Among many of the brands we work with, Direct Mail is becoming one of the most popular channels (along with OTT and Digital Audio). In the current economy, most businesses are hyper-focused on fine-tuning their strategies to get the most out of their budget, and we’re seeing clients benefit from adding Direct Mail campaigns to their marketing mix.

Direct Mail is a powerful tool for new customer acquisition, current customer communication, winbacks, and re-activation of lapsed customers. It can drive both offline and online sales and garner customer loyalty, and brands are able to capture their customers’ attention more effectively than with single-channel campaigns.

Strengthening campaign results with data-driven direct mail tactics

With Direct Mail, we can identify and target any desired business or consumer segment at the most granular levels, including detailed geographic, demographic, psychographic, and purchase behavior. First and Third-party sources can be combined to build targeting models.

And on the flip side, we often use direct mail lists to target email and digital display campaigns for multi-touch efforts. Targeting those same consumers with direct mail helps brands increase response rates and reach the right audiences.

Direct mail’s personalization capabilities, like targeting specific audiences with tailored messaging or offering personalized product recommendations, can help brands be more relevant and intentional in their direct mail campaigns, especially when combined with other channels.

Clients typically meet their goals faster when adding direct mail to digital, TV, and/or audio campaigns. We saw success adding direct mail to a healthcare client’s existing TV and Radio and campaign that resulted in a 300% increase in direct mail spend.

Read the full case study here: Boosting Conversion Rates with Radio, Direct Mail, and CTV

Measuring the impact of direct mail with matchback testing

It’s a common misconception that attribution isn’t possible or is difficult with direct mail, but clear performance tracking is possible. Using promo codes, toll-free numbers, and QR codes, we can confirm the effectiveness of direct mail, particularly when adding it to other channels.

One of the best ways to measure the influence of direct mail is to use test/holdout panels and perform granular matchback analysis to isolate a direct mail campaign's impact on the overall return on ad spend (ROAS) for clients.

Test/holdout panels involve splitting your audience into a test group and a holdout group. The test group receives direct mail pieces while the holdout group does not. Matchback analytics involves looking for any related consumer activity in both groups to identify any trends or changes in response from one group to another.

Personalizing direct mail and testing new creative to stand out

Examples of direct mail creative include conventional envelope packages, self-mailers, and standard and jumbo postcards. Using unique formats (other than the typical letter and postcard) gives clients more room to share their stories and show off products or offers.

Currently, we’re seeing the most popularity (and positive response) with jumbo postcard formats and personalization. For example, we recently ran a winback campaign with a personalized experience for each person receiving the direct mail piece. Inside the mailer, there is a personalized salutation and message, and a unique QR code. This gives the audience a very personalized, positive experience that’s custom to them while providing advanced insights and attribution for the client.

Continuing into this year, we expect to see more creative use of direct mail as an important part of any successful marketing strategy. With the right targeting, personalization, and creative formats and testing, you can use direct mail to create multi-touch efforts that will strengthen campaign results and improve ROAS long-term.