In a world where the words “marketing” and “clicks” are often interchangeable, direct mail marketing may seem like an outdated concept to most marketers, brand strategists, and small business owners. The value of tangible pieces of mail, however, continues to be a powerful, yet underused and often overlooked marketing channel. But today, print is making a serious comeback and it’s time to take notice. Direct mail has major advantages as a high-ROI tool that reaches, engages, and converts your ideal audience across all demographics.
In this article, we’ll highlight the benefits of direct mail and explore why it’s just as effective now as it was 50 years ago. We’ll also look at data that shows the ROI of using direct mail as a key component of your integrated marketing strategy. By the end of this article, you’ll be an expert on creating winning direct mail campaigns and know why print should have a place in your comprehensive marketing strategy.
Why Does Direct Mail Work When Digital is So Dominant?
The typical consumer receives hundreds of emails per day. Most of those are immediately deleted or ignored. The physical mailbox is far less cluttered, and a beautiful, eye-catching, well-designed piece of physical mail will likely get more attention than email can.
Here are five reasons direct mail is far from dead:
- Better Open and Response Rates: Email open rates tend to be dismal, typically around 20–25%. By contrast, direct mail open rates can be as high as 85%. Response rates are also much higher for direct mail, with averages of 5–9 times higher than digital.
- Tangibility Leads to Memory: Physical mail is tangible, whereas digital ads are just a flash in our eyes. That tangibility of direct mail makes it stick in memory much longer than digital can.
- Less Clutter: You have hundreds of emails to sort through every day. Your physical mailbox? Not so much. Many brands are not investing in print these days, which means less clutter and a greater chance of being seen when you do. In fact, in many ways direct mail brings the best of traditional marketing into the modern age, offering physical presence with the trackability of digital tools.
- Neuromarketing Insights: Print versus digital causes a physical versus emotional response in the brain. Studies show that direct mail activates emotional processing and therefore triggers more recall and trust than digital.
- Personalization Amplifies Impact: Personalization, using a customer’s name or offering personalized deals, also increases emotional response and engagement.
Direct Mail by the Numbers: Why Print Still Delivers Results
In the debate of print vs digital marketing, it’s clear that each has strengths, but direct mail uniquely offers both emotional resonance and physical presence. If you think that printed marketing materials no longer work, maybe some of the following numbers will change your mind:
- 57.5%-85% is the typical open rate of direct mail; high compared to emails, which struggle with a 20–25% average
- 70% of consumers prefer receiving mail over emails or digital messages as it makes them feel more personal
- Millennials and Gen Z are surprisingly affected by direct mail advertising; USPS reports that 84% of Millennials always or sometimes take time to go through their mail, and over 60% have made a purchase as a result of direct mail
- According to the ANA, direct mail had the second highest median ROI out of any other channel with 29%, behind only email, but with higher engagement and longer-lasting impact
How Does Physical Marketing Stand Out?
Why is print marketing important? It’s simple: It appeals to all our senses.
Print Engages the Sense of Touch
When a person picks up a direct mailer, they engage multiple senses that play into how they form memories. This form of tangible advertising engages multiple senses, making it easier for recipients to remember and trust your brand. In fact, research has shown that people recall brands better when they’ve physically touched a piece.
Credibility and Legitimacy
Many times, receiving something in physical form is taken more seriously. For starters, it demonstrates an investment in something, and in this case, the message a business is sending. It can come across as more professional and trustworthy, which qualities consumers, particularly in B2C and local markets, are drawn to.
Mental Shelf Life
Print has the ability to have a physical shelf life. In contrast to a digital ad that a consumer may see for a few seconds, like an online banner ad, a strong piece of printed marketing such as a brochure, postcard, or letterhead may be something they take home and keep around their house or office for days, weeks, or months.
In addition, physical marketing campaigns offer an opportunity to make an emotional impact, especially when combined with thoughtful design and strategic messaging. If the idea of physical marketing is of interest to you, consider what Bryant Graphics can do for your corporate printing needs.
How to Build a High-Performing Direct Mail Campaign
Strategy is everything when it comes to physical marketing. Here’s how to structure a campaign that converts.
Step 1: Define Your Target Audience
Start by identifying who you want to target. Consider demographics including age, gender, and income. Once you have those details, consider psychographics. These include the demographic’s interests, values, and pain points. If you’re crafting a B2C direct mail strategy, using tailored offers and demographic insights can lead to significantly higher engagement and customer retention.
Finally, if you’re targeting B2B companies, consider firmographics, which include company size, industry, and specific job titles you wish to target. Crafting detailed buyer personas and mapping the customer journey also helps ensure you’re delivering the right message at the right moment.
Step 2: Build a Mailing List
You can use your in-house customer list or rent third-party targeted mailing lists. In-house lists offer better personalization and relevance. Rented lists are great for reaching new segments quickly. Segment lists by behavior or profile for even better targeting and direct mail response rates.
Step 3: Set Clear Campaign Goals and KPIs
Define what success looks like. Is it driving web traffic? In-store visits? Sales?
- Track response rates, conversion rates, ROI per mailer, and cost per acquisition
- Make tracking seamless with tools like QR codes, custom URLs, and promo codes.
These direct mail campaign tips, which use clear, targeted, eye-catching design and strong CTAs, are essential to maximize your ROI.
Design & Personalization: The Creative Edge of Direct Mail
Great design is hard to ignore and easy to respond to. Make every piece count with variable data printing by customizing names, offers, and store locations for greater emotional impact. It’s shown that personalized direct mail increases engagement and response rates. Consider high impact, personalization on envelopes with larger than life graphics, textured papers, foil accents, and specialty die cuts.
Break up the monotony of the daily mail pile with oversized postcards, catalogs, and newsletters. Well-designed marketing mailers like these serve as a physical touchpoint that can create lasting brand impressions. Go on and be creative in your designs. For example, creative direct mail marketing, when executed with bold visuals and interactive elements, can turn a simple piece of mail into a powerful brand experience. You can maximize this impact with foil brochures or offset brochures. For high-volume mailers or projects that demand crisp detail and consistent color, explore offset printing solutions designed for quality and scale.
QR codes and personalized URLs (PURLs) connect print with real time tracking and results. They also make it easy for recipients to take immediate action, whether it’s redeeming an offer, signing up, or visiting a landing page, bridging the gap between physical mail and digital engagement.
Incentives That Drive Action
Your audience needs motivation to act today. Here are some offers consumers like taking advantage of:
- Coupons and Promo Codes: Incentivize your audience with time-sensitive discounts.
- Free Gifts or Samples: An effective strategy for increasing interest in a product-oriented campaign.
- Scarcity or Urgency: “Only the first 100 respondents get X” to take advantage of scarcity psychology.
These response-driven print marketing tips are great methods for increasing conversion and ROI.Multi-Channel Integration: Cross-Promote Print and Digital
While digital may dominate headlines, offline marketing strategies like direct mail remain a critical piece of the marketing puzzle, especially when aiming to build trust and authenticity. Take it one step further and combine both offline and online touchpoints to create an integrated, cohesive brand experience as part of your marketing efforts.
How to Integrate Direct Mail into a Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy
- Follow-Up Retargeting: Trigger emails, SMS, or social ads following a physical mail drop.
- Trigger Digital Actions: Automate with QR code scans or URL visits after a mailing goes out.
- Reinforce Messaging: Use print to seed a campaign.
- Echo Your Print Message: Follow up with digital touchpoints that repeat your message.
- Consistent Voice Across Channels: Match copy, creative, and other elements across channels.
Multi-channel direct marketing increases recall and enhances trust in your brand across all touchpoints.
Direct Mail Campaign Mistakes to Avoid
Don’t let a good campaign go south with avoidable errors. Here are some common ones to avoid:
- Insufficient Targeting: Don’t send the same thing to everybody. Segment and personalize your messaging for relevance.
- Vague CTA: There should be one clear call to action on every piece of direct mail, be it scan a code, call a number, or visit a landing page.
- Design Overload: Choose clear, easy to read layouts. Don’t go for complex or out-of-brand graphics.
- No Tracking: Track your success with unique links or offer codes to measure response.
- Irregular Timing: Mailing is not a one-off event. Consistent timing, like with email, is best to build brand familiarity.
Following proven mailing campaign best practices, like segmenting your audience and using trackable elements, can significantly boost campaign performance.
Tip: Need to hit a tight deadline? Our rush print services ensure your direct mail materials are delivered fast, without compromising on quality.
Measuring Direct Mail Performance
You can't improve what you don’t measure. Here’s how to track and optimize your direct mail performance:
- A/B Test Everything: Try different formats, headlines, offers, and visuals. Test one variable at a time.
- Use Trackable Elements: Include unique QR codes, promo codes, PURLs, or phone numbers.
- Calculate ROI: Compare the campaign cost to revenue generated, leads acquired, or appointments booked. Per research, businesses continue to see strong direct mail ROI, especially when campaigns are well-targeted and paired with compelling incentives or calls to action.
- Attribution: Combine direct mail analytics with digital analytics platforms to understand the full funnel.
Just remember, direct mail may take longer to yield results than digital, but the long-term brand lift can be substantial.
Why Direct Mail Deserves a Spot in Your Marketing Strategy
Direct mail is a powerful marketing channel that can deliver high-impact results and engage customers in a way that digital ads can’t. By speaking to our senses, building trust and authority, and driving action and response, direct mail has the potential to outperform other channels, even your best-performing digital campaigns.
When strategically planned with the right targeting, messaging, and creative, direct mail marketing can be a powerful tool for both small businesses seeking to increase local awareness and national brands looking to create a multi-touch marketing experience.
Contact Bryant Graphics to discover the full range of marketing collateral and printed materials that can help you start building physical campaigns today that move the needle. Done right, marketing with printed materials can help strengthen your digital strategy, not just support it, because in our opinion, print isn’t dead, it’s just getting started.
