Don’t Leave Your Direct Mail on the Sidelines

Today, almost anything can be prefaced with the word Extreme, or Xtreme, as “today’s youth” likes to write it. We have Extreme sports, Extreme TV, Extreme food and Extreme brands. In fact some could argue that extreme is not as “extreme” as it should be. It may sound daft to many of us, but you can see why the phrase has become so overused and prevalent in modern society. As humans, we do like to take things as far as we can, turning the volume up past ten, all the way to eleven, just to see what happens.

In many ways, modern marketing uses this to great effect, yet sadly at times Direct Mail is often left on the sidelines. Not picked by the “cool marketing school captains” until the very end & even then it’s done with a shrug of the shoulders and a sigh of resignation. These cool new marketing players are happy to kick sand in the face of old-fashioned marketing, but when it comes to the “nitty gritty” stuff, Direct Mail is always the one that performs best, it may not be the one doing all the fancy tricks, but it’s the one scoring all the goals.

In the planning stage for a campaign, Direct Mail nearly always appears to be firmly positioned on the bench, over looked for the daring and demanding jobs. The question is; should it be cast as a substitute or a reserve? A safety net or tool to mop up after the extreme work has been done? Modern research from recent mailing campaigns suggests that Direct Mail deserves its place in the limelight, proving that it can match the latest marketing tools and still deliver on its promises.

Often seen to be sitting quietly in the corner, Direct Mail regularly produces A* results. With this in mind, we’ve put together a report card based on recent findings:

Response Rates: A*

With 44% of UK Adults responding to a mail shot they’ve received, Direct Mail comes out on top against all other marketing tactics.

Return on Investment: A*

Direct Mail activity delivered the strongest return with an ROI £4.60. Its performance has proven considerably stronger than the rest of its classmates, with its closest companion “SEO” delivering an ROI of just £2.00.

Tangibility: A*

There is no other medium that enables you to put a physical item into the hands of a potential client. Unlike e-mails, adverts & social media, a mail piece is a tangible item, you touch it, you hold it and interact with it.

Integration: A*

A fancy term for “plays well with others”. When combined with any of the following – Social Media, E-Mail, SMS, Online Advertising or TV, the response rates & ROI of your campaign increase exponentially.

There is one final category that sees Direct Mail come into its own, Creativity, and for this we must revisit the world of Extreme things! When created by the right person a Direct Mail piece can come alive; the variety of folding techniques forces your hands to dance as you interact with it, a selection of colours can extract emotion from the recipient, not forgetting the size and weight which creates intrigue in the mind. All these things create an Extreme Direct Mail Piece, so why not make your mailing come alive!

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