Why Use Direct Mail in the Digital Age?

In the three decades since web browsing became a primary platform for digital marketing, many news headlines have gloomily heralded the decline of print media and direct mail promotion. The advent of the web caused many newspapers and magazines to stop publishing on paper, particularly during the global financial crisis of 2008; nonetheless, the reality of direct mail is that many brands and businesses continue to send promotional pieces to anchor their marketing campaigns.

According to research conducted by the Winterberry Group, a respected marketing analytics firm, American businesses are spending $38 billion each year to manage direct mail campaigns. Since 2022, the application of this traditional marketing strategy has increased by 1.5%, and even major digital brands such as Netflix are rediscovering the advantage of reaching audiences through their physical mailboxes.

“Why use direct mail?” is a question we get from many clients. The short answer is that it can be a highly effective element of an omnichannel marketing strategy. For the more detailed answer below, we will mention Netflix again as we look at some interesting aspects of its direct mail campaigns.

Direct Mail Delivers Trusted and Tangible Marketing Pieces

The protocols for email communications were developed to emulate the functions of the postal service. For this reason, many brands flocked to email for their advertising and marketing efforts in the late 1990s. At the time, advertisers were focused on factors such as lower costs, instant delivery, easy tracking, and personalization. By the late 2000s, inboxes began getting cluttered with promotional emails, spam filters were introduced, and internet users became accustomed to deleting messages before opening them.

Strong impressions have always been somewhat elusive in email marketing. With direct mail, audiences receive pieces that are tangible, memorable, and easier to trust. Direct mail has higher open rates than email, and it can be highly targeted to specific demographics. Your prospects and customers can easily click or touch the delete button and forget about your emails. Direct mail pieces, on the other hand, are touched, looked at, and often read before audiences take action.

The trust appeal of direct mail is amplified when you use your own data. Let’s say you operate an e-commerce shop or a pizza delivery service; with each sale, you collect verified residential and business addresses that often double as billing addresses. This is now your data, which has been verified with a transaction, and the trust runs both ways for direct mail marketing campaigns. Your recipients have already paid for something you sent them, enhancing brand recognition and trust when they get marketing pieces from you.

Types of Direct Mail Strategies

Netflix did not completely stop mailing DVDs until 2023. However, its transition to an all-streaming business model started in 2007. Shortly after the final DVDs were mailed, the company launched new direct mail campaigns with postcards to promote new series and episodic shows. This strategy sparked what is now known as the Netflix-style postcard, which is a template that emulates the website “hero image” you see when browsing for movies, series, and documentaries. Many real estate professionals are using this new style for their mailers.

Beyond promotional and informational postcards, direct mail campaigns can also be tailored for trigger-based marketing, which can be driven by events or behaviors. Event-driven mailers are usually sent for birthdays, anniversaries, or after purchases. Behavior-driven mailers are based on specific behaviors, such as abandoned shopping carts. Some of our e-commerce clients are thoroughly surprised to learn how effective mailing can be in motivating customers to complete purchases they forgot about.

Customer loyalty drives are fun marketing strategies that can be amplified with direct mail. Sending out small gifts or personalized offers during the holidays is a classy strategy many customers appreciate, and they are perfect for inspiring customer loyalty. You can also add experiential mail to the mix with textures, scents, pop-ups, or QR codes that launch augmented reality events. When your direct mail campaigns include promotional products, you get a winning combination.

Adding Direct Mail to Your Omnichannel Marketing Mix

Let’s say your online business presence is spread across a website, an Instagram profile, and a LinkedIn page. An ideal strategy in this case would be to manage an omnichannel sales funnel, and you will want to give it a boost with a direct mail campaign. Start by establishing the aim. Do you want more brand awareness, an increase in website traffic, or to generate more revenue? Then, you should narrow your audience down to a mailing list of recipients who are more likely to take action.

Want to learn more about how direct mail can augment your digital marketing efforts? Contact our office today at 727.888.1200, so that we can discuss your options for print, mail, and promotional products.