Nowadays, most small businesses are knowledgeable about placing digital advertisements on social media and search engines. Direct mail, even though it seems traditional, is still an effective way to reach new customers. With Every Door Direct Mail®, you can reach customers with postcards and flyers, whether you are a restaurateur or a healthcare practitioner. Let’s take a look at how your small business can leverage direct mail marketing.
What Is Direct Mail Marketing?
Direct mail marketing, simply put, is when you leverage a database of individuals and send them a piece of direct mail, such as a postcard, flyer, or catalog. Your database of potential customers likely has a geographical focus but may be further refined with filters such as income and other demographic data points. The goal of sending these individuals a piece of physical mail is to convert them into a customer.
Direct mail marketing works particularly well for service businesses. You may have seen direct mail targeted toward you from realtors, dentists, automotive dealerships, and other types of businesses. Financial businesses, such as banks and insurers, will also send direct mail with the hopes of finding new customers.
Is Direct Mail Marketing Expensive?
Direct mail marketing, like any other type of advertising, has a cost associated with it. Let’s say that you use Every Door Direct Mail® to send 50,000 small 4.25×11 postcards. You will pay $.29 per household that receives one of these postcards. For every 1,000 postcards, you will be paying $14.50.
Let’s say that you were trying to do a Facebook advertising campaign. Depending upon your industry, you’re likely looking at paying $14.90 per 1,000 impressions of your Facebook ads. During the holiday season, the “cost per mile,” or the cost per 1,000 ads, can triple based on the ad inventory that Facebook has available.
Even though direct mail and Facebook ads cost the same, direct mail marketing is more effective, makin it a more affordable option for your business.
Conversion Rate
In the world of direct mail, the “response rate” is the percentage of people that respond to your direct mail advertisement. According to Forbes, the typical response rate to a direct mail campaign is about 9%. According to WordStream, the typical landing page conversion rate for digital advertising is about 2.35%. In terms of converting customers, direct mail tends to convert better than digital advertisements.
Brand Recall
Brand recall is the likelihood that customers will remember your brand, along with its products and services. Direct mail marketing also beats digital advertising when it comes to brand recall. Roughly 44% of people can remember a brand after seeing a digital advertisement whereas 75% of people receiving direct mail remember the brand. Those receiving direct mail likely remember the brand because they will review it, on average, three to four times.
From a Cost Perspective, Direct Mail Marketing Just Makes Sense
The statistics in the recent ANA Response Rate Report and the research from the Data & Marketing Association are encouraging. With a response rate of 9% to a house list and 5% to a prospect list, direct mail outperforms email by five to nine times. This means that when you invest in direct mail, you have a higher chance of getting a response from potential customers.
Additionally, since digital marketing channels are often oversaturated with messages, direct mail provides a refreshing and memorable alternative that is more likely to catch someone’s attention. The ability to target specific households or neighborhoods based on demographics and other factors means that you can send your message directly to those who are most likely to be interested in your product or service, maximizing your return on investment.
What Types of People Respond To Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail marketing works well for people of all ages and backgrounds. A common myth is that direct mailers only work well for older demographics. However, recent research suggests that younger people also prefer direct mail advertising.
According to the United States Postal Service, millennials react well to direct mail marketing. Many millennials like receiving physical mailing advertisements because of the personalized experience. Millennials are not print averse and many of them also read printed materials, such as magazines and books.
Frankly, anyone who has a mailbox will likely respond well to direct mail marketing. The research says:
- That 41% of Americans look forward to getting their mail every day (Gallup).
- About 60% of Americans look forward to discovering new products and services via direct mail (Epsilon).
- About two-thirds of people who receive direct mail will navigate over to the brand’s website to learn more about products and services (USPS).
Utilizing direct mail marketing makes perfect sense for brands that want to grow a new customer base across the United States.
How Do You Plan a Direct Mail Marketing Campaign?
If you are looking to launch a direct mail campaign, you should strongly consider utilizing Every Door Direct Mail®. You should also plan how to effectively manage your campaign.
What Is the Goal of Your Campaign?
When you plan your campaign, you need to know what constitutes a response. You might be looking for website visits, phone calls, sales, or physical foot traffic for your business. If you are looking for website visits, you can easily place a QR code on your mailer so that you can track the efficacy of your campaign.
Research What Your Competition Is Doing
You likely receive direct mail advertising from your competition. This can be a useful starting point for planning out your campaign. Some key takeaways from analyzing your competition include:
- Developing a value proposition for targeting customers.
- Setting a price floor to undercut your competition.
- Understanding the language and design of the mailing that your competition is doing.
Plan Your Creative Effectively
In addition to developing a compelling offer for your targeted customers, you should also look at implementing some best practices when creating your mailer:
- Make sure that you hire an experienced copywriter to deliver your message in a clear and compelling format.
- Professional photography showcasing your brand will win over new customers in your direct mailer.
- A professional designer can help tie all the creative messaging together in the final design of your final product.
- Verify that the contact information for your business is correct on the website, especially if you are using a specialized phone number specifically for the campaign.
Make Sure Your Stakeholders In Your Business Are Engaged
When you are planning your direct mail campaign, it is very important to understand who in your organization is going to be doing what. If you are sending out a direct mail campaign that is designed to attract phone calls, a salesperson in your organization should be assigned to answer incoming calls. If your organization is a franchise, making sure that an area representative is available will help make sure that you can respond to inquiries quickly.
Executing Your Campaign Over a Period of Time
You will start getting traction from your direct mail campaigns shortly after people start receiving their mail. Typically, Every Door Direct Mail gets delivered within one to two business days. However, the days that you send out your campaign should be a planning priority. Direct mail that arrives in the middle of the week tends to have the best response rates, according to the USPS. Mail that is sent on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays tend to have the best response rates, with Tuesday being the best.
Also, keep in mind that direct mail campaigns executed during certain months of the year might dampen your response rate. Here are some examples:
- Holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, and summer vacations will impact your direct mail campaign’s performance.
- Certain types of service businesses might not reach their targeted response rates if a campaign is launched during a time such as the back-to-school season.
- Make sure that your campaign is not impacted by three-day weekends, such as Memorial Day or Labor Day.
Use Every Door Direct Mail For Your Next Campaign
If you’re a small business owner looking to target specific neighborhoods with your marketing efforts, Every Door Direct Mail is your answer! With this innovative mailing solution, you can reach potential customers in a cost-effective manner without breaking the bank. Whether you want to advertise a sale or introduce a new product, Every Door Direct Mail makes it easy to get your message directly into the hands of those who matter most. So why waste your precious marketing dollars on expensive digital ads or outdated direct mail campaigns? Give Every Door Direct Mail a try and see the results for yourself. Don’t let your competition get ahead – start using Every Door Direct Mail today!
