Remember the classic sitcom Seinfeld? One of the recurring characters was Newman. He was a postal worker who drove the other characters nuts.
In one episode, the character Kramer told Newman he wanted to cancel his mail.
Not forward it but cancel it altogether.
Kramer’s request horrified Newman, who eventually revealed that no one needed mail anymore.
But to do so would cause all kinds of calamity.
That episode stuck with me. For years, digital marketers have been claiming that direct mail is dead.
They couldn’t be more wrong.
Direct mail is still one of the most impressive marketing methods out there.
Coupled with a solid digital marketing plan, direct mail can deliver massive numbers for your company’s bottom line.
Let’s look at the reasons why direct mail is still so effective.
Reason #1: Direct Mail is Physical
Direct mail is a real, tactile thing.
It often has a higher perceived value than digital messages.
People often sort their mail over the garbage can and toss anything they don’t want. But they’ll still pause and look at a piece of direct mail… if it’s designed well.
Why? When people are sorting their mail, they’re examining something. It’s different from looking at their inbox full of email,
Because email is digital, there is almost no value placed on it. It’s viewed as an intrusion.
A person’s inbox is often the only place they can go to online and determine what they allow in.
Think about it.
People get bombarded by thousands of marketing messages every day online. So, they try to protect their inbox as a sacred space.
Also, what if the recipient wants to save the environment? They may think twice before discarding something that came in the mail. At least without looking at it first.
Then there’s the idea of privacy and identity theft.
You can delete emails immediately.
But you have to throw away physical direct mail in a way that protects the reader’s identity.
My wife is a zealot about this. She’ll often let physical direct mail pile up for weeks. She waits until she has a chance to sort through everything and run the stuff she doesn’t want into the shredder.
Reason #2: Customers Feel More Valued
On the surface, this may sound silly.
Why would a person feel more valued by a company sending a physical direct mail piece over an email?
Simple. The act of sending out a direct mail piece takes more effort.
The piece is printed and addressed and stamped. Then the piece must make its way to the post office where it is finally delivered lovingly to you.
Compare the last card someone mailed to you versus the e-card you got for your birthday.
Which one do you feel is more valuable?
Reason #3: Direct Mail is Measurable
Proponents of digital marketing claim direct mail is not measurable. Again, not true.
Direct mail can be very targeted, by demographics, location, and many other factors.
If you’re mailing to a cold list your company bought or rented, you have several ‘selects’ to fine-tune the list.
You can drill down to a target that is more likely to want what your company has to offer.
It’s easy to track results, too.
One way is to include a coupon code or dedicated phone number on the offer. Customers would use that code or phone number to respond to your offer.
If the code or phone number is unique to that mailing piece, you can easily track its effectiveness.
Another option is to set up a hidden page on your website with a dedicated special domain.
Include that domain in your direct mail piece. Customers who respond go to your dedicated webpage to respond.
Their response can be filling out a contact form, clicking a link on that page, whatever.
You can track results and find out with incredible accuracy how well your mailings do.
Reason #4: You Can Use a Lot of Variety in Direct Mail
Email is going to always have a subject line that must do its job. It has to get prospects and customers to open them.
With direct marketing, you have an amazing and diverse number of options to consider.
You can use plain business envelopes, postcards, self-mailers, magalogs, and so many more.
Consider postcards. With a good graphic designer, you can create postcards that are unique from one another.
Reason #5: Direct Mail is Less Common
Remember Newman’s big worry? That mail would eventually become extinct?
Yes, it’s true the number of direct mail dropped substantially over recent years.
But that creates an opportunity.
If there’s less direct mail taking up space in your prospect’s mailbox, yours has a better opportunity to stand out.
Compare that to digital marketing. In the early days of online commerce, almost every email was opened. Or so it seemed. But it was new, fresh, and exciting.
Then the spammers took over and ruined it for everyone.
There are so many digital marketing channels waving their hands, trying to grab your attention. It’s much harder to cut through the clutter.
Reason #6: Direct Mail Still Boasts an Amazing ROI
When considering any marketing method, look at the numbers. And in this area, direct marketing still delivers.
According to SmallBizGenius, in 2020, direct mail had an ROP of 9% on average for an in-house list. (A house list is one made up of prospects who contacted you directly and past customers.)
For a cold list, like one rented from a mailing house, the response was 4.9%.
That last statistic is impressive.
Back in the early 2000s, many direct response marketers celebrated an ROI of 1% to 2%!
Ready to See What Direct Mail Can Do for You?
Although I’m ‘that digital marketing guy,” I started my marketing career with effective direct mail. To find out what I can do for you, contact me today. You can call my office directly at (716) 940-8963 to set up a free Discovery Call.