No, I’m not talking about world peace. Even though it’s definitely needed and could save all of human kind and the planet, but let’s stay on track here. Peace, however, is part of the topic, and the question is: can there be peace between email and direct mail? Both of these brilliant tools are highly effective in their own right and can certainly add value to any marketing campaign. So, what’s with all the hoopla on choosing one side? Are we really buying into the drama of how one is better than the other?
With direct mail, you can argue that people check their mail every day and sort through all of the colorful pieces vying for their attention. Or, I can tell you how email incurs a very low cost in comparison and has measurable results that you can’t get from direct mail alone. So, you chose your single route and then what? What happens next? Did you make an impression or a decorative letter for the waste basket or delete folder? What if—I told you that you should do both?
A big concern for any business is cost. But cost isn’t always measured in dollars when it comes to marketing. The real cost is the lack of interest, lack of engagement, lack of brand recognition and lack of conversion. All of which are recipes for disaster for any business. In this day and age, marketing through a single channel is about as effective as bringing a knife to a gun fight. You may “stick” a few prospects, but you’ll more than likely be “blasted” away by your competition.
So, you’ve heard about multi-channel marketing, and you’re not quite sure where to start? Well, one of the best ways to join this fundamental dance of marketing is by combining direct mail and email. Let’s think of email as an extension of direct mail instead of thinking of the two as arch enemies. Imagine a tag team wrestling match, if you will. Email is on the sidelines, watching its buddy, Direct Mail needing some assistance. So, Direct Mail reaches out and tags in his buddy. Soon, Email swoops in and continues the good fight that Direct Mail has started, and reinforces the all-important message of the dynamic duo.
With multi-channel marketing, you have the ability to reach your audience several times through different mediums, and it allows you to keep your brand on top. Your target audience needs to be reached multiple times to encourage engagement and response. Gone—are the days where you needed only one marketing effort to make an impact. Personally, if I’m targeted repeatedly and the messaging resonates with me, I’ll eventually check things out. Now, that’s branding, engagement and conversion. Success!
The next steps are easy. In fact, most businesses already have a list of postal addresses they’re currently using. The best thing to do with this data is to make sure it’s up-to-date with a little bit of data hygiene. Next, throw in some email appends to match up opt-in email addresses to the postal addresses and get ready for some deployment action. Soon, your brand will stand up to the competition and get the recognition and response it deserves. There you have it folks. The magical answer is yes. Email and Direct Mail can get along! In case you’re wondering, email is not a replacement for direct mail. By joining both channels together, you could increase your response rate and your revenue. Here are a few examples of how a strong email campaign can enhance your direct mail marketing.
AccuData Integrated Marketing has all the tools to create, design and deploy your next email campaign. Contact us now and we’ll get you started today!