The average person is exposed to an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 advertisements per day. So it’s not surprising that we are almost ‘immune’ to their charm.
Don’t get me wrong — this doesn’t mean they’re not effective or they don’t have their place in marketing. In fact, marketers have been able to experience a 96 percent increase in clicks with an active Facebook ad campaign.
Load Error
However, there is another mode of marketing that might be even more effective. Direct mail marketing has been used for years, long before advertising online was a thing.
Although direct mail marketing might seem to be an archaic form of marketing, it does have its perks now that technology is here to change the rules of the game.
Technology has revolutionized everything we do including how we market our offers. Several years ago when things were pretty much all manually driven, there wasn’t an efficient way of collecting and storing data.
Now, technology helps us work faster and smarter and provides us with more accurate data about our potential clients. And obviously, this leads to better conversion rates and happier customers. Technology has sharpened the direct mail marketing process to provide great results.
What makes direct mail so appealing?
Direct mail marketing is a form of marketing where advertisements and other promotional materials are physically delivered to your mailbox.
While some say direct mail is dead, research has proven that direct mail response rates are a lot higher than all other forms of advertising combined — in fact, direct mail’s response rates have been getting better year after year as digital becomes more widely adopted.
Its advantages over the digital system stem from the long-standing accuracy of its data (which dates back decades) and the very real, tangible impression businesses can make on consumers by sending them a quality mail piece. Its disadvantages are rooted in the startup time it takes to move a campaign from conception to completion, along with the higher price that comes along with the logistics and manpower needed to make that tangible impression. Technology, however, has made direct mail easier to execute and more affordable than ever.
So what does technology have to do with direct mail marketing?
It’s simple — with the presence of technology, direct mail marketing has gone digital. This makes direct marketing more accurate, reliable, and effective. Here are three ways technology has transformed direct mail marketing.
Related: 3 Secrets to Adding Direct Mail to Your Online Sales Funnel
1. Technology lets you digitize the direct mail marketing process
When done correctly and with the right technological integrations, direct mail marketing can create a more memorable experience for your ideal customer with your business. And some businesses are already taking advantage of that.
A good example that explains the process of digitizing the whole marketing process is PostcardMania, a $60 million marketing firm that specializes in direct mail. Just recently, PostcardMania integrated with Zapier and hundreds of other CRMs, giving marketers a chance to take data from their CRM or website and send targeted postcards to their marketing pipeline based on specific triggers like dates or seasons.
Some common trigger-based setups include: sending postcards to shoppers that abandon their carts without purchasing; sending welcome postcards to new online subscribers with special discounts to encourage conversions; and reconnecting with buyers for upsell opportunities.
This integration allows business owners to automatically send direct mail in any quantity, thereby putting an end to what normally would have been a very lengthy setup.
2. You can integrate direct mail into your marketing campaign
Businesses who use direct mail marketing can now utilize digital technology to optimize their campaigns. Through using personalized URLs, QR codes, or even SMS codes, they can get their potential clients to connect with them online and increase response rates. These integrations make the tracking of leads and revenue a very easy process compared to what it was before.
Related: The 3 Attributes of Every Successful Marketing Campaign
3. It delivers accurate data about customers for precise targeting
Unlike how it was in the past, where the success of direct mail marketing was all left to chance, businesses can now have access to more accurate data about their target audience before sending them their first mail in their mailbox. This helps increase the efficacy of the direct mail marketing campaign.
What this means is that when it comes to direct mail, you aren’t just targeting a profile or an IP address — a targeted list can include first and last names, neighborhoods, even the date an insurance policy runs out. Businesses can leverage this data to speak directly to recipients individually on every mail piece. For example, a headline that states, “John, welcome to the neighborhood!” for John Smith and another mail piece that says, “Jane, welcome to the neighborhood!” for Jane Doe. This technology is called variable data and can definitely get the attention of your intended target market.
The future of direct mail
There’s no doubt about it — technology has made direct mail marketing more effective. This is good news for a lot of business owners who were at a loss for what to do to get their products and services in front of their target audience.
Related: Going Green With Direct Mail
Through tech, businesses have a higher chance of making every mail they deliver count. With the right kind of tools and strategies in place, businesses will be able to receive real value for their money in direct mail marketing.
Related:
3 Ways Technology Helps You Make Money With Direct Mail Marketing
The Right Words Can Make You More Money
This Tool Can Help You Increase Open Rates and Verify Your Email List Before You Send
Gallery: 10 Productivity Apps an Entrepreneur Will Use Every Day, Now on Sale During This Labor Day Weekend (Entrepreneur)
Productivity is crucial for an entrepreneur. Getting the most out of each day is absolutely vital when you’re trying to grow a business. Whether you’re having a hard time managing your to-do list or you need help with certain aspects of your business, we’ve rounded up ten top apps that can help your business thrive. Check them out.
FakeClients Design Brief Generator
Starting your own design business? This Product Hunt–featured tool is made for beginning logo designers to practice their skills. With “fake clients” prompting you to create logos, you can add them to your portfolio, share them, and start growing your business.
Get more clients today with FakeClients Design Brief Generator for $17 (Orig. $600) with promo code: GOFORIT15.
VideoProc
Video marketing is growing in popularity and will continue to do so in the coming years. If you want to jump in on the craze but don’t have the skills to do it, you’ll love VideoProc, the #1 fast video processing software. You can edit, convert, resize, and adjust large and 4K videos quickly with this program.
Make editing videos for your business a breeze with VideoProc, now $25.50 (Orig. $119) with promo code: GOFORIT15.
KeepSolid VPN Unlimited
One of the top-rated VPNs on the market, KeepSolid VPN Unlimited offers a lifetime of AES 256-bit encryption to protect your browsing. They have a strict no-logging policy and offer unlimited bandwidth so protecting your browsing connection won’t slow it down.
Keep your online data secure with the help of KeepSolid VPN Unlimited for $33.15 (Orig. $199) with promo code: GOFORIT15.
Speechify Audio Reader
Love multitasking? Speechify Audio Reader will facilitate multitasking by reading any webpage, document, or whatever else you put in front of it out loud. Whether you need to read a deposition but also have to make dinner or you’d just like to read an article while continuing to work, Speechify Audio Reader has you covered.
Get more done by turning text into speech with Speechify Audio Reader just for $34 (Orig. $390) with promo code: GOFORIT15.
DarwinMail Professional Plan
If you suffer from Gmail overload, DarwinMail will be a lifesaver. With bulk actions and bundling to remove mass amounts of emails, this web app can quickly clear out your email. Plus, it offers reminders, keyboard shortcuts, and more to make sending emails easier and communication more seamless than ever.
Make the most out of your Gmail with DarwinMail for just $34 (Orig. $300) with promo code: GOFORIT15.
My Brand New Logo: Automatic Logo Generator
Every business needs a logo so that people grow to recognize your branding. But why pay a graphic designer thousands when you can get a professionally designed logo automatically generated? With My Brand New Logo, just enter a little information about your business, and it will generate you a new logo in just minutes that you can customize to your liking.
Forgo hiring an expensive designer use My Brand New Logo: Automatic Logo Generator for just $34 (Orig. $12,500) with promo code: GOFORIT15.
Slides Pro Plus Plan
Presentations are a great way to get your point across, but not all of us are very good at them. Entrepreneurs who need to raise money for their ventures, however, need to be. Fortunately, Slides Pro Plus Plan makes it easy to create beautiful pitch decks, regardless of your ability or tech savvy.
Create the perfect marketing deck for clients with Slides Pro, now $41.65 (Orig. $540) with promo code: GOFORIT15.
Provify Premium Plan
Social proof is an important element of getting sales for your products and services. Provify makes it easy to gather and surface that social proof to your site visitors. With simple surveys and widgets, you can get feedback fast and show new visitors just how much people love your product.
Surface the things people love about your product or service with Provify Premium Plan for $67.15 (Orig. $299).
Zuitte 50+ Tools for Entrepreneurs
Why spend money on 50 different programs to do 50 different business tasks? Zuitte offers you more than 50 tools for one low price. From Facebook Messenger bot builders to marketing tools, SEO tools, email marketing, a CRM, and much more, Zuitte gives you everything you need to run your business efficiently in a single suite.
Get all of the tools necessary as an entrepreneur with Zuitte 50+ Tools for just $169.15 (Orig. $9,480) with promo code: GOFORIT15.
MindMaster Mind Mapping Software
Whether you were spitballing ideas or something in the middle of the night pops up, making an idea into a reality doesn’t have to be difficult. Mindmapping can breakdown problems into solutions. MindMaster allows you to visually map out structures to ultimately innovate your business.
Start laying out your ideas and processes in order with MindMaster Mind Mapping Software for $41.65 (Orig. $129) with promo code: GOFORIT15.