If you feel you’re spinning your wheels with digital
marketing, you may want to back up and take the tried-and-true direct mail
marketing route. Most digital marketing evangelists will scoff at direct mail,
but two very important truths remain: direct mail yields a higher
conversion rate than all other marketing types except for telephone, as well as
the lowest cost per lead.
Believe it or not, direct mail has prompted 65% of American
consumers—regardless of age—to make a purchase of some sort. The average
response rate for direct mail is 4.4%, whether that direct mail targeted
businesses or consumers. This is a huge edge over email response rates, which
equal around 0.12%.
All About the ROI ( Return On Investment)
It’s hard to imagine the cost per lead on direct mail being
lower than email, but to realize it comes in under all other marketing tactics’
costs is nothing short of amazing. After all, postal mail prices just keep
going up, and that means the cost of direct mail
does as well. Add postage to design and print costs, and direct mail
begins to sound pretty expensive.
How could this particular marketing tactic cost less per
lead? It’s all about the return on investment. Of course, there are quite a few
ways to maximize results while minimizing the money spent. Here are 3 ways to
make the most of every direct mail campaign.
1. Send Postcards
You need something that will catch a consumer’s eye
immediately. If you wrap that message in a boring envelope or ramble on
too long about a full-sized flyer, you might lose your audience
immediately. A postcard, however, can get the point across with one glance. If
you can catch those buyers with their first look at your postcard, you’ve won
the battle.
However, there’s the fact that sending postcards cost
less than sending regular-sized mail, even if you select the oversized
postcards for maximum impact. You’ll see even better prices than you would for
a full-sized flyer mailed without an envelope.
2. Segment Your Contact Lists
Customized mail pieces will really speak to your buyers.
They won’t be able to resist reading a postcard that greets them by their
name. If you go a few steps further to create a postcard that reaches them
exactly where they are in the buying cycle, you’ll see even better results.
Variable data printing makes it possible for you to separate
your contact list and create direct mail
pieces for any vertical. For instance, if you want to reach out to new mothers
looking for a pediatrician, you can do so without bothering any of your other
patients with junk mail. If you want to contact owners of a particular car for
your buyback program, you can avoid irritating your whole customer base.
Those who receive mail that specifically targets them and
where they are in the buying cycle are much more likely to respond, making
every cent you spend on designing, printing, and posting those cards worth well
it.
3. Time Your Communication
If you’re sending out huge mail blasts to all customers all
the time, you’re probably not seeing the ROI boasted previously mentioned.
The problem is that those mailers will be trashed and any subsequent mail will
be ignored. Since you’re not reaching the buyers during that specific
point in the buying cycle with information they need at that exact moment,
you’re most likely annoying them.
Be more selective and specific when you send direct
mail . You don’t need to reach every person on your mailing list
every time you do a mailing. Instead, through contact list segmentation, you
can touch those buyers as they start the buying cycle and nurture them all the
way through to the purchase phase—all without annoying those customers who
aren’t yet ready to make a purchase.
As you can see, using less-expensive materials doesn’t have
to mean giving up impact. Just send direct mail to the right people at the
right time, and you’ll see a much higher return on investment. Watch as your
cost per lead goes down and your conversion rate goes up. If you’re ready to
see this happen for your business, give AMi a call today to see how we can
help grow your business with direct marketing.
Article From:
www.ami-results.com
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