Delivering Effective Direct Mail Efforts
Posted by 
on Monday, March 14, 2011 
at 7:56 AM 
in MarketingSherpa recently published an encouraging report for companies that offer direct mail and printing services. The report, titled “Direct mail rated as an effective tactic by many B2B organizations“, includes a chart that indicates many B2B organizations still find direct mail to be an effective component in their marketing efforts:
Of course, we all recognize that companies no longer rely solely on direct mail and print to try to reach their customers and prospects. But as long as it remains an effective channel, businesses will use it.
Here are three ways that service providers can strive to execute effective direct mail efforts for their clients:
- Personalization and Segmentation: Data was meant to do more than simply be imported and exported. Find creative ways to segment lists by the criteria that you may have. Then, tailor the message, content, and/or graphics to appeal specifically to each group.
- Complement the Effort with Other Channels: How many touches does it take to make a sale? If there really is a magic number, the bottom line is this: the answer is not typically 1! Rather, it may take multiple efforts through multiple channels to truly make an impression on a prospect. Use channels such as email, social media, and mobile marketing in addition to the direct mail piece to truly deliver an integrated, cross-channel campaign.
- Test Multiple Designs & Offers: As a service provider, we do want our customers to believe that we are the experts. Recommending that you want to “test” multiple offers does not indicate that you are not sure of what you’re doing. Rather, it proves that you are truly supporting them and that you’re determined to ensure that their marketing & educational efforts are as good as possible. Try testing multiple mailers with different wording and graphics. Then, present the reports to them that show them what’s working the best.
Tags Imagine If You Could See the Future
If you could see into the future, what would you do? In today’s economic times, you certainly may be tempted to steal a page from Marty McFly and bet on sporting events to win guaranteed money.
However, here’s something that is a bit more practical. It also could help you grow your business.
eMarketer.com published this chart recently:
The sub-heading in the article summarizes these results very well: “More undergrads have mobile web device than desktop computer”.
If your marketing activities involve reaching out to college students, or those that will soon be graduating, we are being given a glimpse into the future. In some cases, the future is now.
If we produce content for the web, or if we produce marketing materials that drive people to the web, we must recognize now more than ever before that certain groups of people are looking at that content on their phones.
This absolutely has to affect our workflow and production. It means that we need to invest additional time testing our materials. It means that we may need to invest in solutions that enable us to create mobile-optimized content. It means that we may need to look at how to use QR Codes, to make our printed materials interactive.
Yes, if college students have changed the way that they view content on the web, we as marketers must change the way we reach them.
The Mobile Invasion
During the upcoming weekend, I’d like you to look around a bit. Perhaps it’s while you grab a coffee, travel on public transportation, or attend a sports event or concert. As you watch what others are doing, I am quite sure that you will come to this conclusion: more and more people are carrying and using smart phones.
Mobile Marketing Watch published the results of a study by Nielsen that confirms this. In fact, the title of the post is “Android, Smartphones Invading U.S. With A Vengeance“.
Here is the chart that pretty much sums up what we all know, or will know, after this weekend 
There is no need for anyone to believe that the growth of smart phones will slow down anytime soon. Thus, if we are a printer, mailer, fulfillment house, or some other sort of marketing services provider, we must do everything we can to ensure that we ride this same path upwards.
- It might be with QR Codes: 2-D barcodes that help make print interactive and provide measurement.
- Perhaps it’s finding ways to incorporate calls-to-action on printed materials that require SMS/Text-Messaging.
- It may also mean finding ways to communicate with our prospects and customers via text.
Sure, this type of change will affect our business in various ways. If we are driving people to the web on their mobile phones, it would be wise to point them to mobile-optimized landing pages. If we are communicating via SMS, we may need to invest in new technology or a service.
But as the Nielsen study helps us to see, people are investing in smart phones. If we make the necessary investments to keep up with them, we may reap the benefits quickly.
