Direct Mail - It's the New Black

And I'm not just saying that to line the VerticalResponse pockets! Now I'm sure you all know we also have a direct mail postcard service where you can design postcards online and we print and mail them for you. Right? (Shameless plug, I know.) I will tell you that it was the number one thing asked about at the VerticalResponse booth at ad:tech this week. (The interactive show for marketers.)

There actually is a time and place for direct mail or a postcard either to augment your email campaign or in some cases in place of your email campaign. Yes, postcards are more expensive than email but if you need a higher impact for your message, I suggest trying it out.

Here are some ways we see people having great success with postcards:

• Realtors announcing a new listing to a neighborhood
• Retailers driving people into a store with a coupon
• Holiday cards
• Invitations to an event, opening or party along with an email follow up
• Announcing you’ll be at a tradeshow
• Email bounce? Send them a postcard asking them to update their email address
• Yearly calendar for keepsake with your logo on it

Ok, that does it for now, hopefully you’ve got some new ideas here. If you use VR, great, if not find someone you trust. In any event, send yourself a free postcard, it’s right in your account.

Using direct mail in a different way? Let us know, give us a comment!

Comments

[John Hingley]

Regarding Eran's comment - not sure what industry you are in, but we have had solid success using direct mail in a variety of ways in marketing consumer goods:

1) Tracking and segmenting customers by order source, 'email' vs. 'direct mail'. Time and time again we find that from 20-50% of our file responds better to direct mail than email. The key is to carefully segment the list so your effective Cost Per Order is inline.

2) Multi-product offers and catalogs. If you have several products, a direct mail piece or catalog will drive orders (both online and offline) many times at a LOWER CPO than email. The AOV is typically much higher than with an email campaign. We found this at wine.com a few years ago when I was there and they are still very active with catalog promotions. Same can be said for Red Envelope and others.

3) Direct mail to your email bounces. Extend a special offer if they update their email address or online profile. Again, be sure to segment your file. It may not be cost effective to send direct mail to 'leads', but you should enjoy a high ROI using direct mail to 'buyers' whose emails have bounced.

Sorry I can't provide specific ROIs as our clients won't allow it. The bottom line is 'target' and 'test' and you will find that direct mail can be a very profitable part of your mix.

[Eran Livneh]

I find your post on direct mail rather intriguing.

My experience with direct mail (in a B-to-B environment) has not been good. Clearly, any additional exposure will generate incremental response. The question is where you spend your next marketing dollar. Over the past several years, our tests have shown the ROI on direct mail to be rather dismal, with cost per response up to 100 times higher than e-mail. As a result, we have had hard time justifying the use of direct mail.

Since we always look for new data and new ways to reach the market, I am curious whether you have any results that can show the ROI on direct mail, especially when compared to e-mail.

[Lisa Chumney]

Greetings Janine, I am a graphic designer, and from experience, I support the postcard post here. Postcard mailings in conjunction with an email campaign or as the only mail out, is a fantastic and proven approach.
I really like postcards because it is right there in the snail mail box and the viewer is almost passively forced to look at it and read it. This equals an immediate product or service recognition. Anyway, thank you for the post.