Enhance Your Direct Mail Campaign With Digital And Social Media Tools

THREE WAYS TO SOCIALIZE YOUR DIRECT MAIL CAMPAIGN TO ENGAGE YOUR RECIPIENT

Digital applications, smart phones and social media are hot off the press channels these days for delivering your brands message to a precisely targeted and massive audience but they do not gain the trust and loyalty of consumers like traditional direct mail. You must first earn the trust of your audience in order to build relationships to increase your ROI and recent findings show direct mail is the best place to start.

Marketers must look beyond the reputation of direct mail as “Old school, outdated and expensive” because U.S consumers rank it as the top choice to receive brand communication materials in various categories ranging from health to household products, to household services, insurance and financial services, including credit card offers.

The magic happens when you pair the trusted channel of direct mail with the high reach of digital marketing. Together they create a ripple effect and engage your audience on many platforms. Imagine direct mail as the tiny pebble that makes a splash and social media outlets as the ripples that keep your message flowing.

Here are 3 ways to blend your next direct mail campaign and social media strategy together to expand your reach and earn the trust and attention of your audience.

1. Highlight your social media outlets in your direct mailer

You’ve spent plenty time managing your social media channels like Facebook and Twitter so show them off and include your social media icons on your direct mail pieces. These social media badges let your audience know you’ve established an online presence and social media is a transparent tool to instill trust in your brand.

2. Give more to your audience on your thank you page

The benefit of direct mail is the high amount of contact points you can integrate into a direct mail campaign. What happens after someone responds to your call to action? You have caught the interest of the person at this point so give them the option to learn more about your company. Embed a company video about your products and services on the thank you page and lead your audience to your company website.

3. Increase response rates with QR codes and personalized URL’S

Be sure your direct mail piece includes a call to action involving smart phone technology. If your objective is to drive traffic to a special offer, then include a QR code for the message recipient to easily obtain the offer. Make an offer too good to resist and people will share it on their social networks. Although it’s intuitive to think people will keep the offer for themselves, market trends show that consumers are likely to share deals and offers to cut costs and save some cash. Based on a survey of more than 9,100 respondents 75 percent of respondents would sign up for direct mail letters from a retailer if it would yield savings of 25 percent or more. An additional 67 percent would “like” a Facebook page and 17 percent would Tweet a deal. Those who socially share these deals seem to experience the largest savings.

Personalized URLs are a great way of getting the most out of your mailing list and allow you to include the recipients name in the URL. These create an engaging experience and create a personalized connection.

Consumers are personally connected to their digital devices and post, share and tweet without boundaries, making the digital space a war zone of information. The information is personal but consumers are becoming more dubious towards digital advertising. On the contrary, direct mail remains the trustworthy channel that you should use to kick-start your next campaign so follow these tips to maximize the reach of your offer.