Is Direct Mail Marketing Dead?
June 13, 2017
Have you ever wondered if there is an effective way to reach your target market? Have you ever tried sending out an email blast or social media post and had no luck generating interest among your clients? The solution to reaching consumers in your target market may be direct mail marketing.
For too long direct mail marketing has been placed in the category of antiquated communications channels that few professionals are willing to utilize. It often carries a connotation of being junk mail or simple coupons. Many today believe direct mail is a thing of the past and has been entirely replaced by digital media. This could not be further from the truth.
Direct Mail Marketing carries many benefits that digital media content fails to provide. Direct mail can reach your client, give a personal touch to your message, and help your brand stand out among consumers who are inundated with digital ads and promotional materials. No longer is direct mail the outdated way to reach your current clients and potential customers. Let me break the stigma and show to you that direct mail can be a powerful tool in today’s market.
Reach your client
Communicating with current and potential clients is one of the most important aspects of any business. Unfortunately, many promotional pieces such as company newsletters and online ads are not effective in capturing consumer’s attention. Many of these pieces end up in spam filters or are just overlooked. Today’s marketplace is becoming more and more crowded with ads and promotional messages that are competing for our attention.
Direct mail marketing has a stronger ability to cut through the clutter compared to other forms of digital media. Almost 80% of consumers open direct mail (Taylor, 2016). This is a significant difference compared to an average open rate of 15-25% for traditional marketing emails (mailjet, 2017). Once a direct mail piece is in the hands of your current or potential client, it’s harder to ignore than a banner ad on your website or an email blast. A high open rate for direct mail gives you the opportunity to grab a customer’s attention and make a strong statement about your company.
Creative & Flexible
Standing out from the crowd is never easy. Delivering a strong message about your product or service can be difficult with the amount advertisements and promotions circulating the internet. A major benefit of direct mail is creativity and flexibility. Have you ever felt the print texture of an email? Have you ever experienced the joy of unwrapping a banner ad like a package? Direct mail marketing offers so much more creative freedom and flexibility compared to digital media.
Everything from packaging, shape, size, texture, and format can be customized with direct mail. It allows you to put your personal touch on the piece. Direct mail marketing gives you the opportunity to deliver something that will excite your customers and draw their attention in a way no other medium can.
Growing Opportunity
Professionals across multiple industries agree that direct mail is on a downward trend (Abbott, 2017). Businesses today have simply decided to integrate more and more of their promotional efforts online. This downward trend has reduced the amount of direct mail and has also created an opportunity. Fewer companies sending direct mail means less companies competing for space in customer’s mailboxes. This gives you the opportunity to send something creative that may not have reached your customers before. It’s a somewhat unexpected way to get your message out to customers that may not be receptive to other channels.
Overall, direct mail marketing has numerous advantages and disadvantages. From grabbing a client’s attention to giving you the flexibility to be as creative you want; direct mail has endless possibilities in today’s marketplace. It can help you generate leads for your business or follow up with customers you’ve lost contact with along the way. If used successfully, direct mail can help you leverage the power of your brand to make a powerful statement among your competitors.
The bottom line is that direct mail marketing is far from dead. It’s here to stay!
Ready to get your message in front of your customers?