If you’ve ever thought postcards are a thing of the past and direct mail is no longer relevant, sorry to burst your bubble — you thought wrong. According to recent statistics by marketing charts, direct mail has a 29% return on investment, which is one percent shy of the ROI on social media marketing campaigns.

In addition to the impressive ROI on direct mail, there are a thousand and one reasons why direct mail is an effective marketing tool.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

Why is direct marketing effective?

As we mentioned earlier, there is a long list of reasons why direct mail is still very effective in today’s business landscape. While sending series of emails and social media ads are proven means of promoting your brand, investing in direct mail is the icing on the cake.

Direct marketing helps you reach out to a particular market segment — your target audience. As such, direct mails allow you to execute personalized strategies on your marketing campaigns.

That way, you get to channel your resources (time and money) on engaging directly with your target market or audience.

Those (speaking of your audience) that will be fascinated about what you are selling (either products or services) and have high chances of converting into successful sales or retention.

Direct marketing leverage market segmentation and targeting

Before you delve into any business, your first thought should be identifying your potential clients by conducting market research. You will also care to know the market segmentation such as geographical, demographics, and customer behavior.

All of these findings will help you narrow your search to leads with a high conversation rate. As such, boosting your chances of successful sales.

Direct marketing leverage personalization

One of the major reasons why direct marketing is still effective is that it utilizes a personalized communication mode to connect with customers.

If you integrate direct mail into your communication channel, you will engage both existing and prospective customers on a personal level. Thereby creating a custom experience and memorable experience for the customer.

For instance, your direct mail could be postcards in envelopes. When the customer receives your postcard, you can only imagine how delighted he/she will feel.

It will be imprinted in the customer’s mind that you went all the way to create something unique and special for them. Now, that’s how warm your way into a prospect’s heart and keep customers happy.

Direct mail is cost-effective

It’s almost impossible to discuss the effectiveness of direct mail without mentioning its cost-effectiveness. Because direct mail marketing allows you to identify and connect with your target audience, you won’t have to cast a net over the entire sea of customers.

With direct mail such as sending postcards, you can conveniently engage your target audience without spending fortunes on trying to reach the entire market — including those without the slightest interest in your brand.

Think about it, channeling your efforts into engaging only your intended market segment or target audience will save you a lot of money instead of adopting the “everyone and anyone” approach.

Also, because you are investing in your target audience, rest assured you will recoup your investments in the long run after winning their trust and confidence. Your team will also be able to set realistic goals for their marketing campaigns because with direct mail, you measure and track your spending and make adjustments to your plans if need be.

Direct marketing allows you to upsell and re-engage customers

Direct marketing allows you to upsell and re-engage customers with personalized marketing approaches such as sending postcards.

As you can imagine, more personalization leads to equal more sales. You can also seize the avenue to tell customers who haven’t patronized you in a while how much you missed them and would love to rekindle the relationship with juicy offers.

Direct marketing makes it incredibly easy to test and analyze results

Because direct marketing uses a call to action and a means by which customers can respond — say phone numbers or an email address, you can evaluate what communication method yielded more results and adopt it for future campaigns.

Are you thinking of postcard marketing?

At this point, you should already have an idea of how you can leverage postcards in your direct marketing strategy. Postcards are arguably the most cost-effective and accessible form of direct mail available.

According to United States postal services, their simplicity makes them an excellent option for making announcements and getting customers to complete a desired action like visiting your store or website.

Postcards are versatile and inexpensive

Postcards are versatile and inexpensive and are an excellent marketing tool you should have in your arsenal. Compared to greeting cards and other traditional direct mail package, postcards are quick and easy to manage.

You can think of a postcard as a “mini-billboard” or a space you can hold. It can be a handwritten message to your customer or a photograph of a product you recently launched.

Your postcard can also serve as a reminder for an upcoming event, a mini newsletter, or a discount coupon. The major advantage of utilizing postcards for direct mail is that they don’t have to be opened to be read, unlike letters and greeting cards.

If you are creative with your postcards’ design and presentation, you will be amazed at the impact they will have on your business.

What postcard sizes are available?

Postcards come in two popular sizes — one-quarter of an 8.5 by 11 paper measuring 4.25 x 5.5 inches (small) and one-half of an 8.5 x 11 paper measuring 5.5 x 8.5 inches (standard).

Interestingly these two sizes can fit on a standard-sized paper. Of course, there are other sizes of postcards like the 6.125 x 11.5 inches (Jumbo) and 9 x 12 inches ( extra-large).

While you are at it, have it in mind the small-sized postcards (4.25 x 6 inches) are compact and easy to design. It also falls within the U.S postal services (USPS) size for postcards which is between 3.5 x 5 inches and 4.25 x 6 inches.

According to USPS, anything larger than that is considered a letter. If your postcard size falls between the USPS size range, you can send it at first-class mail, where it will get delivery priority.

We are rounding off

Top reasons why you should consider postcard marketing includes less competition because fewer companies think in this direction, it has a higher response rate, it gives room for creativity. It leaves a lasting impression on your customers.

If you need help leveraging postcard direct mail strategy in your business, you are always welcome to contact us. We can help you automate your direct mail marketing and help you yield the most ROI on direct mail.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

The global business landscape is expanding by the second and businesses are in stiff competition to reach prospective customers. To successfully attract leads and get them to patronize you calls for clever means of communication and marketing.

Over the years, marketing has undergone a tremendous revolution, and digital marketing trend is causing so much buzz.

While some people will argue that online or digital marketing is effective, it also has its limitations. Topmost on the list is that it takes away the personal feel of direct mail formats like postcards.

Way back in the day, popular marketing methods included the publisher’s clearinghouse, lift letters and the historical Johnson box.

As you can imagine, all of those direct marketing methods are obsolete and have no place in today’s fast-paced business landscape. Before discussing modern trends in direct mail marketing, let’s take a second or two to discuss the Johnson box and lift letter. Shall we?

What is the Johnson box?

Named after its inventor Frank Johnson, the Johnson box is placed at the top of direct mail letters. The Johnson box contains a catchy message that tells the reader the gist of the message — it is intended to grab the readers’ attention and hopefully get them to read to the end of the letter.

While Johnson’s box may seem like an effective marketing tool, it has tendencies of hard selling. Some customers and prospects may consider the Johnson box inappropriate for formal content like the sales copy.

Today the Johnson box no longer serves the purpose for which it is intended. It’s now been used in emails to highlight catchy information and give the reader a preview of the contents.

Other applications of the Johnson box are at the middle of web pages, where it’s often used to highlight important messages and testimonials.

Because most businesses are focused on maximizing their returns on investment (ROI), there is less spending and testing of single-letter elements like the Johnson box. As such, making it an unpopular direct marketing tool.

The lift letter

The lift letter used in direct mail marketing is more like a short note delivered alongside a direct mail package to get buyers to respond to your offer.

Interestingly it was found that a well-crafted lift letter can boost the response rate to an offer by up to 25%. The lift letter has been used to pitch promo headlines and other related products customers might be interested in.

Other times, lift letters are used as a stamp of endorsement or approval from regulatory bodies or celebrities with the intention of bonding with the customers and getting them to take your offer.

While adding lift notes or lift letters to your package may seem like an excellent way of catching your customer’s attention, some sellers tend to go overboard with it. What was supposed to lift the customer’s response suddenly turns boring and intrusive.

Postcards: the new trend in direct mail marketing

Yeah, you read that correctly. Postcards! You have probably been thinking that with so many high-tech marketing tools out there, why should anybody think about using postcards?

It works.

Postcards are economical, flexible, and very effective. They are arguably one of the best tools for targeted marketing campaigns. Postcard formats of direct mail can be used to create brand awareness, make announcements, follow up on customers, and can also be used as reminders to clients. They are affordable, and you can send one from anywhere in the world.

Why are postcards taking the lead in modern direct mail marketing?

Compared to direct mail letters, postcards have higher chances of been read. According to the U.S postal services, postcards are six times more likely to be read than mail letters. With the figures put at 94% against 14%.

In addition to their high readership, postcards make it possible to communicate with your customers in a friendly and social tone.

Then, it’s easy to track your marketing performance and ROI on every mail via customer responses.

In conclusion

Postcards may not be entirely new in marketing your brand, and most people will look away at the mention of this direct mail marketing format.

With adequate planning and strategy built around postcards direct mail, businesses can expand their market reach and increase their customer base while also boosting profit margins.

Thankfully you don’t have to manage your direct mail marketing strategy by yourself. We are available around the clock to offer our expertise and help you achieve your goal.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

The pandemic has thrown a big wrench in the working of virtually all businesses. While many businesses are operating at a limited capacity, working remotely, or planning their exit, you don’t have to go in the same direction.

Despite the setbacks imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an opportunity to grow your business while still being sensitive to happenings around you.

To keep your business running and not lose either your customers and employees because of the pandemic, there are strategies you can adopt to keep your business afloat.

Let’s take a look at some of them. Shall we?

Leverage the internet in your marketing campaigns

While blogs, newsletters, and social media are free or low-cost avenues you can explore to build an online presence, it is always best to have a plan before investing your time and resources into taking your business online.

Interact with your customers on a personal level

It’s no longer news that businesses have turned to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to stay in touch with their customers and work remotely.

It’s not enough to open a social media account and post repeatedly. You need to identify your target audience and come up with creative means of engaging them online.

To connect with your customers on a personal level and imprint your name in their hearts, you should aim to provide customized customer services. Always check on your customers and provide solutions to their needs.

We will discuss how you can retain customers during the pandemic later on.

Fine-tune your virtual selling skills — first impressions still matter

Even though most businesses have taken to the virtual space and you are now pitching your brand over the internet, have it in mind that first impression still matters.

Always check to ensure that your audio and video are clear and easy to understand. Then your background should be spot on.

Be proactive and provide upfront value

Be proactive and give customers upfront value for your customers. You can provide prospects with resources and tools that will help them relate with your brand even if they don’t convert right away.

Because most businesses are operating remotely and the usual in-person shopping experience is no longer there, customers now take more time to make decisions —   thereby lengthening the sales cycle.

You need to maintain close contact with your customers and make sure they don’t look elsewhere.

Organize virtual events to educate and engage your audience

Earlier, we mentioned creating value for both existing and prospective customers. One way of creating value for your business during the pandemic is by hosting virtual events.

Not just any virtual event — thoughtfully planned virtual events that cater to the needs of your customers. And because virtual events are becoming an everyday thing, you need to find means of making yours stand out.

Make your virtual events interactive

Aim to make your virtual events interactive. If your budget can accommodate it, make provision for incentives and bring in an expert speaker to encourage people to join your virtual events.

At the end of your virtual events, utilize call-to-actions (CTAs) that will drive your customers to connect and continue to do business with you.

Last but not least, make the right connections to help keep your business afloat during the pandemic and ensure sincere and transparent communication with your employees and customers.

How you can retain customers during the pandemic

As we mentioned earlier, customer retention is an essential aspect of building a successful business during a pandemic. With the social distancing protocol still very much in place, businesses are experiencing less foot traffic. As you can imagine, you need customers to remain in business.

So, the million-dollar question is;

How do you retain customers during the pandemic?

First, you have to communicate with your customers and not leave them in the dark about what you are doing. Keep them abreast of all your business activities— if you are closing early, changing work hours, and what efforts you are doing to make your workplace safe. You can reach out to your customers via social media channels or through emails.

Have you considered direct mails?

Direct mail is an excellent way of engaging with your customers offline. You can send postcards or any other printed mailers. Thankfully, direct mails are flexible and cost-effective.

Because of their flexibility and simplicity, businesses can use them to connect with their customers, follow up on leads, and market their brand. Unlike other digital messages that could get lost in a pile of messages, direct mails always make it to the mailbox, and they always get read.

And because they have a personal feel to them, direct mails have a better response rate. They are memorable, and there is less competition.

Do you need expert help with your direct mail?

If you are not sure how to handle your direct mail, especially in making the right connections with your customers during the pandemic, you can always reach out to us. We can help you plan a successful direct mail campaign and ensure that you get the desired results.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.

It’s almost impossible to discuss how businesses can connect with their customers without mentioning customer engagement. To keep your business up and running and profitable, you need to build a community of loyal customers — those that will stick with your brand through thick and thin.

Defining customer engagement

You can think of customer engagement as maintaining a healthy or close relationship with your customers.

Customer engagement can be measured through regular interactions with customers via emails, reaction on social media channels, testimonials and customer feedback, click-through-rate, and re-purchasing.

Think about it. What better way for customers to show loyalty than re-purchasing?

All forms of customer engagement are intended to increase brand awareness and exposure, build customers’ trust and confidence in your brand and assess your level of customer satisfaction — with a view of enhancing customer experience.

Building a customer engagement strategy?

While reaching out and connecting with new customers is an essential aspect of doing business, another aspect of business that is equally important is holding on to the ones you already have. Think customer retention.

As we mentioned earlier, customer engagement hinges on building a relationship or connecting with people who patronize your business. It comprises every means of communication between you and your customers that you can think of — phone calls, social media conversations, emails. You name them.

Having mentioned that, you need a strategy to determine effectively communicate with both existing and prospective customers. The idea is to keep them happy and satisfied at all times.

What is a customer engagement strategy?

With all we have shared so far, you should already have an idea of what a customer engagement strategy is.

Any ideas? If you say, it is a plan that is developed to increase customer satisfaction. You are right.

But that’s is not all.

Customer engagement strategy also involves building a profitable relationship and having positive communication with customers — either online or offline. An effective strategy demonstrates proactive methods of customer engagement.

It should cover how your customer service team interacts with customers when customers get in touch with you and how your company can actively engage your customer base.

We are moving on.

Why do you need a customer engagement strategy?

It was forecasted that customer experience would be the leading reason why customers will patronize businesses by the end of 2020. And that forecast is already coming to fruition.

Still on customer satisfaction, if you can deliver a spectacular customer experience and get your customers to feel good about your business, the chances are that price will no longer be an issue.

A happy customer will spread the word

The extent you will go to ensure that your customers get maximum satisfaction can also lead them to recommend you to other people — their friends and family. And that is organic campaigns that will impact your business significantly.

Think of what referrals by a satisfied customer will do for your brand. The result is priceless.

Considering how customer engagement can impact your business, you may want to have a rethink and start paying more attention to your customer engagement strategy.

How do you track customer engagement?

If you already have a strategy going on for your business, you should track the performance of your customer engagement strategy. The easiest way of telling whether your strategy is yielding results is by checking the metrics.

1. Social media interactions

One of the quickest means of telling if your customer engagement strategy is working is a spike in your social media interactions. You may begin to notice more likes and comments on your social media channels and pages.

2. Positive reviews

Suppose customers are impressed by your customer services (which is key to customer engagement). In that case, they will shower you with praises and won’t hesitate to drop a fantastic review of Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other popular platforms where people go to check reviews.

3. Increasing number of happy customers

Another quick means of assessing your customer engagement is an increase in the number of happy customers.

You can measure this via surveys. Your survey question should revolve around satisfaction levels and if they will recommend you. While you are at it, remember to keep an eye on the response rate from your survey. Higher response rates equal high engagement and vice versa.

Customer engagement strategies you should consider

You can never run out of ideas for engaging your customers. All you need to do is be creative and think outside the box.

One popular trend in customer engagement is the “tag a friend” campaign you see on social media these days. You may have participated in one of those without noticing.

How to do it.

It is pretty simple. If you deal on products, you can take a picture of the product and post it on your social media channels.

Then ask your followers to tag their friends to win the prize. Remember to communicate the start and finish date of the campaign and how the winner will be selected.

You could end the challenge when you hit a certain number of followers, and the winner will be the person with the most number of tags.

Post shout outs across your social media channels

You will be amazed at how much engagement you will get from taking a screenshot of a review or referral message and posting it on social media.

Tag the writer and thank them for the kind word and cleverly encourage others to do the same. Now, that is customer engagement at its best.

Can I use direct mail postcards?

We did say think outside the box. So, Yep! You can use direct mail postcards for customer engagement. Sending postcards to your customers is another excellent customer engagement strategy you should add to your strategy.

Postcards show that you have your customers at heart, and you value their relationship with your brand or company. You can send a postcard mailer, say once every month.

Other great customer engagement ideas for your business include starting a fan club, rewarding engagements by sending gifts to active customers or long-term, saying thank you to those who referred you and checking up on customers you haven’t heard from in a while.

We are rounding off!

There you have it. Great ideas for customer engagement and how to get your customers to keep your business on top of mind. Regarding direct mail for keeping in touch with your customers, we have all the resources and expertise to help you run a successful customer engagement campaign. Do get in touch with us soon.

Zairmail (www.zairmail.com) is the fastest and easiest way to send (real) postal mail. Give us a call anytime at 888.898.0066, we would be happy to help with your direct mail needs.