Submitted: The Two Sides Team November 30, 2013

Some may be asking, "Why would I want print and mail cards when email is free?" This is a valid question. Below you'll find some valuable information about how to integrate direct mail into your marketing strategy.

via ITC Marketing Blog

November 18th, 2013

In this week's edition of AgencyBuzz Academy, we'll be looking at how to use the print and mail feature in our agency marketing system AgencyBuzz. Some may be asking, "Why would I want print and mail cards when email is free?" This is a valid question so I went to the source, Mailprint.com, the print and mail engine behind AgencyBuzz. 

Below you'll find some valuable information about how to integrate direct mail into your marketing strategy. For more information about how to use the print and mail feature in AgencyBuzz, register for this week's AgencyBuzz Academy.

Integrate Direct Mail into your Marketing and Increase Response

The growth of modern online marketing and its integration with traditional advertising has created a communications overload, in which the average consumer may hear or see as many as several thousand marketing messages every day. Marketers and business owners looking to overcome this noise must develop effective cross-media strategies. Cross-media marketing campaigns use different channels to promote each other. This might include direct mail, email marketing, radio, television, podcasts, social media posts, print ad campaigns, landing pages and more.

The use of direct mail has shown significant positive feedback when it comes to measuring the response rates of cross-media marketing campaigns. According to a recent statistic in Deliver magazine, customers who were sent a printed catalog to the magazine's website not only logged more time on the website but also purchased 28% more of the product on average than customers who were not mailed a printed catalog.

This is not to say that direct mail should replace online marketing, but rather that the two should be integrated into a combined marketing campaign. Direct mail is most effective when it drives the customer to a website or landing page. Online marketing is most effective when the customer interacts with an online entity like filling out a form, giving the marketer or business owner product or service leads, or by sharing the site through social media. This integrations is the key to successful cross-media marketing campaigns.

Increasing response rates of cross-media marketing campaigns does not have to be expensive or time-consuming. Something as simple as direct mail postcards can help build a business when integrated with online marketing tools.

Two great ways to integrate:

1. Use a postcard campaign to collect email addresses and basic information
Email addresses are a cost-effective way to keep tabs on your current and potential clients. Several popular email services even allow the user to track email openings and clicks, so the sender can better understand a campaigns effectiveness. However, you can't track email responses without obtaining emails, and a postcard campaign is a great way to reach out to potential clients who would otherwise never know how or where to register.

2. Have postcards point potential consumers to a landing page
Landing pages are critically different than a website's homepage in that a landing page lists only the information necessary for your selling point, whether it's an offer, special or product promotion. A homepage often lists more products and information that might be otherwise distracting. Websites allow browsing; landing pages are a direct sales pitch. They guide the customer through a sale or intended interaction.

The two major benefits of direct mail:

1. Ability to target the ideal consumer
Few products and services are attractive to everyone. By outlining the characteristics of a company's best customers, a model of who best to target in a direct mail campaign can be achieved. This could mean targeting by gender, age, income level, and more, allowing a mailing campaign to reach the people who might be most receptive.

2. Increase your responses
While online marketing strategies are awesome, great response rates of cross-media marketing campaign consistently point to the necessity of direct mail. This is because direct mail continues to be opened at greater rates than email advertisements.

Whether you are in the marketing business or are a business owner looking to increase company marketing effectiveness, integrating direct mail and online advertising is the best way to influence response rates of cross-media marketing campaigns.

Share this story