What are the benefits of direct mail marketing?

If you’re considering direct mail for your business but you’re not sure if it’s worth the investment, we’ve compiled a list of benefits of direct mail marketing.

We’ve said it countless times before but direct mail really is a fantastic form of communication because it puts your brand in the hands and in the homes of your customers and prospects.

It has so many applications too from acquiring new business, to creating brand awareness, cross-selling to existing customers, building brand loyalty and more.

Read on for 10 benefits of direct mail marketing and we think you’ll want to seriously consider adding this channel to the mix if you don’t already.

10 benefits of direct mail marketing

1. Direct Mail is tangible

The first and most obvious quality of direct mail is that it is physical. It’s designed to be directly interacted with by its recipients.

Direct mail literally gets your brand into the hands of your customers and prospects.

The tangible nature of direct mail instantly sets it apart from digital too. Physical mail enters the home and can hang around much longer than a ‘swiped past’ social ad.

2. Direct Mail is highly targeted

Direct mail shouldn’t be approached with a ‘one size fits all’ mentality.

It can be a highly targeted marketing method. Your messaging and content can be tailored for your various audiences, from existing loyal customers to new prospects.

With your existing customer comms, take advantage of all the information you hold. The more insight you have upfront, the more targeted your direct mail campaigns can be.

The same can be said for any bought data lists you’d like to write to. Data goes far beyond names and addresses. You can use purchase preferences, professions, birthdays, and much more to deliver a message that talks directly to the recipient.

3. Direct Mail can be personal

Leading on nicely, direct mail can be highly personalised too where each letter can contain personalised information.

Digital print means every piece of direct mail can be unique and copy/content adjusted to appeal to the individual receiving it.

4. Direct Mail can be creative and engaging

Direct mail can be as creative and engaging as you want it to be. Yes, your typical piece of DM might be a letter or a postcard but the possibilities really are endless.

When it comes to digital channels, there’s no tactile aspect to start, and things like web banners and social ads are often restricted by size and what you can actually change. Email is even worse, with only one line of text visible to users before they click.

Mail isn’t just a treat for the eyes and fingers, it can engage all five senses. You can make it smell good, play music even taste good!

Take a look at these examples of direct mail done right.

5. Direct Mail is measurable

The good news is, direct mail is easy to measure. There are a variety of techniques that help marketers measure performance for any campaign. Here are a few of them…

Website visits: One of the most common ways to measure a direct mail campaign is to use a custom landing page and only use the URL on your direct mail campaigns so it can be directly attributed. Alternatively you can create a custom personalised URL (PURL), which redirects to an existing page pre-populated with a recipient’s data. This makes for an easier customer experience. PURLs help track landing page hits and recipient actions too.

Custom phone number: You can use a phone number that’s unique to your direct mail campaign. This allows you to track specific queries from your DM activity.

Exclusive offer: You can create a unique offer that only features on your direct mail marketing. It’s an easy way to track transactions that have been driven by your mail marketing.

It’s also a good idea to keep your sales and customer service teams in the loop with your campaign activity. They can also note if interactions have come as a result of a direct mail campaign. 

6. Direct mail is cost-effective

Direct mail can be very cost-effective when done right.

An annual study by the DMA has revealed direct mail has an average ROI of 29%. It can work for all budgets.

7. Direct Mail gets results

In recent years there’s been lots of talk that digital will replace mail marketing but the past year has demonstrated that mail matters more than ever.

In fact, in Q2 2020 96% of mail was engaged with in some way. With so much digital noise, a piece of mail can be very refreshing and carries many benefits for brands.

Mail shouldn’t replace your digital activity, instead, it should be integrated as part of your multi-channel campaigns.

Mail can in fact boost your other activities. Ad mail has the nudge factor – seeing a significant 64% shift in online behaviour year on year. (source: JICMAIL Q2 18 – Q2 20)

8. Direct mail puts your brand in their hands

Mail gets your brand physically into people’s hands and it’s the key reason why you should never underestimate the power of physical mail. Consumers who saw mail first had 30% more dwell time on social media.

“Whilst an email can sit unnoticed and unopened in your inbox, a piece of mail will be physically picked up, noticed and can remain in a home for more than 28 days – reinforcing a message for a month – and giving your brand a presence in the place most precious to your customers.” – Nicky Bullard, Chairwoman and Chief Creative Office at MRM and Mccann.

You can read more about the power of physical mail here.

9. Direct mail is trusted

Mail has been around for a long time and its familiarity creates a sense of security and trustworthiness that connects with consumers.

87% of people consider mail to be believable compared to 48% for email.

Mail delivers a warm welcome, an important step in keeping customers satisfied. Mail makes people feel special.

70% have a better impression of a company after receiving mail (vs email).

(Source:Royal Mail MarketReach, Mail Matters More Than Ever Guide)

10. Direct Mail boosts your digital marketing

As previously mentioned, mail marketing can boost your digital marketing. Direct mail can be used in any stage of the marketing funnel to work toward the same goals as your online ads.

Take a look at our article on how mail plays a key role throughout the customer journey.

People browse and buy from mail, making it ideal for driving conversion. 25% buy something as a result of receiving mail in the past 12 months.

Programmatic mail is a great example of how the two mediums can work perfectly together.

In a nutshell, programmatic mail is where a piece of direct mail is automatically generated, printed, and sent out to a potential customer based on their actions on a website e.g abandoned basket or added items to wishlist.

Whatever your goal, direct mail can work with your other marketing methods to improve overall performance and increase customer engagement and ROI.

Are you ready to try direct mail?

Direct mail is our core business but we specialise in all areas of marketing fulfilment. Our approach is simple yet intelligent.

We’re a single source supplier. Why use multiple suppliers when you can use just one for your next direct mail campaign?

We’ll design it, cleanse it, print it, enclose it and post it. 

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