Although many businesses might see direct mail as an outdated marketing method, the fact is that this medium is as relevant as it ever was. There are many reasons why businesses still use direct mail, with fair benefits to this method.
Why Direct Mail Still Works
Direct mail is still as effective as it has ever been. Many businesses fail to take advantage of this marketing method because of the developments of digital marketing that have come up in recent years. The truth is that direct mail can have a great impact on your marketing campaign, resulting in additional leads and subsequent revenue that you may otherwise miss out on by neglecting this marketing strategy. Direct mail works because it’s still perceived by consumers as an appealing way for companies to market, and is much more personal than a generic email.
Here are some of the many reasons why direct mail is still a potential asset for your business.
1. Direct Mail Can Easily Reach Households and Other Individuals
Direct mail can serve as a quick way to reach homeowners and others who may be interested in your services, reaching the right demographics based on specific segmentation criteria. There’s almost no limit to the extent of outreach you can achieve with direct mail over other types of marketing efforts.
Direct Mail Still Matters
While many people may believe that direct mail is a thing of the past, the truth is that homeowners and many other recipients of direct mail pieces are still influenced by these materials. Direct mail offers more direct contact with prospects, helping influence their buying decisions more than many digital efforts. You can see a difference in results when you use direct mail to reach prospects.
2. Direct Mail is Tangible
Direct mail provides a physical form of marketing media, enabling recipients to hold it unlike digital marketing materials. The physical experience of touching and opening direct mail can make it more memorable and sincere.
You can design and create direct mail pieces that accurately portray your brand and marketing message in an appealing format. Your direct mail pieces will be able to stand out among the piles of ordinary junk mail that homeowners and others may be likely to throw out. The tangible nature of direct mail also makes it more likely to gain attention compared to emails that can get lost in spam folders.
3. It’s More Personal
Oftentimes digital marketing misses a sense of personalization, with a sense of artificiality in emails that often make errors regarding the names of recipients and other personal details. Direct mail simply feels more personal because it’s something that targets receive directly in a potentially colorful presentation that’s more inviting.
It also comes across as marketing materials that have more effort invested in creating and designing them, which is more likely to impress recipients compared to a simpler email. There is a lot that can go into the design and presentation of direct mail pieces, which isn’t usually the case with emails.
4. Direct Mail Offers More Chances of Engagement
Because it’s less common and more personal, people are more likely to remember direct mail pieces they’ve received over a longer period of time. People actually take the time to read through their mail and sort through it, encouraging them to react more to these pieces in the process. Detailed direct mail pieces can also provide more information and calls to action than digital marketing efforts.
5. People Appreciate Effort
If you put a lot of effort and hard work into the creation of a unique personal direct mail piece, recipients are likely to notice. You can easily impress people with well-constructed mail pieces that provide a top-quality representation of your company. Recipients of direct mail tend to feel more inclined to respond when the sender seems to have invested more time and effort in marketing their products or services, which is far less likely to happen with generic digital marketing.
6. It’s More Formal Than Other Marketing Methods
Unlike other forms of marketing, direct mail presents information in one of the most formal ways, through letters, invitations, and other mediums. It also won’t come across as spam if it’s high quality enough, encouraging recipients to open it and actually pay attention to what’s inside, unlike digital spam. Direct mail can ultimately bring more class to your marketing campaigns, which can further influence your audience and help you shine over competitors.
7. Direct Mail Has the Highest Authority
Regarding authority, direct mail ranks the highest of all marketing methods, which can give companies a significant advantage over competitors in their marketing campaigns. Contrary to what many believe, direct mail still remains one of the best marketing methods compared to newer developments, retaining more authority compared to other strategies. One of the reasons for this is arguably because fewer companies are utilizing direct mail pieces in their campaigns, which ultimately makes the companies that use it stand out more.
8. People Are More Likely to Trust You
In every marketing campaign, gaining prospects’ trust is a top priority, and you need to make sure your marketing materials can help. People tend to trust direct mail pieces because they come across as less suspicious than digital marketing efforts. More and more people are learning to distrust the online word, which is making it necessary to find other ways to earn customers’ trust. Direct mail offers a way to more easily gain that trust, through legitimate mail pieces that reflect the effort put into them.
9. Direct Mail Has Proved to Provide Better ROI
Direct mail advertising has shown that it’s infinitely more worthwhile of an investment than other forms of marketing, giving businesses a 13 to 1 return on investment, according to the DMA. While ROI will vary from campaign to campaign, direct mail’s traffic record is reliable.
See a Difference with Direct Mail ROI
If your current marketing efforts aren’t achieving the best ROI, you may see an improvement with direct mail. Many direct mail marketing materials are relatively inexpensive, costing little to send out to viable prospects while potentially bearing a higher influence compared to other marketing materials.
10. Bears More Influence Over Buyer Decisions
Direct mail can influence purchasing behavior more than other types of marketing, particularly among Baby Boomers. If you want to further increase sales among this generation and others that are less tech savvy than Millennials, direct mail can hold greater influence. However, even younger generations can be impressed by top-tier direct mail pieces. You’ll find that direct mail is consistently effective regardless of the age of your audience, connecting with younger and older recipients alike, depending on the design.
With all of these reasons in mind, you can make your direct mail campaigns as integral to your marketing efforts as other alternatives. With the help of direct mail design experts, you can also make the most out of this marketing method, allowing you to get the most from your overall marketing efforts.
United Graphics and Mailing Group offers a full spectrum of brochure printing services for all of your editorial, marketing, flyer printing, and promotional needs. We can help you with the best mailing list for your business. If you would like to get started on buying the perfect mailing list today, you can contact us at any time.
