In an increasingly digital world, the printing industry has been in a constant state of flux, but that doesn’t mean you should abandon direct mail as a core feature of your marketing campaign. In fact, the opposite is true – since most businesses spend the majority of their marketing budget on digital components, you can buck the trend by producing printed content that enables you to stand out in the eye of the consumer.
Direct mail response rates have proven to have a higher return on investment than any direct mail response channel and the response for direct mail advertising has been increasing steadily since 2015. It’s clear that direct mail is an important part of any marketing plan.
However, to make the most of your marketing dollars, it’s best to pair direct mail with a clear and effective integrated strategy that features continuity across various types of media. Here are several tips to consider when developing a well-rounded, multimedia marketing campaign:
1. Understand your audience
Business 2 Community contributor Mike Ryan pointed out that most businesses have a wide variety of clients, many of whom have differing interests and values. For this reason, it is important to identify the audience you are targeting. Personalization is everything when it comes to direct mail, so businesses should aim to target consumers based on all demographic information available – including age, income, gender, housing type and more.
2. Make sure your team is working together
Marketing often consists of many different areas – and your team should be constantly collaborating to ensure a consistent message. If you’re working with multiple teams whether that be in house or various marketing agencies, conference calls should be a regular part of your marketing planning. If you can work within one multimedia company – like Moving Targets – that’s even better.
3. Get creative to maximize impact
Ryan lamented that too many marketers opt for generic, bland mailings that are not visually appealing and may actually do the business producing them a disservice. The whole point of direct mail is to engage on a more visceral level with consumers and to stand out from the crowded digital marketing sphere.
To make your content more appealing, utilize a captivating headline, appealing layout and color schemes, succinct – but informative – text, photos to add to the story and, of course, company information like your website URL or social media handles. Each of these can help establish brand resonance with your audience, and the goal is to grab their attention and get them to seek further details about your business’ offerings.
4. Capture web traffic with bit.ly links
Since consumers cannot make purchases by clicking a URL printed on a postcard, recipients will need to manually type a URL in order to visit a web page. To make things easier, you’ll want to make sure that your website is as short and memorable as possible.
Of course, if you want to direct customers to a specific landing page for lead generation, this URL may be quite a bit longer than your website’s homepage. One way to shorten your URL is by using bit.ly links, which can shorten your URLs significantly. You’ll also gain access to some powerful analytics tools which tracks visits to your page.
5. ROI is everything – track and evaluate response rates
To gauge the effectiveness of any marketing campaign, you’ll need to make sure you are accurately calculating your return on investment (ROI). This is especially true for multimedia campaigns, since you’ll be spreading your marketing budget across various channels. By accurately measuring which channel delivers the best leads for your business, you’ll be able to make smart decisions about how to allocate your future budget.
Ready to add direct mail into your multimedia mix? We have several great options for targeting your ideal customers with custom letters or eye-catching postcards – mailing monthly with no minimums! Contact a consultant today.
