Think about the mail you receive on a regular basis. Now think about how much of that mail markets a company near you. If you’re in a neighborhood, you might see local lawn companies reaching out and offering discounts. If you’re an apartment or condo, mail that has coupons for nearby restaurants is pretty common.
Now focus on how much of that you open. Do you know why you open that mail? More importantly, do you know why others just like you open their mail? The more you know about why the mail gets opened, the more you can tweak your campaigns for your business to increase maximum effectiveness.
Recipients’ top reason for opening any direct mail piece is that they are interested in the products or services you offer, which makes sense, right? If you’re choosing your audience correctly, then you should be sending your direct mail marketing products to homes that could benefit from working with you.
But did you know that there are other reasons that recipients open their mail, too? These include:
- Having a positive view of the company. (Here’s where testimonials from past clients make an impact!)
- Seeing reading direct mail as a leisure activity. (This is where the importance of design and color make an impact!)
- Seeing the production quality (printing/images/paper) as exceptionally high. (Heavier paper, such as card stock, can seem extremely professional!)
Add personalization on top, and you have a potent combination! Why?
Personalization increases the chances of your mail being relevant to the recipient. If you know someone’s age and marital status, for example, you can use profiling to assign them to a life stage that gives you insights into their buying habits and needs. Likewise, if you know that a customer regularly buys books by a particular author, you can alert them when that author releases a new title.
Studies have found that recipients also open direct mail pieces because they have a positive view of the company. This tells us that regular, ongoing branding plays a key (if indirect) role in sales.
When you invest in branding campaigns, even if you aren’t selling anything in those campaigns, this increases the likelihood that the recipient will open your direct mail piece when you are selling something. Even if the recipient does not have an interest in the product at the time, if they like your brand, they are likely to check out the offer anyway.
Want to increase the effectiveness of your direct mail even more? Studies have found that adding high-quality printing, imaging, and paper quality can increase open rates, too. When a piece is of very high quality, recipients feel obligated to open it and see what you have to say.
A great example of combing all of these tips would be creating a welcome postcard that gets sent to new people in the community with bright and attractive lettering and design that offers them a coupon. You could also squeeze in a short positive quote from a past customer to boost their initial trust.
If you consistently utilize these different parts of customer impact, your marketing pieces will have incredible stopping — and converting — power.
Work with PMI
Understanding audiences and how they think can sometimes be tough, especially during post-pandemic when things are still changing. That’s why the professionals at PMI are so highly rated by our clients — we know about these changes and help you handle them head-on before they become an issue.
If you want to know more about the importance of direct mail marketing — or if you want more information on how our services can help you — reach out to us today through our contact page.
