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In today’s digital-first world, why bother with Direct Mail marketing?

On average, a person receives 32 times more email than mail per week. The average Internet user gets 616 emails per week compared to the average household receiving 19 pieces of mail per week.

It’s not just a question of sheer volume. Consumers prefer to receive mail over email and unsolicited phone calls. 73% of consumers say they prefer to get mail from a business they don’t know over any other form of communication.

Direct Mail advertising has a powerful impact. Direct Mail inspires 79% of consumers to act immediately. And tangible marketing materials leave a longer-lasting, emotional impact on consumers than digital materials.

Direct Mail effectiveness depends on two main factors: the piece itself and its targeting. We will provide some tips on both of these factors so your Direct Mailer delivers in 2017.

Your Direct Mail Piece

• Design

Your Direct Mailer needs to stand out from the other pieces of mail with an attractive design that reflects your current branding. Does it have a similar look and feel to your other marketing materials? Is it colorful and engaging?

• Copy

When we spend money on advertising materials, we may think we need to fill every inch with images or text to get the maximum value from our advertisement. This does not apply to Direct Mail. White space, large images and less copy (the written part) are easier on the eyes. Make sure your copy counts—create a sense of urgency and include an offer too good for consumers to ignore.

• Format

Direct mail postcards come in different sizes and types, such as a letter mailer or postcard.

How do you pick the right one? Your objective should guide your choice. A letter mailer is ideal for sharing a lot of information in a personalized way. These work great if your goal is to generate leads by enhancing personal relationships with customers or share about a community event. A postcard format is ideal for sales. They have less information for your audience to absorb, making them easy to read.

Targeting Your Direct Mail Piece

Targeting your Direct Mail Piece to get the maximum ROI boils down to two key areas: distance and demographics. Saturation mailing is a cost-effective way to “saturate” every household or business with your Direct Mailer. Your saturation mailing list is customizable—you can decide where to send your mailers and what kind of households should receive it.

Distance

Ask yourself two questions to determine where to send your mailers (a zip code, a radius a certain number of miles within your business, a city, et.).

• How far will your current and target customers drive to purchase your products/services?

• How many competitors are within the mailing area you want to send your mailers?

Demographics

Saturation mailing has customizable options that make it easy to target specific households. Keep your customers in mind as you decide how to target your mailer. For example, furniture retailers probably won’t want to target households with an income under $30,000/year. A children’s clothing store may only target households with children.