response than all other digital channels combined! Online, it is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out and many consumers are a bit fed up with digital ads, so other ways of reaching engagement need to be sought. And what could be better than a personalised message in your (potential) customer’s letterbox? Research shows that direct mail feels much more personal and evokes a stronger emotional response than digital ads. And such a stronger reaction can increase brand awareness and prompt purchases. Lists for direct mail can be built from a mix of in-house data, combined or supplemented with external data. Both online and offline data sources can be useful. By paying sufficient attention to building a mailing list, there is a good chance that the message will reach the right potential customer.
Direct mail during the customer journey
Direct mail is not only useful at the beginning of a sales funnel, when you are looking for potential customers for your product or service. It has already proven its usefulness for many companies at other times in the customer journey as well:
- Use direct mail during the first steps in the acquisition process, by explaining to your audience what you can offer, increasing trust and ultimately initiating action. A possible action could be a reader’s response to your mail pack, but of course a request for a quotation or even a sale is also among the possibilities;
- Direct mail can also be used to follow up on so-called ‘abandoned carts’. These are online shopping carts that have been filled by customers, but which have not (yet) resulted in a purchase. By sending your customer a reminder mailing, you increase the chances of conversion;
- Has your customer made a purchase once? Then you can use direct mail afterwards to keep them loyal with exclusive offers. You can use activity of your customer on your website as input, or mail at important moments in your customer’s life. Large well-known e-commerce parties do this very simply, for instance, by sending a discount coupon for a next purchase or a birthday card with a discount coupon. So use the power of a personal approach at such moments.
Part of the experience
So don’t see direct mail as a stand-alone strategy, but make it part of the marketing mix. According to marketing experts, a customer needs an average of seven contact moments to finally proceed to a purchase of product or service. These can obviously be seven moments in the form of an online ad, but it is better to opt for a mix of channels. So direct mail can perfectly well be one of those contact moments. In doing so, make sure that direct mail fits seamlessly into that mix of online and even offline moments. In doing so, use the power that distinguishes direct mail from other channels: you start with a definitive list of contacts you already know might be interested in your product or service. You can then use that list as a starting point for the rest of the strategy. That way, you make the most of the benefits of direct mail!