Three Recent Changes to Direct Mail You Need to Know
While some people might assume that direct mail is an outdated way of advertising, the truth is that it’s more relevant than ever and provides one of the highest return on investment (ROI) rates in marketing. Consider these statistics from a report published by InfoTrends.com:
• 66 percent of people open direct mail
• 82 percent of people who open direct mail spend more than one minute reading it
• 56 percent of direct mail recipients placed an online order or visited the store
• 84 percent reported that a more personalized approach to direct mail is what made them open it in the first place
If you want to remain competitive in 2018 and beyond, you need to pay attention to that last statistic specifically.
Personalized URL and QR Codes
When your direct mail recipient goes online, the landing page should be unique to him or her. You can achieve this by creating personalized URL codes or QR codes prior to mailing. Be sure to change and update the landing page content often to correspond with your message. This is the best way to keep people coming back to view new content. Just make sure that you use responsive design for your content since many of your current and potential customers will use a mobile device to access their personalized landing page.
Embrace Augmented Reality
If your competitors send direct mail embedded with augmented reality, then you can’t afford to put off this trend any longer. It’s a fun and powerful experience for the recipient of your direct mail, which means that he or she is likely to remember it for a long time. When you send out a direct mailer, include a scannable bar. The recipient can scan the bar and see an animated cartoon or whatever else you choose. Make it entertaining and watch your ROI soar.
Video Mailers
With a video mailer, the recipient just needs to push a button to see to see images and hear sound on a tiny built-in screen. The instant availability of video means that people are likely to watch it right away and you don’t need to worry about including software or other applications. This is a newer form of technology, but the costs are already starting to come down compared to when it first launched.
Even if you can’t implement all of these technologies, knowing they exist and making a plan to use them as soon as possible will ensure your business remains competitive.