Sometimes it seems like a never-ending cycle – junk mail appears in your mailbox, you glance over it, then toss it into the recycling bin. Fortunately for you, there’s a difference between a piece of junk mail and using direct mail as a touch point in your marketing campaign.
Typical response rates for a direct mail campaign range from about 1% to 5%. This rate varies by industry, quality and relevance of the mailing list, as well as whether it’s a “warm” (have had previous interactions) or “cold” (no previous contact) list. By estimating your response rate, you can determine the size of the mailing needed to achieve your desired ROI or sales goals.
At first glance, a 1-5% return may not seem like much, but even one sale (depending on your profit margins) could pay for the entire campaign!
Here are some things we like about direct mail as a marketing channel:
Many assume with the rise of online advertising and a growing digital world, that the room for direct mail is dwindling. That’s not the case. Think of this example: there is a known divide in people who enjoy reading. They are often very passionate about either using an e-reader, or they swear by the tangible experience of holding a physical book. For many demographics, holding a piece of mail establishes trust in your offer or messaging that an email can’t obtain.
A key factor in establishing a marketing campaign is determining your target audience. With direct mail, you have the option to purchase data that can be filtered by anything that is public information: gender, education, profession, age, income, and even predicted purchasing behavior (ex: if their home has a pool or not).
Your marketing agency can help you identify your target audience and choose which of these filters would be best with your mailing. Mailing addresses can also be a lot easier to obtain than someone’s email address, since physical addresses are often public record.
Even though there might be a chance of someone throwing away your direct mail piece, the recipient still has to at least look it over. With good marketing and a strong CTA (call-to-action) that scenario could be avoided and eventually result in you receiving a phone call from a prospect or a new customer walking through your door or a new inquiry on your website. By driving people to your website, direct mail can also serve as the bridge between the traditional marketing and digital marketing. With email, you run the risk of getting the ‘click of death’, an automatic delete without even opening your email.
