Below is an article from Brand United that sums up the advantage of Direct Mail during these unknown times in the history of the COVID-19 pandemic. Take time to read the benefits, and take account of how it can help your marketing strategy.
Why Should you Use Direct Mail During COVID-19?
I can sum it up in three words . . . because it works.
But really, there is a lot more to consider when choosing marketing channels.
Direct mail has gotten a bad rap in recent years, but to the surprise of many marketers, consumers have shown an increased affection for mail during COVID-19. Because of that it is important to not only incorporate direct mail into your marketing mix, but to create good direct mail. Your mail pieces should provide a personal touch you can’t get with digital marketing.
So, why use direct mail right now?
- More Bang For Your Buck – Direct mail provides the highest ROI of any marketing channel. With COVID-19 hurting businesses, it is important to spend your money wisely.
- Sensory Response – Direct mail provides a multi-sensory response when consumers read it. You engage touch and vision with all direct mail, but you can also add elements such as sound or taste to make a deeper impact. The more senses you can engage the more your message resonates.
- Pairs Well With Digital – It is easy to pair a direct mail campaign with a digital one to enhance your results. Direct mail bridges the gap between offline and online marketing. You can drive more response by adding direct mail into your marketing mix.
- Mail Box – Currently mail boxes are not full of marketing messages, so you will be able to get your message to stand out easily. People are home more and are looking forward to their mail each day.
- Targeting – Direct mail can easily be targeted to the right audience. Its not just about geographics or demographics either, you can also pull in psychographics to really target your messaging. Target the right offer to the right person.
You can create some great mail pieces that are fun to interact with. Direct mail should never be boring. When you add direct mail to digital marketing the average response rate increase is between 23% to 46%!
Right now it is very important to reach the right people at the right time, and direct mail can help you do that. In order to get the response rates you need, you must plan a good campaign. Consider the following:
- List – This is your most valuable asset. Hopefully you have maintained a good clean list that you can rely on to be accurate. If so, you are able to glean a lot of information about who your customers are and what offers will interest them. The most effective way to target offers to the right people is with variable data on your mail pieces.
- Design – Before anyone actually reads your mail piece, they make a decision on whether to read it or to throw it away. Your creative design matters. The images you choose are very important as they convey your message before anyone reads what you have to say. The wrong images have a big impact on response.
- Offer – Your offer drives people to respond. When you get a lackluster response to a mail campaign you need to look at what offers you used and who you sent them to. Start by looking at the wording of each offer. Are they too long or confusing? Did you provide a good incentive? Is the offer easy to find on the mail piece? You want your offer to be simple, concise, and relevant to each person.
Keep in mind that direct mail is liked, trusted, kept for long periods of time, and well suited to engage your prospects and customers. So add it to your marketing mix in order to boost your response rates now and into the future. COVID-19 should not stop you from marketing, it should just change the way you are doing it.
ARTICLE BY Summer Gould, President of Eye/Comm Inc.
Contact McKenzie Parker with any questions you may have.
Phone: 432-203-6935
Email: [email protected]
For information on running a paired print and digital campaign, contact our sister company PPS with locations in Amarillo and Lubbock, Texas.
