Direct Mail Marketing: Is It Still a Viable Marketing Tactic?
Yes, direct mail (DM) is a marketing technique that resurfaced in the past years to address unfilled marketing needs and services.
What is Direct Mail Marketing?
Direct mailing is the act of sending physical messages by snail mail and addressing it to a specific recipient in the hopes of making them aware of your solution and converting them into paying clients. It is considered a traditional marketing tactic and used to be very popular in the ‘60’s until the ‘90’s.
Why Did Direct Mailer Services Lose Popularity?
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- Long Process of Preparations – the preparation of direct mailer campaigns takes dramatically more time than digital campaigns.
- High Cost of Execution – as a direct mailing campaign involves sophisticated list building, printing, and postal distribution, the execution cost may be higher.
- More Rigid Than Other Campaigns – unlike digital campaigns, a direct mailer marketing campaign cannot be changed once it is launched. Therefore, the marketer’s control level is limited to the preparation phase.
- Declining Response Rates – as the use of direct mailing campaigns became commonplace, naturally, the effectiveness and response rates decreased, and other marketing tactics took their place.
- Long Process of Preparations – the preparation of direct mailer campaigns takes dramatically more time than digital campaigns.
What Revived the Use of Direct Mailing?
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- Anti-SPAM Legislations and Privacy Laws – as governments introduced strict Anti-Spam laws (i.e., CASL-Canadian Anti Spam Legislation, US’s CAN-SPAM Act, GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation), the use of electronic communication became subject to consent and protection. As DM campaigns are not bundled under the same umbrella, it provided a new opportunity to use them for lead generation.
- Printing technology has evolved – with advances in digital printing, the costs of printing have significantly decreased; and, thus, direct mailing campaign costs have become more reasonable.
- Uncommon Marketing Tactic – unlike the online marketing arena, which is oversaturated, direct mailer techniques are seldom used nowadays in the B2B arena, thus potential clients pay more attention to the messages that arrive in their physical mailbox than they do to emails from unknown senders.
- Account-Based Marketing – the direct marketing technique allows for incredibly spectacular and effective ABM campaigns.
- Anti-SPAM Legislations and Privacy Laws – as governments introduced strict Anti-Spam laws (i.e., CASL-Canadian Anti Spam Legislation, US’s CAN-SPAM Act, GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation), the use of electronic communication became subject to consent and protection. As DM campaigns are not bundled under the same umbrella, it provided a new opportunity to use them for lead generation.
What Are the Success Factors of a Direct Mailer?
Frequently updated and targeted list
The mailing list will allow you to get optimal results. Investing in a list with comprehensive, clean, up-to-date, formatted data with extended firmographics will yield the desired results.
Creative and well-thought strategy
Creativity pays off in a direct mailer campaign. It is therefore important to have a well-thought strategy for optimal results.
Trackability with reference to client journey
If a prospective client visits your website or comments on your social media page, how can you know whether they came from your direct mailing campaign? The answer is trackability. We employ a unique URL or phone number on the material that you send out, allowing us to measure the effectiveness of your direct mailing campaign.
Integration with other marketing tactics
DM marketing should not be used as a standalone tool. It works best when there is integration with other marketing tactics.
The evidence of the success of direct mailing is piling up. Here, you can see DM campaigns yield higher ROI than paid search and online display campaigns, falling only 1% behind social media campaigns!
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Direct Objective has extensive experience with conceiving, developing, and executing direct mail campaigns. Our database is constantly up-to-date, reviewed, and regulated to reflect the most current information and we can assist you every step of the way.
Do you have questions about direct mail marketing services? Contact us today!
