Top 10 tips to deliver Direct Mail Marketing Campaign

 

Source: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels

Brands all over the world are trying the best to cut the digital noise and reach their customers. With all the strategies like PPC, SEO, Re-marketing, Re-targeting applied and if you are not able to get to your audience, time to make use of the traditional marketing technique of direct mail.

As stated by Sendoso in their blog article on how 2020 has been the year of moving to full time remote, working from home, virtual online events & Zoom meetings. These constant daily online activities has resulted into creating an audience, who have reached digital exhaustion and are trying to reduce their time spent on online devices.

Brands have been more open to embrace the use of both online and offline marketing strategies to capture attention of new customers, keep existing customer engaged and informed and continue to build their community.

In the section below I share my top 10 tips for marketing teams who are planning their next direct mail marketing campaign. These  tips are from my personal experience of planning, implementing and tracking direct mail campaigns. 

1.  Make sure you leave a space for postage/stamp area on your design- This was during the early years of me trying to plan a direct mail campaign. And along with all the things you need to have in place, I totally forgot to include a space for the postage stamp on the design. This problem was easily mitigated by adding an extra sleeve to cover the direct mail. This seems to be a pretty obvious one, but along with all the other stuff going on, you can miss it. If you do not wish to include it on your design or if your direct mail is made of a special material that is fine and you can include it in a box and send it out as a package.       
2.  Make the design quirky, fun and relatable- Your design of the direct mail, be it a letter, box, postcard, gift needs to scream creativity. It needs to attract the audiences' attention when it lands on their doors. You need to think of an out of the box idea to help your direct mail create a memorable, fun and informative experience for your customers along with being on brand.
3.  Ask experts for help on paper type, postage and other details of sending out a direct mailer- There are too many details which actually go into the making of a direct mail campaign. You need to accept the fact that you won't know all the answers. You will need to speak to and consult the experts who have in-depth knowledge and experience in these areas. Be it the quality of the box, what items need including, what is the best postage option. Remember no question is a silly question. So ensure you check with the experts at the right time.
4. Make sure you have accurate customer data- All the effort put into planning, creating & executing the direct mail campaign will be useless if it does not get to your customers. In order for that to happen you need to store accurate customer contact details in your database/CRM. Make sure you get your sales teams to verify the addresses or assign special data cleansing experts to do the task.
5.  Personalisation helps- Seeing their name on a letter or gift, or adding that extra bit of personalisation to your direct mail campaign makes it stand-out and helps your create that human connection with your audience. It will make your audience feel special and valued. But make sure you get this right as you will not want "Mr. X" receiving a package named for "Mr. Y"
6. Quantity of item to order-  There are various components which make up your direct mail campaign and you might need to outsource and order items like stationary items, gifts, branded merchandise. Make sure you get the right numbers and if your campaign is dependent on the online actions of your audience always order more because just in case let's say if everyone gets back and responds to you, then they need to receive the direct mail.
7. Have an accurate plan of execution with some additional time to factor in delays - Always factor in delays in delivery, external factors, unavailability of products, lead times while planning your campaign. 
8. Include call to action in your direct mail - This one goes without saying, make sure you include your contact details on the direct mail. That can include your logo, website, social media handles, QR code, contact number, address and some action for the customer to take like to call you, or visit a website page or enter the code on your website.
9. Make sure to include it with digital strategies like landing page, SMS, email or social media- To get the maximum coverage and outcome from your direct mail campaign make sure to include pictures on your social media, have a blog post on your website, dedicated landing page and promote it both before and after the launch. You need to ensure that your offline and online messaging strategies align and create a delightful experience for your customers.
10. Always measure ROI & effectiveness of the campaign - Once the clients have got your direct mail, it is time to analyse the campaign effectiveness and ROI. You can do this be checking if you have got any feedback by email, social media or comments. Are you seeing any increase in engagement in social media activities & website visits? Have users taken the action you mentioned on your direct mail? Are your customers sharing pictures of the direct mail on social media and recommending your brand products. If you sent out any emails, you can check how they perform as well too.

At the end of the day, it is all about trying new ideas and concepts for your direct mail campaigns. It can be used to increase employee morale, or capture audience attention for an online virtual summit or simply a giveaway to keep your audience engaged.

I hope this blog  helps you to create the most engaging, creative and effective direct mail campaign. If you have any questions, comment or feedback please do mention it the comments below.