Summer GouldIn 2020, there is a real digital fatigue. In trying times such as these, direct mail is a smart way to convert prospects and get customers to make more purchases. It’s a tangible medium you can exploit because people are interested in it and trust it more than other channels.
Using touch as part of the direct mail moment shifts the brain into a deeper level of engagement. Your prospects and customers understand and remember what they read on paper better than what they read on a screen. Make sure that they remember your message.
To harness the power of direct mail and beat your competition, be sure to think through these crucial elements:
1. Attention
First you need to create a mail piece that draws immediate attention with graphics and copy. Keep in mind that the images you select should convey your message. Our brains focus on and process images very quickly, so they are a very important part of your mail piece design.
When you can, use images of people. Right now, images of people who are looking at you (as though they are making eye contact) will resonate well, providing a sense of calm and trust. You want your images to help you stand out in the mail box and from the competition. Scope out what they are doing so that you can be better.
2. Integration
Your prospects and customers expect to be able to do more with direct mail. Integrating mobile technology, QR codes, and personalized URLs — as well as physical elements such as special folds or textures — ensures a longer engagement process with your mail piece. The longer the interaction, the more likely they are to purchase. Make it fun!
3. Simple
Keep your copy easy to understand. Make their decision to buy from you easy. Using less words and more commonly used ones will help you to generate a bigger response. Make sure to avoid the use of acronyms; they can cause confusion, and a confused person does not make a purchase.
4. Consistency
Marketers that continue to send direct mail to prospects and customers over a period of time find that they get better response rates. Sending mail to someone on a regular schedule helps to keep your business top of mind. When the right offer arrives at the right time, people jump all over it. This is not to say that you should send the same thing over and over again. Change up your offers and images, but make sure your branding stays the same so that they recognize you from the past mailings.
5. Personalization
Use your data to its maximum potential! Make your offers personalized to what your prospects and customers want and need. You can base this on many factors such as purchase history, demographics, psychographics, and so on. Just putting someone’s name on a mailer is not the same as a truly personalized piece. Images, offers, and messaging should all be part of your personalization. You can group similar people together so that you have less versioning.
Look, your competition is looking for ways to beat you, so don’t let them! Stay ahead of them with your marketing planning and execution. The early bird gets the worm in direct mail too, as long as the mail pieces are well thought out with great design, great offers, and the right list of people.
Get creative with your design and your data to make mail pieces that your competition has never even thought of. Use the printed piece to stand out in ways that digital marketing can’t. Think of texture, cut outs, and special folds as a way to really embed your message into the brains of your prospects and customers.
