Reaching Your Customers, the Old-Fashioned Way: Through the Mailbox!
Whatever happened to Direct Mail? You know, that postcard, flyer, or coupon that filled your mailbox? While they never disappeared, social media ads took over as the preferred way to reach the consumer. Or what about those annoying pop-ups that follow you everywhere? Those took over too. We are really excited about direct mail right now and here’s why: you can effectively and affordably reach your customers in what is now considered a unique way.
A huge benefit to direct mail is that you know exactly who is receiving your message. You’re able to identify the specific area you want to target as well as demographics such as, married or single, children in the house or not, income levels, education levels, homeowner or renter, etc.
Who’s reading the postcard?
You may be wondering, how do I know if they actually read the postcard, let alone take action? Great Question. Depending on what “action” you want the consumer to take, you can do several different things to track results.
- Trackable URLs. There are two types of trackable URLs. The first is a generic one – where everyone receiving the mail has the same URL. The second is a unique URL for each person receiving the post which allows you to see on an individual case by case who is visiting.
- Unique Codes. Include a unique coupon code to track online sales.
- Social Action. Encourage them to “like’’ and “follow” you on social media. Make sure they leave a comment on your page to be entered into some kind of drawing.
- QR Codes. QR Codes are 2D barcodes which can be scanned with the camera on most smartphones by default. You hold your camera up to them and they take you to a website. This allows you to measure who visits.
- Trackable phone numbers. By using call forwarding and tracking phone numbers, you can use unique phone numbers for each campaign.
How effective is direct mail?
“Surveys have shown that 77% of millennials, who are thought of as digitally obsessed, pay attention to print. And in fact, show a lack of interest in digital ads. And across all generations, print is the most trusted advertising medium.” (LocalIQ)
“The Data & Marketing Association reported that the direct mail customer response rate increased by 43%. Even better, the prospect response rate increased by 190%…Direct mail has a median ROI of 29%, putting the ROI in third behind email and social media marketing in terms of ROI. Social media is ahead by only 1 percentage point. That might not seem very high, but when you consider that paid search has an ROI of 23% and online display at 16%, that number looks a lot more attractive (and a lot cheaper). That baffling ROI says nothing of direct mail’s response rate, which is 5.3% for mail sent to houses and 2.9% for prospect lists. Now compare that number to email, which has an average click-through rate of about 2% or 3%. And that’s the click-through rate, not the response rate, which is 0.6%.” (Neil Patel)
Direct mail benefits and design tips
Postcards are double-sided and come in several sizes which provides the opportunity to include lots of information. You’re able to design it personally, so creativity wins the day. Make it clean, readable, visually captivating, something that looks different from the others yet represents your brand or business.
You get the idea here. You can advertise in a market that is not saturated like it used to be and is more affordable than anything you will partake in online. As always, feel free to email or call us for free advice on marketing. We are here to help small businesses bring their ideas to light and grow, grow, grow.
Do you have a question about small business marketing that you would like to see answered here? Just Email BRG@cedarhousemedia.com
WineHaus Marketing is located in downtown Beaverton. We work with small and mid-sized businesses wanting to improve their online presence. We focus on three key areas that drive success: Website Design, Social Media Marketing, and Email Marketing. For a free consultation, call 971-724-2347 or email hello@winehausco.com.
