How to Win at Direct Mail: Integrate, Brand, Personalize

More than 8 in 10 marketers (83%) report better response rates and higher ROI when integrating direct mail into the multichannel mix, according to PFL’s 2019 Multichannel Marketing Research Report: Direct Mail in the Digital Age. However, with only slightly more than half of marketers (56%) regularly using direct mail as a primary channel, brands just like yours can “push the envelope” to get a step ahead.

The data shows direct mail delivers the greatest impact when fully integrated, branded, and personalized. 78% of respondents ranked this type of direct mail as the second most effective channel for reaching target audiences, trailing behind events (the most effective channel), but ahead of email and social media (the least effective channel).

Direct mail medium also makes a difference. Postcards and letters lead the pack for marketers. However, the study points to the unique power of the third most popular medium—dimensional mail—for companies to represent and demonstrate brand value.

The winning combination of intelligent campaign integration, direct mail personalization, on-brand messaging, and dimensional mail format opens exciting new doors for marketers to lift overall campaign performance for a highly effective competitive advantage.

Ready to win at direct mail? It’s what we do all day here at Didit DM as a leading direct marketing agency in New York and Long Island.

Direct mail marketing stats to back the data.

There’s even more to the direct mail story. Backing the data are the direct mail response statistics:

Best response rate. Direct mail delivers a 5.1% response rate, which towers over both email (.6%) and social media (.4%).
Positive return on investment. U.S. advertisers spend $167 per person on direct mail to earn $2,095 worth of goods sold. That’s a staggering 1,300% return.
Millennial-friendly. Don’t believe the hype! 95% of adults aged 18-29 enjoy and value print. The tactile medium, delivered less frequently than email, pulls an even stronger response among millennials than digital ads.
A matter of trust. 82% of millennials trust messages delivered in real mail over their digital counterparts. Direct mail promises 70% higher brand recall than digital ads.

8 ways to personalize direct mail.

In a world where personalized direct mail gets past the gatekeeper and into the hands of the decision-maker, a creative edge and robust customer database can separate the winners from the losers. Here are eight smart ways to personalize everything from the offer to the graphics:

Offer. Dig for information from past interactions to send customized offers customers can’t refuse.
Copy. The rule here is simple: If you have a name, use it in the copy.
Imagery. Humans engage with content that feels familiar and relevant to their daily life and surroundings. Move your direct mail recipients to respond with custom imagery targeted by location.
Form. The less boxes to fill, the better. Encourage more responses by pre-filling forms with a name, address, and phone number.
PURLS. Do more than just personalize online content. PURLS can also help you track user behavior after a mail drop.
Gender. Have a product that appeals to men and women in different ways? Grow your response rate with gender-focused content.
Reminder. Personalized reminders based on a previous purchase can help entice your target audience to repurchase or renew.
Industry. Every industry speaks its own language. Personalize direct mail with variable data printing to appeal to the common tongue.

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Didit DM is one of the leading direct mailing companies on Long Island, in NYC, and beyond. We provide creative, print production, lettershop, and fulfillment services all under the same roof. Today’s direct mail services are all about technology…and nobody handles direct mail like we do. Contact us to discuss how we can work together.