Businesses have had to make a lot of difficult decisions in recent years. Organizations of all shapes and sizes have had to tighten their belts and adjust their budgets. Many brands are struggling to attract new customers and keep them engaged.
As you consider strategies to reach your target audience, it might be time to revisit a surprisingly affordable marketing channel you may have overlooked: direct mail. According to a study by USPS, 98% of Americans check their mail every day. If you want to keep your brand top of mind or drive people toward an action, direct mail can be a smart tactic to put your message in front of the right people.
Here are four reasons your brand should consider physical marketing in the digital world.
1. There’s Less Competition for the Mailbox
People are constantly bombarded with notifications. The average US smartphone owner receives 46 push notifications per day. Their inboxes are cluttered with businesses trying to get their attention. The average office worker receives about 120 emails per day. In digital channels, there’s often more media than people can process.
Do you know what’s not overflowing with marketing materials? Mailboxes. Even though there are no spam filters or ad blockers in place, the average person only gets about 10–15 pieces of mail per day.
Instead of forcing you to compete against thousands of other ads and messages, a direct mailing campaign puts your message up against a handful of others. So your message has a better chance of standing out.
2. People Have To Make a Decision About Your Message
While banner ads, email, and other digital content have their advantages, people usually scroll right past them. You have a split second to catch their attention.
Direct mail works differently. Most people sort their mail as soon as they get it. For everyone else, it sits in a pile, waiting. But whenever someone gets around to sorting their mail, they process it differently than an ad or an email. They have to physically hold your postcard, see who it’s from, and read what it’s about before deciding what to do with it.
It’s a completely manual process, and that means you can be more confident that the person you’re trying to reach will actually be exposed to your brand and your value proposition. It’s easier to get your foot in the door when your message takes up actual space.
3. Targeting Your Audience Is Simple
Digital advertising offers some incredibly complex targeting. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by how granular it can become. With direct mailing, targeting is straightforward and effective. It can be as simple as selecting the zip codes you want to reach—such as the ones surrounding your business, churches you want to reach, or affluent areas.
And if you want to reach a particular demographic, you don’t have to familiarize yourself with an intricate advertising platform—you just communicate those demographics to your vendor.
4. It Produces Affordable Results
When you do the math, direct mailing is a surprisingly low-cost method of reaching new people. For nonprofits, each piece can cost as little as $0.17–$0.60. So it’s easy to work backward from your goal, starting with how many people you’d like to take action and then calculating how many pieces you’ll need to send.
Whatever your budget, direct mailing lets you see upfront exactly how many people you’re going to reach. Before you place an order, you already know how far your message can go.
Make the Most of This Moment
This has been a challenging season. If you’ve been having a hard time getting traction with your marketing efforts, it might be time to try a new approach.
