In Virus Disruption, Direct Mail Offers Advantages

As the majority of American adults hunker down at home, with all but essential businesses closed or working remotely because of the COVID-19 crisis, AccuList reminds marketers of the unique advantages of targeted direct mail, which takes promotions right into homes, has the highest response rate of any channel, and has the ability via print technology to connect with digital, too. A post by direct-response agency SeQuel Response notes that since the majority of American have responded to the crisis by increasing online shopping, many direct marketers have flooded the digital zone with new e-commerce sites, digital advertising, social media promotions, and e-mail. With online channels overcrowded, direct mail offers a way to reach consumers in their homes and rise above the noise. The agency provides some good tips: 1) Ensure creative elements and messaging align with consumer sentiments for positive brand awareness; 2) reconsider mail frequency and timing if warranted but make sure not to lose touch with the audience; 3) solidify existing customer relations, with increased focus on retention and brand awareness to help survive on the other side of the crisis; 4) integrate direct mail with digital marketing, a proven way to boost response and reduce CPA, including use of print technology, such as QR, AR and VR; and 5) plan for the post-crisis world, recognizing that a campaign takes six weeks from list development to mail drop, to make sure messaging can evolve post-crisis. Given current disruption of buying processes, “optichannel” campaigning, meaning supporting a customer’s buying process via the channel best for them, becomes essential for ROI. Direct mail adds special advantages to an optichannel mix, especially when combined with modeling and digital integration, argues a recent Target Marketing magazine article. Among the article’s examples is Galileo Learning, which operates children’s summer camps in California and Illinois. The company used response-lift customer modeling to identify higher-response prospects on external lists and then put the resulting savings toward even better creative. As a result, response surpassed expectations by bringing in 155 new campers and $66,000 in new revenue. In another Target Marketing case study, Meals on Wheels, in the Diablo region of California, mailed a holiday donor appeal that garnered $230,000 in donations and 43% new donors. The charity attributes the 75,000-piece mail campaign’s success to, first, defining more-responsive list segments for existing donors, lapsed donors and prospects via demographics and customer-look-alike modeling, and, second, adding targeted digital advertising (e-mail, social and online display) that delivered a 600% increase in campaign impressions over the mail-only control. For more, see https://www.acculist.com/amid-virus-disruption-direct-mail-has-optichannel-advantages/