The key is to combine your digital marketing and direct mail efforts to boost your overall results. The two are powerful ingredients for marketing as individual efforts, but together — you get incredible results. Research shows that combining digital and direct mail efforts can lead to 40% conversion rates, and 68% of marketers say combining digital and direct mail increases website visits.
Here are four ways digital marketing can boost your direct mail results.
The benefit of using digital marketing for targeted display is all in the name. You can target prospects based on their behaviors and interests and expand that opportunity into more specific and valuable insights like online habits, interests, demographics, behaviors, and more. At best, direct mail can target based on geography.
Addressable targeted display takes the physical addresses of your mailing list and targets desktops, laptops, and OTT/CTV devices specific to those locations. When used in conjunction with direct mail, it can improve performance by extending reach, providing attribution, and increasing the frequency that your messages are delivered to that household.
You can use targeted display ads in conjunction with direct mail by sending personalized messages to consumers that direct them to your website, product, or landing page, depending on your goal. Wherever you choose, make sure it serves a purpose. If your direct mail or display ad is showcasing your new product, you'll want to include a personalized URL (or link) that directs them to a place on your webpage where they can reach the product.
The advantage of display advertising is that it can reach people at every stage of the marketing funnel:
The effectiveness of display ads and direct mail relies solely on the ability to personalize and speak directly to your target audience. For instance, 70% of Americans say mail is more personal than the internet, and 91% of people agree digital ads are more intrusive today than two to three years ago. With ad-blockers and online ad clutter, it is more effective now to combine direct mail efforts with targeted display ads to gain your target audience's attention with relevant messaging.
Coordinating email and direct mail efforts can keep your marketing fresh and reminds prospective customers to respond. It is a great way to stay in front of your consumer long enough to nudge them to take action. Maybe you emailed them about your product, and they opened it but got distracted and walked away. A direct mail reminder with an extra incentive can re-incite that interest and motivate them to act.
Consider these statistics:
With that in mind, you can strategically use the two together. You can send a welcome email to get consumers familiar with your brand. Then, you can send them direct mail exclusively promoting your new products. Together, direct mail and email build trust and create greater brand awareness and recognition.
Another option to consider is aiming your direct mail efforts toward consumers on your email 'non-responder' list. Taking what you've learned from email marketing and applying it to your direct mail efforts can enhance reach.
Overall, direct mail can be a bit tougher to execute, and email marketing doesn't take much effort. But when you put them together — consumers spend an average of 25% more when direct mail is used in combination with email marketing.
Digital marketing can reach prospects with similar characteristics to previous customers using "lookalike" or "custom" audiences and retargeting. On the other hand, direct mail cannot, as increasing reach often involves buying lists of varying quality. However, when used together, you can increase reach in multiple ways.
Use digital marketing to pinpoint your target audience and gain insight into more personalized data. This can enhance your direct mail efforts with more engaging content, including:
A strategic mix of digital and direct mail is the key to getting consumers to buy. Seeing your campaign in digital form and print can work together to enhance recognition and recall - and most importantly, influence them to take action. You could use a mix of digital efforts (social media, website, email, etc.) to correspond with the same message in direct mail ads like showcasing products and directing consumers to your goal.
Psychologists have found that communication leads to familiarity, which builds trust. They've found that consumers respond more favorably to ads they have seen regularly, repetition is the key, and effectiveness was maximized at 10 to 20 exposures.
Direct mail has limited opportunities for raising brand awareness when compared to social media and search ads. This is why integrating digital tactics into your direct mail efforts can boost your results.
An integrated campaign can amplify your message by working together to increase brand awareness. The key is to keep the message simple and consistent through both types of media. This works because digital marketing brings awareness of your brand to a significant portion of your target market. Direct mail is then better received by your target audience because they are familiar with your brand from digital media.
Digital and direct mail improve brand awareness in the following ways:
Individually, direct mail and digital advertising have their advantages, but marketing is evolving to include strategies that make use of both powerful components. Relying only on your direct mail efforts is a mistake in the digital age. However, an integrated campaign can bring you the best of both worlds.
When you're ready to boost your direct mail efforts with digital marketing, remember that working with a media partner can take out the guesswork so that you can focus on other important matters.