Direct Mail Best Practices

For many small businesses, the holidays account for a substantial percentage of revenue, and provide a key opportunity for marketing efforts. While most large retailers have a vigorous omnichannel strategy, leading the customer easily from mobile to desktop to storefront, small businesses need not be intimidated -- they, too, can implement these best practices into holiday marketing efforts.

Any marketing postcards campaign, however great, won't live up to its full potential or utilize your dollars effectively without proper budgeting beforehand. There are several costs (many that you may not even think about!) to consider before printing and mailing postcards to your target audience.

"Content is king.” The phrase means that content, or what is expressed through a medium, is the most important element of any online marketing campaign, more important than search engine optimization (SEO), for example, or campaign frequency. That’s not to say that SEO and campaign frequency aren’t important (in fact content works best, and significantly increases reach, when all of these elements are combined;) it just means that all of those things without useful, engaging content will not ultimately achieve the highest possible number of sales, social media engagement, website views, etc.

So, how do you go about creating great content for your next series of marketing postcards? Simple: you tell a story.

There are a lot of reasons why an audience may not have elicited the desired response after receiving your marketing postcard. But when every other element of the direct mail piece is executed flawlessly and there’s still crickets, the culprit is likely a poor call to action. Without a clear next step, your recipients won’t know what to do once they’ve read your mailer -- which often leads to it being thrown in the trash. Sticking to a few simple tips will help you design a great call to action that is better positioned to achieve the results you desire.

Facebook is highly valued for its ability to deliver hyper-targeted campaigns with the push of a button, making it tempting to singularly focus on social media when reaching a very specific audience is imperative. What some marketers may not realize, however, is that the targeted information gathered from social media campaigns can be utilized for direct mail, too, ensuring your brand is in front of your ideal audience no matter the channel.

Customer relationship management (CRM), or the practice of managing and analyzing a company’s interactions with their customers, is a strategic blend of marketing efforts, sales, customer service and support. Because CRM relies on data, it is often solely associated with digital communications strategies. But using the data gathered from CRM systems is also highly effective for direct mail campaigns as an integrated, one-to-one approach to customer-centric marketing.

96 percent of marketers said that they believe personalization helps advance relationships with customers. What is personalization, and how can small businesses and organizations take the concept a step further?

You may already use direct mail postcards to promote your small business’s events, offer discounts or coupons, or simply keep in touch with your customers in a unique way. If you're looking to up your game, or want to get started, there are a few design basics you should know that will ensure your mail is compelling and elicits the response you desire.

Years ago, postcards, flyers, magnets and brochures were the go-to when it came to marketing yourself as an agent. With the introduction of digital marketing, those strategies have been disrupted by social media, websites and email newsletters. All good things, but mailing postcards and other direct mail pieces, combined with introducing yourself to the neighborhood door-to-door, is still the most personal and most memorable way to build positive relationships with potential clients.

For small businesses and organizations, the holiday season is an annual opportunity to reach and deepen relationships with target audiences through thoughtful, personalized campaigns. Eager to optimize holiday promotional opportunities, marketers for brands and organizations are making their lists and checking them twice to determine the best channels, aiming to reach people at the right time, with the right message, via the right channel.