Grow your business with Direct Mail

Seven sense-sational reasons to grow your business with direct mail

Direct Mail provides businesses with a fantastic opportunity to reach customers and promote their goods and services but is it really worth the investment, you may ask?

Just take a look at these stats that demonstrate the power of direct mail.

1.The DMA (Direct Marketing Association) predicts a rise in the use of direct mail of 3.6% between 2010 and 2014.

2. Customer engagement averages at more than 10 minutes on a piece of direct mail.

3. Direct mail can achieve up to 40% return on investment (ROI).

PPS firmly believes it is a strong strategy to build brand awareness, engage in customer dialogue and brand conversations and so regularly helps customers discover its many benefits.

According to research carried out in 2011, 97% of customers preferred to receive print mail rather than emails (Ebiquity, 2011) and 51 per cent of consumers questioned said they opened direct mail because it was addressed to them (fast.MAP, 2012).

Well, just think about it.  What would you prefer to receive – a birthday card or a birthday text?

More businesses are now depending on email and social media interaction and have forgotten the art of written and personal communication.  It is not about sending your marketing on the easiest and perceived cheapest route, it's about sending marketing your customers - and potential customers - want to receive.

So, here are seven reasons why PPS believes direct mail should be an integral part of your marketing. (Source: Print Power Magazine).

1. That Mail Moment

There’s nothing like the sound of the letterbox and the mail arriving! Sitting down over a cup of tea and in a relaxed environment your potential clients go through the post, including your direct mail.  Taking the time to read what they have received and engaging with you and your key messages on a one-to-one basis, they read and digest before deciding what to do with it. As direct mail is sent to an individual’s home and consumed on a one-to-one basis, it enables your message to have much more time with a customer. It also gives you chance to engage them in a relaxed environment at a time they can choose.

2. Awakening Those Senses

A direct mailing adds another dimension to the brand experience by introducing physicality. All of your customers’ senses can be used to stimulate and entertain them, encouraging them to reassess your brand and also drive response.  By handling your direct mail piece they can smell the ink and paper, immerse themselves in the visual experience and really touch and feel its quality. This quality will also encourage them to keep the direct mail in their hands for longer, thus encouraging buy-in. Direct mail ticks all of the sensory boxes – touch, smell, sight and sound.

3.     Precision Targeting

The personal nature of direct mail enables you to be really precise with your marketing, sending out the right message to the right audience.

Once you have a clean and up-to-date list of your key customers - and potential customers who fit the right demographic for your business - your targeted messages can go directly to your perfect audience and achieve greater results.

You get the best results from direct marketing when it’s relevant for the recipient, with tailor made content appealing directly to the consumer.

Thanks to new digital printing technology, personalisation can be achieved easily.

 4. Power To Make People Act

Direct mail is far more likely to get a response from customers.

With its excellent printing quality and strong call to action consumers will be more prepared to do something while handling a direct mail piece.

Unlike an email which can be easily deleted or lost, direct mail is far more tangible and more likely to hang around in a home for some time.

5. Engaging Effect

Direct mail enables you to really engage with customers and has the power to make them act.

Do customers know all about your entire range of products and services? 

Direct mail enables you to engage with them on a different level. You can inform them of upcoming specials and up sell and cross sell. It’s a fantastic way to increase your sales.  According to statistics produced by the Royal Mail in 2011, 48 per cent of UK adults did something as a result of direct mailing and 30 per cent bought something.

6. Creativity unleashed

One of the many fantastic things about direct mail is that mailings can be produced in a wide variety of formats.  Print has moved on dramatically over the last 10 years.  There are so many options for you to choose from that can fit in with your brand.

You can take your pick from different shapes, sizes, colours and materials, allowing you to create a surprising and truly memorable brand experience in a printed format that will stand out when it drops through a letter box. It’s a highly effective way to engage with your potential customers.

7. Cool integration

Of course, as with any strategy, when you really want to raise your campaign’s effectiveness then combining this with a multi activity and integrated campaign the results can really be seen. With an integrated campaign you can have an email campaign, a direct mail campaign and a social media campaign all running with the same brand and message.

They say that it takes seven touch points for your clients to learn about your brand and so the more channels you can use to promote your message with a clear and targeted campaign the better return on investment and increase in leads you will achieve. 

Direct Mail and Print is now also bridging technologies – you can add QR codes and augmented reality (bringing your print to life), making it easy for consumers to benefit from print and digital technology at the same time.

So, are you ready to introduce direct mail into your marketing? Act now to see a real return on your investment and get people talking about you and engaging with your brand.

Call PPS today on 01733 349881 and let’s get your strategy printed and delivered!