How direct mail can help customers shop digitally in 2014
The future of direct mail is digital. It sounds counterintuitive, but the reality of marketing in today's exceedingly diverse and dynamic economy is it takes more than one method to draw in customers.
RetailMeNot, the U.S.'s largest distributor of digital coupons, in conjunction with Omnibus, recently released a detailed economic forecast for 2014, examining consumer behaviors on personal wealth, savings and confidence and buying patterns. The study revealed that more customers are going online for their goods and services. Of the online shoppers identified in the report, 87 percent plan to spend at least as much as they did in 2013, with more than one-quarter of respondents claiming they intend to shop even more.
Customers have shown a desire to move their commercial purchases online. It's more convenient and stores are able to offer a wider selection of products, but a preference for a digital storefront doesn't necessarily translate to advertising methods. According to an infographic from the Lorraine Gregory Communications Group, nearly 60 percent of consumers enjoy learning about a new product from a promotional mail piece. The challenge for marketers is figuring out how to successfully include direct mail into strategies that drive digital sales.
Include an actionable method
Unlike an email or a digital coupon, direct mail doesn't offer the luxury of immediately linking customers to a website or a purchase. If customers receive a mail piece with no instructions on it, regardless of how well put together it is, it's likely to be set aside and eventually forgotten as the reader encounters different advertisements and promotions throughout the day. By incorporating an actionable item, like a QR code or a specific URL, marketers can give customers the second step they've become accustomed to online. Directing the reader to a digital marketplace can help generate new online leads and help boost sales.
Measure ROI
Controlling expenditures in business has become a finely tuned practice, which is why managers now commonly demand for marketers to justify advertising dollars on micro scales.
"The business environment has people looking at their marketing results to find better ways to reach their audience," Kevin Gilligan, vice president of sales and marketing at Structural Graphics, told Deliver Magazine. "It's no longer about the cost per unit of a mailing, but the ROI of your campaign."
Defining ROI can be difficult for direct mail because there is no way to effectively monitor how the reader perceives the mail piece. By adding in actionable items, however, marketers give themselves measurable figures. Businesses can determine how many people visited a particular URL or scanned a QR code because it was exclusively placed on a piece of promotional material.
Over the next year, customers will continue their exodus to online marketplaces and storefronts, but the value of direct mail will remain. Shoppers are familiar with the medium and they expect it, but advertisers need to think more innovatively to maximize direct mail's efficiency. That means creative use of color and cardstock, including actionable items, making targeted pieces and ensuring that marketers are using the best available practices, which include address correction systems.
Thousands of customers move residences every year. Address correction systems guarantee the integrity of all contact information as it's entered into the system, meaning fewer returns and less resending.