When it comes to reaching your target audience, the options can feel overwhelming. With emails, social media, online display ads and more, there are many options to target your audience online.

This begs the question – what about good, old-fashioned mail?

You likely haven’t thought about it for a while, but direct mail is still more than relevant. As with anything, it takes strategy and a solid execution to be successful. When utilized correctly, the ROI can be phenomenal.

Why it stands out

If you think direct mail marketing isn’t interactive, think again. When your audience receives something physical in their mailbox, they hold it, look at it and are subsequently forced to take an action with it.

Make direct mail one element of a multifaceted direct marketing campaign, and you’re really standing out. We love when direct mail, in combination with online direct marketing, works for our clients.

Just look at our work with Visit Quad Cities as an example. The locally hand-crafted wooden spoon direct mail piece adjoined a robust social campaign. That meant the target audience – event planners and tourism promoters – were communicated with on multiple channels.

Why it still works

Consumers rated direct mail and catalogs as the second advertising form they’re most comfortable receiving behind online ads, and personalized direct mail placed second behind in-person events in channel effectiveness.

Another benefit of direct mail is the decreased competition. As more companies turn their attention toward digital, it’s less difficult to capture your audience’s attention using direct mail.

Make the mail magnificent

Direct mail campaigns, like all marketing tactics, have to be strategic. You need to know your objective, your audience and your message. “Spray and pray” is a term I like to use to describe sending out thousands of direct mail pieces in the hopes of getting a few responses. That type of approach is not strategic.

Here are a few key tips to help you integrate strategy into your direct mail campaign:

1. Select your audience: To get the most bang for your buck, you should clearly identify your audience, determine if direct mail makes sense for that audience and then refine your audience once more.
2. Get creative: Now, we love to fire up our creative minds on all marketing, but direct mail is an area where you can really shine. Remember your audience is going to interact with what you send them. What do you want to make them feel? How are you leaving a lasting impression?
3. Think about when: Timing is important. Think about when your audience will receive your mailing. There are certainly some timeframes to avoid. For example, most folks check out before holiday weekends. So, what timing make sense for your brand? You’d consider the same element for your email blast, so you need to do the same for your direct mail.
4. Include a call to action (CTA): Without a CTA, you’re missing out on a world of opportunities. Your audience is going to be holding what you sent. What do you want them to do next? Visit in-store, go to your website, like your brand on Facebook? With direct mail, you can make the CTA rewarding for your audience. Perhaps you give them a unique code to use online or perhaps they find an answer that leads them to more info about a new product?
5. Remember measurement: Track how the direct mail piece performs. You can see who used that unique code online or track the number of coupons redeemed in-store. Whatever it is, you should always measure. That way, you can increase your success even more in your next campaign.

Admit it. You feel like walking out to check your mailbox now, don’t you?

If your company needs help with direct mail and helping your brand stand out, drop us a line.