skip to Main Content

‘Digital’ is becoming an increasingly difficult place to get noticed.

Whether you left Direct Mail (DM) many years ago having jumped to social and digital, or you’ve never tried it, now is a great time to make it part of your communication mix.

According to Social Media Examiner:

Digital ad costs are going up.
Impressions are dropping on all the social platforms.
And more businesses are competing for the same customers.

Direct mail is very much alive and if it hasn’t been part of your tactics, you’ve probably been missing out.

Direct mail is the channel with the highest potential for growth and return. Plenty of case studies, research, and our own DM experience prove it. But more importantly, when others realize that their digital efforts are ever-diminishing what other 1:1 tactic would they turn too?

3 reasons why DM should be a key part of your marketing lineup.

Just look at the response rate.

The Direct Mail Consumer Survey conducted by Infogroup reported that 58% of consumers open and read promotional mailers — way more than they do for digital channels.

According to the Data & Marketing Association and the Association of National Advisors, the Response Rate Report found direct mail response rates averaged 9% for house lists and 5% for prospect lists. Compared to response rates for digital — Email, social and paid search have an average response rate of 1%, while online display ads average a measly 0.3%.

One factor to ensure increased response rates (regardless of tactic) is the quality of the piece – from strategy and creative, to the message, offer, timing, and who receives it. Unlike digital, direct mail is tangible and real, which gives it instant value and more realestate to tell your message.

Don’t be cheap. Consider the format. 

While postcards and flyers may be cheap to produce, they also reflect that to your prospect and in this case size matters when it comes to results; letter-sized direct mail can average just over 15% response rate!

Shorter sales cycles and less nurturing.

Direct mail can accelerate your sales – turning prospects into customers at a much faster rate than digital efforts. I’ve seen it mentioned that if you were to launch a direct mail campaign today, it’s likely less than 1 out of 100 targets would have to buy for it to be a profitable marketing investment. And once you see results it’s easier to double down on direct mail.

We’ve had some phenomenal results from campaigns we helped develop and which had direct mail as the only or central tactic in the campaign mix:

  • Consumer campaigns where DM drove leads that converted to 13% more in sales
  • B2B mail that went to a select targeted healthcare list added $1.2 million to the sales pipeline in less than 6 weeks
  • Or as part of a general media campaign our mail creative contributed to a reported 500:1 lifetime value ROI.
Inundated with email, updates, and notifications in our feed each day, our mailboxes are virtually empty, giving your message a much easier time to make an impression.

Canada Post recently revealed that “physical content is easier to comprehend and translates to a 70% higher recall rate”.

While direct mail is an effective way to reach seniors and Gen X’ers, it’s also effective in targeting the Millennial audience, with a reported 84% of millennials taking time to check their mail.

Don’t miss out on the power of direct mail.

As with most things, when you start to hear about other brands switching away from digital the pendulum will have already moved and everyone will be jumping on the direct mail bandwagon. Only then, you could find yourself playing catch up again and competing for attention — in the physical mail box. The time to get in front of your competitors is now.

> If DM is something you’re interested in exploring, simply give us a call at 612 349 2711 or send us an email and let’s chat about your goals and objectives. Because no business can afford to be off their prospects’ radar.