5 Marketing Ideas to Help Make Direct Mail Pieces Effective
Move over digital marketing. Direct mail marketing is as effective as ever. Direct marketing is still a low-cost, effective way to get your message out. However, you may need to kick up your game a bit. Here are five marketing ideas to help make direct mail pieces effective.
1- Give Away Something
It is too easy to grab a piece of mail from the mailbox, open it, and toss it. However, it does not need to be that way. Send your customers, especially potential customers, something tangible. Items such as address labels, calendars, magnets, pens, and sticky notes are all practical items, and most people are likely to keep and use them.
2- Go Wild and Go 3D
People, for the most part, enjoy having fun. Consider creating your letter in 3D design and include the 3D glasses to read it. To begin with, letters that feel as if there is something inside will naturally pique a person’s curiosity. Meaning it is going to get opened. Then, to see a pair of 3D glasses with the instructions to please put them on and read is going to add an element of fun.
3- Be Playful
Get customers involved in the process. Create a game or inactive element. For example, if you sell children’s products, include a color page or a simple craft. Create a maze or even a word search. A scratch-off area on the mailing that reveals a discount code is a great idea, too. The games are simple to create and are low-cost to send. If there is a chance they may win or get something, most people will play. Interactive mail leaves a lasting impression.
4- Get Personal Real Personal
Everyone loves to get mail addressed to them. Instead of addressing the mail to the current resident, put a name on it. Do not stop there. Depending on your company, create images that your customer will identify with. For example, if you sell baking supplies, you already know your recipient loves to bake, have pictures throughout your mailer of people baking with your items. Make the message as personalized as possible.
To take it even further, create PURLs for your recipients and include them in the mailer. What is a PURL? It is simply a personalized URL. When someone uses the link, they go to a website created for them. It could have sale specials, product information, or informational blogs. The idea is when they interact with the website, you get the chance to gather more information about your customers. So, when it comes time to send the next mailer, you can personalize it further.
5- Just Keep It Simple
There are times when keeping it simple is the best approach. Simple; however, does not necessarly mean it does not need to stand out. For instance, you just opened a bakery in a small town. You want the residents to know your hours. Send a plain postcard with an image of your bakery and your hours. Do not send the usual postcard. Make it another shape or even a larger size. You want something different to make it stand out.
