Print advertising is far from dead. Postcards, flyers, letters, and magazines still regularly come through the mail. These marketing pieces are powerful mediums for reaching and influencing customers and sales prospects.
Learn why you should use direct mail to reach your audience in 2023 and five strategies to ensure you maximize your return.
Key Takeaways:
- Direct mail reaches an audience more efficiently in a digitally oversaturated age
- Direct mail has a higher open and response rate than digital mail
- Personalize your direct mail to a specific niche audience to maximize your return
Is Direct Mail Still Effective in 2023?
When was the last time you checked your mail? According to the U.S. Postal Service, 98% of people check the mail daily. It doesn’t matter if you’re expecting an important letter or not. You still regularly check your mail as part of a daily routine.
Your recipients are also checking their mail every day. So, if you send a letter, you know they will at least see it. In addition, there’s a good chance they’ll do more than just see the letter. They will open it, glance over it, and if it captures the recipient’s attention, they’ll read everything in the letter. Even after the recipient finishes reading the letter, there’s a chance it will remain on the kitchen counter or fridge for a few days or weeks, where others might see it.
Why Is Direct Mail So Effective?
Are you still unsure if direct mail marketing is right for you? Here are three benefits of adding a direct mail approach to your 2023 content marketing strategy:
Stand Out in a Digital Age
Direct mail is a business’s chance to stand out in a society that’s drowning in digital interactions.
The average person sees between 4,000 and 10,000 digital ads a day. In addition, the average person receives between 100-120 emails a day. However, the average person only receives two pieces of direct mail a day.
So, direct mail would provide the greatest visibility to reach your target audience.
Make a Memorable Impression
Print materials are more memorable than digital materials. A study comparing students who read the information on computer screens versus textbooks showed that those with textbooks absorbed more information.
Multiple factors influenced that result. For example, digital devices like smartphones and computers offer several distractions when a person goes to read an email or other correspondence. However, print materials have fewer distractions. In addition, paper is easier on the eye than a digital screen, allowing the reader to focus more comfortably.
Influence Decisions
Mail advertisements influence consumer purchase decisions. For example, recipients that receive an ad will spend 28% more at a business than someone that does not. In addition, 60% of consumers that receive a magazine or catalog will also visit that company’s website.
Mail usually remains in a person’s house for 17 days, which prolongs all household members’ exposure to the mail and increases the chance of others seeing the mail.
5 Tips to Effectively Use Direct Mail to Reach Customers
With 2023 fast approaching, now is the time to start planning next year’s marketing strategies and how print can fit into your upcoming campaigns.
1. Make the Mail Compelling
While the direct mail medium does improve the chances of recipients opening your mail, you still have a responsibility to catch their attention. Otherwise, they’ll toss it aside once they glance over the letter, flyer, or magazine.
A compelling piece will capture the audience’s attention and provide valuable information. If the information is helpful enough, the recipient will save the mail and might even display the mail to consult later.
Use images, easy-to-read text, and quality content to create a memorable experience. To ensure your recipient enjoys the effort you put into the content, work with a quality publisher or printer to print and mail your ad.
2. Make Your Message Personal
Direct mail is already a highly personal form of contact, according to 70% of consumers. Because of this greater connection, 90% of consumers are more likely to open direct mail. However, you can boost your mail’s open rate by 135% simply by adding a name to the direct mail.
In addition to adding a name, you can also personalize the content’s message. Take time to research your audience, understand their pain points, and know their needs. Then, you can create content specific to that audience that truly resonates with them.
Image from CopyGeneral
3. Track Direct Mail Responses
Tracking direct mail allows you to see who your mail is reaching, the average response rate, and what types of mail yield the best results. Some ways to track the performance of your direct mail campaign include:
- Offering a unique trackable coupon code
- Adding a QR code to the mail
- Providing a link to a free download just for mail recipients
QR codes are growing in popularity as it allows users to connect to a website, content, or digital product page directly from a physical item like direct mail.
Image from BusinessInsider
Once the direct mail recipients respond to the digital incentive, you can capture that lead and input them into your digital campaigns. For example, you can add a recipient that used a coupon code to an email list offering related deals.
4. Target the Recipients
The average ROI of direct mail is 29%, higher than paid search and online display ads. You can boost your return by targeting your recipients rather than sending out mass-produced mail ads to a broad audience.
For example, you might only send out flyers to customers that already purchased from your brand in the past to encourage repeat purchases.
Another highly effective way of targeting recipients is by advertising in niche magazines. For instance, Repertoire Magazine reaches an audience of 8,000 medical professionals with a possible need for your products and services. Therefore, investing in an ad in that publication can guarantee that more of your target audience will see the ad.
5. Take Your Time
Direct mail is a long-term campaign. While email recipients often read, respond, and delete all within a day or two, direct mail can continue working for weeks or months as recipients hold onto mail or new consumers pick up a magazine and see the ad.
Measure the results of your direct mail campaign over a quarter or year to see the total value of the investment. In addition, you can continue adding power to the medium by sending multiple direct mail ads in several formats to build up brand exposure and increase your return.
Add Direct Mail to Your 2023 Marketing Strategy
As planning is underway for next year’s marketing strategies, consider adding direct mail to your marketing lineup as an effective way to reach your target audience. Share Moving Media can help you reach that audience with our publications in the healthcare distribution niche.
Contact us to learn more about our direct mail marketing opportunities.