How to Get Better Campaign Results with Direct Mail

Over the past several years, there has been a considerable amount of research that proves the advantage of physical print and direct mail in marketing campaign success. Direct mail consistently yields the highest response rates of any other channel, and consumers trust print ads and direct mail catalogs the most when making a purchasing decision.

The bottom line is this: Direct mail works.

Good marketers understand that no campaign can be successful using only one channel.  Integrating direct mail with digital channels consistently proves to be an effective way to get consumers to take action.

An omnichannel campaign can achieve a 23% – 46% lift on campaign results versus using direct mail alone.  Yet, it takes a concerted effort to develop a campaign that is omnichannel and fully integrated.

There are many interpretations of the word “omnichannel” and “integrated,” and while the two are often used interchangeably, they mean different things in this context.  We define omnichannel as utilizing the same messaging across each channel to play a part in driving consumers towards a specific call to action.  Digital integration, as summarized by the Direct Mail and Analytics Division of the ANA, is an approach to marketing where a brand creates a seamless experience for consumers to interact with the brand to deliver a unified and customer-centric experience.  Digital integration leverages data and logic across print and digital channels to create data-driven campaigns.

For those that are new to digital integration, it may sound intimidating. Not to worry.  ANRO’s developed a package that provides all the programming and technology necessary to fully integrate your next direct mail campaign.  We call it Opt@Mail.  To illustrate, let’s give an example of what a digitally integrated direct mail campaign could look like with Opt@Mail:

Let’s say you’re a marketing director at an athletic club like LA Fitness. Your marketing goal is to increase membership.  You’re a savvy marketer, so you know you need a high response integrated marketing campaign.  You want to leverage direct mail, since the response rates are the highest in that channel.

You profile existing members and then identify 5,000 contacts in your surrounding service area that match the demographic/psychographic and audience propensity models of your current members.  You purchase the mail list from ANRO, and your design team has created the direct mail piece with a specific and measurable call to action: sign up for a tour of the club. The tour can be scheduled online through your website or via phone.

Now, how will you fully integrate this marketing campaign across digital and print channels to ensure a unified customer experience?

ANRO will suggest Opt@Mail, a measurable digital integration package that employs 7 components including online and offline channels that work together to drive maximized visibility and enhanced results to your direct mail piece. Those components include:

Social Match

Match your mailing list to the profiles of registered Facebook and Instagram users, before your mailing is dropped into the mail stream. This allows you to serve ads that match your mailing design and messaging to your target market’s social feeds even before they see your direct mail piece.  Think of this as the “warm-up” to the direct mail marketing campaign.

Mail Tracking

Know exactly when your direct mail is hitting mailboxes.  Ramp up support or use this information as a trigger for an email or another campaign action.  In our athletic club example, the mail tracking date could initiate an email blast to hit inboxes the following day to remind the consumer to take action.

Informed Delivery

Your mail piece will be accompanied by a full color, clickable ad within a greyscale email preview sent by the USPS to individuals on your mail list that are signed up for Informed Delivery providing a free digital impression and opportunity for engagement. There are currently over 29 Million people signed up for Informed Delivery.

Call Tracking

You will have access to live updates and recordings of every call you’ve received as a result of your direct mail campaign.

Online Follow-Up

Or simply, digital retargeting.  Retarget visitors who go to your website, but leave without taking action, with a full color clickable ad.  Your ad will be displayed to that individual via the Google Display Network when they’re online, directing them back to your website and reminding them of their original interest.

Social Media Follow-Up

Hand in hand with online follow-up, this is digital retargeting meets visitors on their Facebook and Instagram social media feeds.

Lead Match

Finally, the Lead Match component, allows us to identify specifically who from the original mail list visited your website.  Additionally, if someone that was not originally on your mail list, but visited your website, we are able to capture their physical address and provide that back to you as well.  Lead Match will allow you to capture interested leads and follow up with them quickly for true campaign attrition.

By using Opt@Mail, you’ll combine 7 online and offline marketing channel components into your campaign for a holistic and measurable marketing approach.  All ad displays, opens, impressions, engagements, phone calls, leads and more are captured in an easy-to-use dashboard that’s accessible to you.