Online marketing gets most of the hyperbolic press coverage these days, but offline direct marketing remains a strong option for getting people’s attention, and one that can provide some of the best returns on investment (ROI) around. Here are three reasons why you should look into offline options as well for your next campaign:
Memorability
Everyone has an email address, and because sending email is free, we all have inboxes overflowing with messages and offers – some of which we signed up for, but plenty that we did not. As people now use a mixture of email and instant messaging tools to communicate, we each receive significantly less physical mail in the post than we did only a decade or two ago – which means that direct mail stands out. An email newsletter will be lost in an inbox that receives dozens or even hundreds of emails per day, whilst direct mail only really has to compete with a handful of other items all week, which makes it significantly more memorable.
Moreover, by opening the envelope or picking up the postcard, potential customers are already interacting with your messaging, and if you can get that first interaction to go well, then you have already started to hook them into your sales funnel. By using uniquely designed postcards of brightly coloured envelopes printed with your message like those from bestbuyenvelopes.uk, you will have already piqued the interest of your next customer before they even start to read your offer.
Better response rates
Not only does physical post benefit from being more memorable because of the reduced competition your mailbox compared to your inbox, it also results in improved response rates. According to the latest industry figures from the Direct Marketing Association, direct mail boasts a 4.4% response rate, compared to email’s average response rate of 0.12%. This means that direct marketing has a response rate of up to 30 times better than email and more than 60 times the 0.05% average response rate of online banner advertising.
Whilst it may be more expensive to send out direct mail to potential customers, the differences in response rates are dramatic and could well be worth the extra upfront outlay.
More avenues for creativity
Email campaigns severely restrict marketers in their design because they need to look good on a variety of devices, from the latest iPhone to an old Windows XP laptop. By contrast, direct mail campaigns are only limited by what you can fit through a letterbox – so you have much greater freedom over size, texture, shape, and everything else – all of which can help your brand stand out from the crowd and drive sales.
Photograph by Andrew Lloyd Gordon