How to Get More Out of Your Direct Mail Marketing

Josh Kaufman
direct mail, goals, graphic design, GURL, key performance indicators, omni-bound marketing, PURL, targeting

Direct mail is the perfect tool to get noticed by existing or prospective clients. Unlike digital marketing channels that disappear with a click, direct mail puts your message right in the hands of your target audience, making it a great medium to attract and engage. Sure, the recipient can toss it in the trash without giving it much consideration, but it’s still a guaranteed split-second impression that you can count on. Plus, it’s relatively easy to get your hands on a prospect list. So, if your company has dismissed direct mail as a viable marketing tool, maybe it’s time to give it another chance.

Tips for Your Direct Mail

Here are some tips to help you maximize your direct mail marketing:

Set Goals & Establish KPIs — This is how you measure success. What are you trying to accomplish with your direct mail pieces? Raise awareness? Get direct responses? The KPIs (key performance indicators) will let you know whether or not you achieved your goals. Examples of KPIs include landing page visits and callbacks.
Utilize an Omni-Bound Strategy — Increase your mail’s effectiveness by combining inbound & outbound marketing strategies. An example would be listing a website address (it could be a PURL or GURL) to send recipients to a landing page where you can collect additional information about them and trigger further engagement through a marketing automation platform.
Stay on Target — Think like a B2B, not a B2C, and target only your best customers. You likely won’t have the budget to do a mass mailer to every potential customer in your industry.
Get a Good List — Every penny counts, and mailing to bad addresses can blow your budget and skew your ROI. Ensure you have the most accurate and detailed data by cleansing your list through merging & deduplication, address correction, NCOA, geocoding and geomatching. In addition, when you partner with a marketing agency, they can help you procure consumer and business lists based on a huge variety of prospect-specific demographics. Plus, certain agencies may have unprecedented access to propensity data previously exclusive to Fortune 500 companies. Propensity data utilizes unique criteria designed to predict consumer behavior, as well as product and brand affinities that will increase a consumer’s likeness to respond, convert and remain loyal.
Utilize Variable Data & Image Printing — By pairing the fluidity of digital print with an infinite set of variable data you can now speak personally to any target through varying words and images that elicit the emotional response needed to convert sales.
Implement ROI Mechanisms — Countdown to impact with Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) Tracing, and complement your mail’s arrival with triggered emails and phone calls sure to increase ROI. Also, determine your mail’s effectiveness in real time by incorporating ROI mechanisms like PURL & GURL landing pages.

Direct Mail Products

There are several different kinds of direct mail pieces you can send out. Here is an extensive (but not all-inclusive) list:

Postcards
Letters
Brochures
Catalogs
Newsletters
Transactional Mailings
Membership Mailings
Creative Dimensional Mailers
Tube Mailings
Invitations

Need Help with Your Direct Mail?

Sure, direct mail is an “old school” form of marketing. But direct mail in the modern era has many aspects that pose challenges. Unless you’re an expert, you can easily pay too much, miss the mark with your messaging or not get the ROI you were hoping for. This is where partnering with a marketing agency is beneficial. At Adventure Marketing Solutions, we have print and mail experts on our team, and we offer the following direct mail capabilities: