Going beyond the inbox: Exploring the benefits of Direct Mail marketing in a Digital World

Take your message further by utilising the power of Direct Mail

by Ben Walker

We live in an ever-changing, progressing and developing digital world. When thinking about physical mail, it can be easy to compare it to Blockbuster video, the humble VHS, and rolodexes and dismiss it as something that has been left in the past, but this simply isn’t the case.

Physical mail cuts through the immense noise the digital era throws at all of us and keeps things clean, simple, and creative.

So, is physical mail something to celebrate, is it something to leave in the past, or is does it have a more powerful place than ever before? 

The Digital Age: A New, Noisy Era

The digital age continues to grow at exhausting rates. New technologies emerge which gives rise to new jobs, new businesses, new markets and, therefore, new ads. Ads are getting smarter, subtler, and more powerful; however, they are also increasing in quantity at an alarming rate.

According to Statista, 36% of internet users in the UK use an ad blocker. According to my personal opinion, the other 64% of internet users in the UK are tired of being bombarded with internet ads when trying to look at cute videos or learn how to fix the kitchen sink.

Advertisement is getting smarter via social media endorsements and other ways to spread a message far and wide, but for passive scrollers such as myself, seeing an advertisement for dog treats from some of my favourite content creators does little more than elicit an eye roll.

The online era means that advertisers can spend an immense amount of time (and money) perfecting a target audience to deploy an ad to, designing the ad, and releasing it only for it to enter a noisy void and result in little to no return on investment.

Additionally, sometimes the need for advertising marketing is created out of competition and little more. Your rival company is serving ads that you need to compete with, otherwise your potential new customers will purchase directly from your competitor. After the cigarette advertising ban of 1971, profits rose for major tobacco companies as sales were maintained but advertising budgets dropped to £0. The competitive market was frozen.

The internet is a saturated wild west of adverts for useful products, clickbait articles, oft-frustrating endorsements and battling businesses. All of that creates a perfect storm, and a headache, for a consumer that has a bit of money to spend.

Beyond the Inbox: Benefits of Direct Mail Marketing

Direct mail marketing doesn’t have the same baggage as online marketing. The online ad gold rush has led prospectors from around the world onto one place and often away from traditional methods of marketing. Direct mail marketing is not saturated as many marketing companies have been led online. This creates a tidy gap in the market.

When a consumer is inundated with noise and bombarded with products thousands of times a day, it’s a breath of fresh air to receive a well-designed piece of marketing in the post, and they won’t be receiving thousands of postcards from rival companies that day, week, or even ever in many cases.

Direct mail marketing allows you to send a message directly to your audience without entering a noisy, saturated, and headache-inducing platform. Instead, you can reach your audience when they have a moment to sit down and think (preferably with a cup of tea).

When your message reaches someone when they’re not inundated with several hungry marketers clawing for their attention, they’re much more likely to interact, respond, and ultimately, convert. But don’t just take our word for it, take a look at the stats:

• According to research conducted by Newswire, the average response rate for direct mail is between 2.7% and 4.4%, compared to an email’s 0.6% response rate.
• A piece of mail has an estimated lifespan of 17 days. An ad online will come and go in an instant.
• Direct mail is easy to personalise and can lead to a 135% increase in response rates.
• Research would also suggest that an average of 74% of consumers find the high numbers of digital ads overwhelming.

As mail can remain in your audience’s home, too, it means that every time they walk past the kitchen table, they’ll see your ad. With the marketing principle the rule of 7, your consumer can have seven interactions with your brand with a single letter.

Data-Driven Marketing: Take Your Message Further

The best way to supercharge a direct mail marketing campaign is to utilise and integrate the digital age to your advantage. So, direct mail can cut through the noise and get a message to your audience, and you can select and refine an audience that’s most likely to listen to your message.

With tailored data, you can even follow up a direct mail campaign with an online campaign to elevate your company above the maelstrom of other brands. Stand out from the crowd by targeting the right people at the right time with the right message and save costs in doing so.

Supercharge your return on investment by injecting data into your marketing with ease and get your message across in various formats ensuring it’s seen by the right crowd.

Direct mail gives you the ability to talk to your consumer in a personal way. You no longer need to try to scream loudest to a person desensitised from reading “dentists hate her” a million times a day, now you can deliver your message to them with ease.

Targeting far and wide is old news, zero party is the future. Don’t spend hundreds of thousands of pounds on a campaign that reaches millions and has a conversion rate of 0.001%, spend a fraction of that on a hyper-targeted campaign that has a conversion rate much, much closer to 100% and gain a larger profit and a significantly larger return on investment.

The Power of Direct Mail Marketing

Direct mail marketing is more powerful than it has ever been before. Online, the market is saturated. A company can spend many thousands of pounds on ads for Google, Instagram, on remarketing campaigns, only for an ad to sit below a competitor, get skipped, scrolled past, or ignored. The market is so saturated a consumer can stare at an ad as if they’re looking at an empty screen, no urge to buy, nothing going in, no thoughts.

It’s like throwing pounds into a well and hoping it’s a wishing well. Yes, maybe you’ll instantly generate a high return on investment but it’s much more likely you’re throwing your money away. With direct mail marketing, however, you can tailor your marketing campaign to a specific audience, target that audience, and deliver them a message that they can physically interact with, likely without any of those individuals seeing a similar message from a competitor in some time.

Deploying a marketing campaign in the post is powerful, tailored, gentle, and bespoke. Instead of being another tiny voice in the depths of the world wide web, be an authority without needing to change your message.

Cut through the noise, go beyond the inbox, and explore the benefits of physical mail with Precision. Contact the team today to find out more about how we can help you spread your message when people need to hear it most.