Why Direct Mail is an Essential Part of an Omnichannel Marketing Strategy
When deciding what marketing strategies your business is going to use, it can be hard to decide what channel you want to take. Do you want to advertise on social media? Send out emails with special sales? Send out postcards with coupons? The answer to all of these questions happens to be — YES! Research has shown that taking an omnichannel approach to marketing actually achieves the best results. According to MailChimp, omnichannel marketing refers to an organization’s presence across multiple channels. These channels can include websites, apps, social media, and email, in addition to offline channels, such as brick and mortar retail stores or company events. Another large offline channel is… you guessed it, direct mail!
With so many digital marketing channels available, you may not understand why direct mail is such a great marketing tool. Continue reading to discover 8 reasons why direct mail still works!
1. Direct Mail is Effective
In a survey of 1,000 consumers between 18 and 75+ years old, 66% indicated that they act on their direct mail in some way. This percentage goes even higher, up to 74%, when talking about consumers aged 18-39. 72% of another important demographic, parents aged 25-39, said print ads encourage them to make a purchase.
2. Direct Mail is Targeted
The average person sees almost 3000 untargeted marketing messages in a single day. Of these 3000, less than 10 are remembered. However, direct mail can be specifically targeted to an individual person. We can target things such as location, income-level, gender, interests, and a lot of other demographics. Because the message is more relevant to them, they are more likely to remember it. Additionally, 90% of direct mail gets opened and is kept in the household for 17 days on average.
3. Direct Mail is Personal
36% of consumers feel that direct mail is more personalized and more relevant to them than other advertisements. 50% of consumers feel that direct mail usually includes a good deal on a product or service. Because direct mail is heavily targeted, we can know what sorts of things are important to the consumer and know how to best market towards them. Plus, with things like variable data printing, we can REALLY make it personal.
4. Direct Mail is Memorable
From emails, to social media, to working remotely, many of us are switching between various forms of digital consumption all day every day. Because of this, digital fatigue is growing. 75% of consumers have digital fatigue, so advertising in a non-digital format is going to make a bigger impact. 22% of consumers aged 18-39 have stated that they like the physical process of receiving and opening mail. Touching something actually uses 21% less mental effort to process and remember a message. Direct mail combines less effort with a pleasurable experience and will leave the consumer with a favorable memory of your company.
5. Direct Mail is Trusted
While the internet is full of amazing information, it is also full of unreliable sources and people tend to not automatically trust advertisements that they see online. However, 90% of consumers aged 25-39 trust direct mail to be reliable and 61% of consumers between the ages of 18 and 75+ tend to have a positive view of direct mail. In fact, even among consumers who have a negative view of direct mail, 42% of them still acted on it.
6. Direct Mail is Brand-Building
The more times that a consumer sees the same brand imaging, the more they are going to be familiar with it, and the more they are going to trust it. If by the time they see an Instagram ad from a company, they’ve already seen a billboard and a postcard from them, the more likely they are to remember the company and feel a bond with them. By this point, the brand is familiar to them. Direct mail allows consumers to hold on to an advertisement and take a second look at it. This is a unique feature that not many forms of advertising have. 85% of consumers aged 18-39 felt they get to know a brand better through a combination of digital and physical marketing.
7. Direct Mail is Economical
While email prospect lists tend to be more affordable than direct mail prospect lists, 90% of direct mail gets opened. Conversely, only 21% of emails are opened. It doesn’t matter how cheap your lists are if no one is reading your message. In 2021, the average ROI (Return on Investment) for letter-size envelopes mailed to a prospect list was 112%. Comparing this to the 93% ROI that emails got, it’s clear to see that direct mail is the smarter investment of advertising dollars for your business.
8. Direct Mail is Efficient
Direct mail is the key piece of an omnichannel marketing puzzle because it really ties everything together. 90% of people interested in the product or service advertised by direct mail will follow up by visiting the website or following a QR code placed on the piece of direct mail. Now that they’ve been to your website, your digital campaigns can start doing some of the work. Direct mail improves the response rate on other forms of marketing. For example, 60% of consumers aged 25-39 are more likely to purchase if they’ve seen an ad on both physical and digital media. If your direct mail can properly lead them to a digital marketing channel, now your consumer has already seen you in both forms and is way more likely to purchase something from you.
Direct mail is only one ingredient to a successful omnichannel marketing strategy, but it is an important one. If you haven’t integrated into your company’s marketing campaigns yet, what are you waiting for? We’d love to help you get started!
Contact us today to integrate direct mail into your omnichannel marketing strategy and increase the effectiveness of your advertising budget.
Call PrimeNet today at 1-800-826-2869 and ask for Scott or fill out our contact form here.
