Here at Stannp we are (unsurprisingly!) big fans of Direct Mail. We’ve seen over and over again how consistently effective Direct Mail is in delivering results for our clients, reaching and prompting responses from customers and prospects.
Creating a direct mail campaign is an easy and cost-effective way to boost your marketing and advertising. There are many benefits of including Direct Mail in your marketing mix, here are our top 10;
1) Personalisation
Direct Mail is perfect for personalisation, everything on your mail piece can be tailored to the recipient.
From the basics of simply using their name, through other personal information (preferences, purchase history, pets name…), up to bespoke images, web links, QR codes and offer details.
Personalised mailings mean your recipients are more likely to engage with your message and take action as a result.
2) Targeting
Direct mail can be very highly targeted. Segmenting your recipients into different groups allows you to tailor your campaigns to meet the needs of each group.
Depending on your business model you might segment by demographics (age, gender, income, social grade), geography, spend, frequency of purchase, or psychographics such as personality traits, beliefs, values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyle.
Segmenting also allows you to meet your customers expectations on frequency of contact; for example one group of customers might welcome a monthly special offer letter, whereas other customers might prefer contact every quarter.
3) Formats
Direct Mail is a versatile medium because of the wide range of formats available, making it suitable for any business type or marketing strategy.
As well as our standard postcard and letter formats, Stannp can offer you direct mail services for any type of mailing, from brochures, catalogues, booklets and magazines to greeting cards, perforations, multiple inserts, bespoke shapes and sizes.
4) Trust
Postal deliveries and postal services have been around a very long time; the first documented postal service was the ‘cursus publicus’ of the Roman empire under Caesar Augustus (62BC to AD14). In the UK the service we would now recognise as the Royal Mail came into being as the ‘Penny Post’ in 1840.
Because of this longevity, mail is familiar to everyone, a trusted medium. This remains true regardless of the recipient’s age. For example, a study by USPS found that 82% of millennials view messages printed on paper as more trustworthy than digital messages. The Direct Marketing Association found that 70% of consumers prefer to be contacted by post rather than by digital means.
5) Haptics
Mail is physical and real, tangible and can be touched. (‘haptics’ refers to any form of interaction involving touch).
Studies show that because customers can physically touch your mailing, they are more likely to see its contents as reliable. Direct mail is delivered directly to your recipients and they are virtually guaranteed to read your message; research shows that more than 92% of Direct Mail is opened, in fact for a Naked Mailing opening rates are effectively 100%.
6) Neuroscience
Your brain likes Direct Mail more than it likes digital content. A study undertaken by Ipsos and Neurons Inc. for Canada Post found that;
- Direct Mail campaigns have a lower ‘cognitive load’ they require 21% less cognitive effort to process and so are more easily understood.
- Participants’ recall was 70% higher with Direct Mail compared to digital content; as well as understanding your message, more recipients will remember it at a later date too.
- Activation in parts of the brain that correspond to motivation response was 20% higher for Direct Mail, recipients are therefore more likely to take action from Direct Mail.
7) Easily Created
Your campaign can be easily created in minutes using Stannp’s online wizard. Upload your creative design, upload your recipient addresses, review and approve, and leave the rest to us!
8) Easily Integrated
While we love Direct Mail and know how effective it is, even Stannp wouldn’t recommend that Direct Mail is your only form of marketing.
Direct Mail integrates brilliantly with the other channels in your marketing mix, especially if you carry your brand and messaging across the range of channels you are using.
Building your campaign with Direct mail included increases the effectiveness of the other channels; for example, a study by MarketReach found that when mail is included in digital and TV campaigns, ROI for the whole campaign increased by 12%.
9) Easily Measured
The effect of your Direct Mail campaign can be easily measured with various techniques, depending on the content of your mailing. For example you might count the number of unique voucher codes entered into your website, visits to a specific page, enquiry calls made to a specific phone number, or orders of a specific product.
10) Cost Effective
Direct Mail is a cost effective channel, because of it’s higher than average response rates.
for example, if you compare Email with Direct Mail purely on a ‘send cost per recipient’ basis, email will be cheaper because of the nature of the channel.
However, ultimately the aim of your campaign is to generate a response, to get the recipient to take action, so simply measuring cost to send is not enough, its more important to see the effect of that send. Research by various bodies consistently demonstrates that Direct Mail campaigns have between 10 and 30 times the response rates of email campaigns. (i.e. 1,000-3,000% more responses).
For example this study in Forbes using Bizo and Epsilon data and found that direct mail achieved a 4.4% response rate, compared to 0.12% for email (36 times the response rate). The latest data from the DMA suggests that Direct Mail response rates are up to 9% for a mailing to existing customers, and up to 5% for a prospects list. For lead generation letters performed the best of all the Direct Mail formats, with a 15.1% response rate.
We hope you find our Top 10 Benefits Guide useful, and you can see why our customers find that adding Direct Mail to their marketing mix is a cost effective solution that delivers great results. For more useful hints, tips, guides and info you can find us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, or speak to your account manager.
