How to Boost Your Direct Mail
In last week’s blog, part 1 of the Power of Direct Mail series, we discussed how powerful direct mail marketing really is, and how beneficial it can be as a central branding and promotional tool. This week, we have for you part 2 of the series. Now that you’re convinced of its importance and relevance, we’re giving you key tips and tricks your shop can use to enhance the power of your direct mail print marketing.
5 Ways to Enhance Your Direct Mail
1. Know Your Audience
When it comes to any type of outreach, it’s always important to avoid sounding like a robot. Especially for any direct mail you distribute, there should be a personalized and developed approach with your key audience in mind (i.e. new movers). However, before doing any of that, you must know your audience. You can do this by creating customer personas based on what type of customers you interact with on a daily basis. What demographic comes into your shop the most? What personalities do they have? What items do they enjoy most? This will help you understand their wants, needs and pain points. Keeping track of what they’re saying, commenting, or messaging about on your social media will also help a lot with understanding them and their engagement. Checking in on what the competition is doing is also helpful for your shop to stay up do date and up to speed. Doing so will help you know if you’re slipping through any cracks.
2. Make it Relevant
Your content and call-to-actions should make sense. Research, understand, and consider your target demographic before creating direct mail. Make sure that what you’re writing and sending out makes sense to the specific demographics that are coming in and out of your shop. Why would your pizza shop interest them? Why would they need it? How could your material catch their eye? Ask yourself these questions first before creating your content, because personalizing this content will make it much more memorable and impactful. 80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized, relevant experiences.
3. Make it Clear
When you’re dealing with direct mail, there’s usually a limited amount of space available – at least compared to digital. There’s not as much room to “say it”, so you’re forced to “say it right”, so make sure your message is loud and clear. Along with this, it’s important to make sure it isn’t hard to find your key message on your postcard. Don’t try and clump all of your products or information into one postcard, as this can cause confusion for the reader. Try incorporating a QR code that leads to a landing page with more information so it’s not all squeezed onto the piece of mail. The best way to utilize a postcard is to feature a few products, or use data to personalize the material and feature that specific customer’s favorite merchandise. 82% of millennials view messages printed on paper as more trustworthy than digital messages, and 59% of US respondents say they enjoy getting mail from brands about new products.
4. Put Focus on Design & Creativity
Use your designs to connect with your audience and grab their attention. This is your time to use your creativity and pull your customers in. Direct mail is already very cost effective, so spending that extra bit on design, paper, and colors is worth it, and could be the reason your audience starts to love your brand or continues to be loyal. Based on research and knowing your audience, design your direct mail in ways that will intrigue them based on their buying habits and interests. If you need somewhere to start, check out our blog on the best ways to make your postcards stand out through design and messaging.
5. Use Call-to-Actions
Be loud and clear. You don’t want your potential customer putting down your direct mail without clarity on what you’d like them to do. Make sure to include the standard address, phone number, and any other applicable contact information like an email address or social account(s). For even better traction, consider including a coupon for customers, or a sign up for a rewards program, subscription, or membership. You can also use a QR code to link out to where you’d like customers to go. Click here to see our blog on best QR code tactics and uses.
Developing an effective direct mail postcard campaign is simpler when you work with a vendor that provides successful design, printing and mailing services. ZaHub provides efficient direct mail marketing paired with modern technology to help your shop send out relevant, personalized marketing to existing and new customers in your area. Contact us to learn more.