Like any good entrepreneur, I am always thinking of ways that I can develop and grow our businesses and brands. One of the best marketing strategies does not occur in the digital world. Every week one of my companies sends out over 1,000 pieces of direct mail. We have an excellent response rate, even with a younger demographic target audience.

Think about it; people are inundated with emails, social media posts, and instant messaging. In the digital world, it’s a novelty to receive a large piece of direct response material in the mail. However, there are some differences between what we do in our direct mail and what was done in the old school days.

  • We experiment with all kinds of colorful pieces.
  • We rarely send a letter.
  • The pieces are always vibrant with images and very little copy.

There are a couple of reasons why your company should consider direct response to prospect and grow your business.

  • Response rate: Last year, Compu-mail noted, “The household direct mail response rate is 5.1% (compared to 6% email, 0.6% paid search, 0.2 view online, 0.4% social.) This is the highest response rate DMA has ever reported, since it published the Response Rate Report in 2003.
  • Personalization: When your prospects receive mail (not including invoices), particularly those who are Generation X or older, there’s a familiar feeling. The older generation still likes to receive something in the mail with their names on it. They can play the piece, and there’s something new about it in the world today.
  • Generational myth: Believe it or not, a sizable portion of Millennials also like the direct response because it’s something they too can touch and hold. According to a Forbes article, 36 percent of people under the age of 30 like to check their mailboxes, and 95 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 29 have a favorable view of mail, such as personalized cards.
  • QR Codes and URLs: Companies have been experimenting with the QR and PURL (personal URL) test, which redirects a person who receives an email back into the digital age. Since most people now have a smartphone, the target audience can scan these codes to get more information.
  • Messenger service: If you’re running a particular project or sale, consider using direct mail to reinforce the urgency. My team and I have had high response rates to direct mail pieces that had a deadline to be associated with our companies. One of the key reasons we’ve seen this work is because with all the email people are receiving, many times they dismiss this form of communication quickly just to go through their email box.
  • Multi-channel marketing: Direct response is a great way to support your digital marketing efforts. We know that people have to see your brand and logo multiple times for it to start “sticking” in their minds. Direct mail helps reinforce your brand’s digital efforts. Prospects are not only seeing you in the digital world but in the “real world” as well.
  • Evidence: Direct mail gives your business an opportunity to try another method of communicating with your prospects. We’ve tested direct response with high-level leads in our target audience, and the new accounts we’ve gotten have paid the shipping costs.
  • Easy analysis: Direct mail results are easy to understand. You don’t need anyone on your team to log into a digital platform to pull a report for you. Direct response gives you an easy way to see how much you spent versus the number of new business you got.
  • Credibility: Direct mail, because it is familiar and tactile, gives recipients an automatic sense of your credibility. We live in a world of “fake news” and raging debates on social media about content in the digital space that is authentic and real. The direct response cuts through the noise and instantly lends credibility due to investment and familiarity.
  • Creativity: Direct response is a great way to experiment with color, size, shape, and different packaging for your parts. Sophisticated marketers are experimenting with many different types of mailings to stand out from a traditional, regular-sized letter and envelope, thus encouraging people to look at the piece.

The Data and Marketing Association (DMA) has reported that direct mail has declined. However, in a digital world where people are inundated with massive amounts of content, direct mail stands out as a creative way to reduce the noise. At the very least, direct mail is a great complement to your digital efforts, and at its best, it’s a great way to get new business.