We know direct mail campaigns work. This isn’t breaking news. In fact, a recent report by the United States Postal Service revealed 65% of millennials pay close attention to direct mail advertising, which means companies can reach a captive and highly sought-after audience with direct mail campaigns.
But even though direct mail works, it’s not a one-size-fits-all hat, and businesses need to consider whether direct mail is the best form of outreach for the marketing campaigns they’re looking to execute.
Even with omnichannel marketing campaigns where each different channel works in tandem with the other — for example, pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, social media campaigns, and email marketing efforts — it’s important for businesses to understand how each channel can best support specific marketing initiatives in order to build a campaign fulfills desired outcomes.
In order to help you pair the right idea with the right form, here are three types of marketing campaigns that are ideal for direct mail and how you can execute these kinds of direct mail initiatives to achieve your campaign goals.
Account-based marketing (ABM) campaigns are targeted marketing initiatives that appeal to select accounts where the messaging or offer is of high value to the customer and the probability of the customer engaging or responding to the campaign is greater due to personalized content. As such, ABM campaigns should weed out leads who would not benefit from the value proposition your business provides in order to boost the ROI of your efforts.
The highly-targeted nature of ABM campaigns makes them ideal for direct mail marketing for a couple of reasons. First, because you’re engaging with contacts that you have already identified as receptive to your offer or messaging, you can more easily control costs by designing and printing the right number of pieces without wasting resources. Second, account-based marketing depends on detailed information about your contact list — geographic location, buying behavior, lifecycle stage, and more — which opens up the lane for customization and personalization via variable data printing technology.
A recent survey by Gallup showed 90% of Americans have a positive reaction when receiving a personalized piece of mail. This means a business that executes ABM direct mail campaigns with tailored messaging is more likely to experience positive results in the form of sales and growth because customers receive tangible, personalized product that demonstrates the business understands their wants, needs, and challenges.
While digital marketing such as email, PPC, and social media are certainly powerful tools for marketing campaigns centered around events like open houses, demonstrations and tours, grand openings, and trade shows, the value customers place on receiving personalized mail pieces — especially if the piece is designed to be functional beyond the event date — makes direct mail campaigns a nice match for event marketing efforts.
Now, you may be saying to yourself: Didn’t we just discuss the importance of selecting the right marketing channel based on the goal or objective? Wouldn’t digital ads be a more effective way to market an event because you can target audiences more easily?
In theory yes, but there are easily accessible and workable tools to narrow the focus of your direct mail campaign that can make a physical mail piece effective in promoting your event. For example, the United States Postal Service offers address validation tools to help you build a mailing list based on such demographics as geographic location, home size, age, income level, and more. In addition, USPS’s Informed Delivery tool allows for the integration of digital calls-to-action to better help you track the number of recipients who engage with these digital components.
Both of these tools not only help you better understand and evaluate your ROI, but they also provide a clearer path toward creating a direct mail campaign that speaks to your audience in a targeted way — and partnering with a printer like Varispark, who has years of experience building direct mail campaigns using these tools, is the first step on that path.
Launching a new product or service is always an all-hands-on-deck moment for any business, particularly when it comes to the messaging and marketing campaigns for the product or service. Because the success of product launch marketing campaigns — and often the products themselves — boils down to speaking to the right consumer in the right way via the right channel, the principles of what we just discussed with account-based marketing AND event marketing can help you build a successful direct mail campaign for your product launch.
Combining the contact data mining found in ABM marketing with the address validation and delivery tools used for event marketing can help businesses construct product launch direct mailers with targeted messaging that entices and delights — and provides you with the insight and analytics to judge effectiveness and overall ROI.
Ready to build your direct mail marketing campaign? We have the knowledge and experience to help show you the way. Tell us more about your project and we’re ready to help you get started.