If you think the use of direct mail for marketing is a thing of the past, think again!

When the mainstream use of the internet turned our world upside down in the early 90s, many companies put direct mail on the backburner.

Because of this, direct mail lead generation has been hiding in the shadows as one of the most underrated marketing tools of the 21st century.

But, in just the last few years, marketers around the country have been rediscovering its utility and surprisingly high rate of effectiveness. This comes as a shock, considering the digital age we live in with social media, logarithmic search engines, and pay-per-click advertising.

In this article, we’ll discuss the hard numbers of this unexpected renaissance, and then we’ll show you why and how your company should catch the wave while it’s still early in the game.

What do the numbers say? Here are 7 Clear Conclusions.

1. Direct mail gets seen and read by millions of people every single day.

Around 81% of people scan or read their physical mail daily.

2. Print ads are increasing – not decreasing – in relevance.

Direct Mail advertising is growing by 4% to 5% per year.

According to research, in Q2 of 2019...consumers engaged with 91% of all Direct Mail. By Q2 2020, this figure had soared to 96%.

3. Direct Mail Marketing WORKS

A DMA research report found that “as a direct result of receiving mail”... 92% of recipients have been driven to online or digital activity 87% have been influenced to make online purchases 86% have connected with a business online. 54% have engaged in social media 43% have downloaded something

4. Consumers trust print ads more than digital ads.

Shockingly, the most trusted advertising channel is prints ads.

A whopping 76% of consumers trust direct mail more than their digital equivalents when they’re looking to make a purchase.

5. Consumers actually prefer direct mail.

79% of consumers think that reading mail is more convenient and simple than going online.

54% of consumers said that they’d like to receive direct mail from brands that interest them.

6. Direct mail outperforms most digital advertising.

Direct mail has a 29% median ROI compared to 23% for Paid Search and 16% for online display.

Over 60% of direct mail recipients were influenced to visit promoted websites – with the greatest influence on first-time shoppers.

7. Direct Mail Isn’t Dying with the Newer Generations

According to a USPS statistical report, print ads are trusted by a whopping 82% of millennials.

42% of millennials between the ages of 25 to 34 say they have found direct mail useful and usually read it immediately.

The Advantages of Direct Mail Marketing?

Less competition - The direct mail renaissance is still in its early stages, so competition is relatively sparse. You’re direct mail advertisements are much more likely to be seen in a pile of maybe 4 or 5 pieces of direct mail, as opposed to literally hundreds, if not thousands of emails in a digital inbox. The average office worker receives 121 emails per day! In fact, 80 to 90% of direct mail is opened, while only 20 to 30% of emails are opened.

Higher Response Rate - Research has found that direct mail’s response rates are actually anywhere from 10 to 30 times higher than that of digital. Direct mail achieves a 4.4% response rate, compared to 0.12% for email.

It’s Tangible - The rapid technological advancements of our day have outpaced our biological preferences. People still like to physically hold something in their hands. Direct mail engages the senses more directly, leaving a greater impression on the recipient’s mind than an intangible digital graphic. Plus, a physical piece of paper is more likely to hang around the house for a while, allowing it to potentially be seen by more members of the household.

5 Tips to Up your Direct Marketing Game in the 2020s

Make an Irresistible Offer
This may sound obvious, but people won’t be interested in your mail if it doesn’t offer them something that sounds absolutely amazing.

As a marketer, it’s your job to catch the eye of prospective customers as they sift through their stack of mail.

You must come up with an extremely appealing offer, and then promote that offer in just 4-6 words - your headline!

Even though your ultimate goal is to sell your product or service, your irresistible offer often won’t be directly connected to that goal. Direct mail is a lead generation tactic. Not a sales tactic.

Offer them something that they will find to be extremely valuable in exchange for giving you their information. It can be a discount, a coupon, a free consultation, etc.

With that said, make sure you clearly define your call to action (CTA). Directly call upon your prospect to complete an action in order to receive your offer. You might say “sign up today”, “scan this QR code”, or “download our app”.

The irresistible offer, made conditional on the terms of your CTA, is the key to generating warm leads from your direct mail campaign.

Stay Organized
Use List CRM to easily keep track of your leads. It's free, it's easy, and it will save you a lot of hassle with spreadsheets.

Neglect to systematize your leads will obstruct efficiency.

Personalize Your Content
More than 78% of consumers will only engage with offers that have been personalized.

87% of consumers state that relevant branded content positively influences how they view the brand.

You must learn how to properly segment your database and then advertise to each segment accordingly.

Depending on your industry, you may segment your leads by age, gender, income, home ownership status, and/or geolocation.

For example, the approach used to convince a 22-year-old single man that he needs life insurance is going to be very different from the approach used to convince a 76-year-old married woman that she needs life insurance.

Different demographics will be attracted to different offers. They’ll respond to different CTA’s

The 22-year-old man is much more likely to be able to scan a QR code than the 76-year-old woman is.

Really focus the content of your mail on your target audience. Cater to their needs, interests, and behaviors. Personalizing your direct mail content will open new doors for you to reach wider audiences of greater diversity. And with modern technology, it’s never been easier.

Combine your Direct Mail with Other Marketing Channels
Your customers are present on multiple channels. Are you? And is your messaging consistent across all the channels?

The engagement and purchase rate for three or more channels is 250% higher than for a single channel.

Your direct mail campaigns should work in tandem with your social media campaigns, your PPC campaigns, your email campaigns… you get the point.

The reality is this:

The more your advertisements pop up in the lives of your prospects, and the more places they pop up in, the more likely they are to become familiar with your brand and eventually make a purchase.

You should use your direct mail advertising to get prospective customers to explore your website, app, and social media. The statistics show that direct mail campaigns perform much better when paired with multi-channel marketing.

Size Matters
You may think the dimensions and medium of your printed mail don’t matter too much. But you’re wrong.

According to research, large postcards receive the highest response rate of 4.25%. Now, how big is “large”? We’ll let you play around with that. Do your research. Find out what works best for you.

The lowest response rate is received from regular letter-sized envelopes. Just 3.5%. Guess that makes sense… those are the same envelopes medical and utility bills come in… Who wants to open those?

In Conclusion…

Direct mail advertising is far from dead! Quite the opposite. Its full lead-generating power is yet to be discovered!

Now you know what to do with those 50,000 leads you just bought from ListShack for just $50.

Did you find this article helpful? Check out our other article about cold calling. We think you’ll like it even more.