Who doesn’t like receiving a gift in the mail? 

Forget stuffy old flyers, modern direct mail is a lot more exciting than that, and for many businesses, it can be a very lucrative marketing tactic. 

Here’s your ultimate Direct Mail Guide. 

Why Use Direct Mail?

When we look at it in the context of the modern world, perhaps receiving something in the mail seems a little outdated. Maybe that’s the exact reason direct mail can be so effective. 

The digital world is so crowded - our email inboxes are full of spam, our social media feeds are full of ads, and filtering out unsolicited messages is a full-time job. People are constantly on-guard and this makes it difficult to engage people with cold outreach. 

We don’t just exist in the digital world though. We all have a presence in the physical world too, and this provides businesses with another way to engage with us. Receiving something in the mail is something of a novelty now, and when you receive something tangible that you hold in your hands, it’s very difficult to ignore. 

Our lives take place online and they also take place in the physical world. It makes sense that marketing does the same thing and this is why direct mail is still relevant today. 

Direct Mail Guide: 6 Strategy Tips 

Direct mail is like any other form of marketing - you want to stand out from the crowd. It’s almost as easy for someone to throw your direct mail in the trash as it is to delete an unwanted email, so you’ve got to find a way of standing out from the crowd and engaging your target audience.

1. Carefully Curate Your List

One of the most important elements of outreach is creating a targeted list. 

If you’re spending time and money creating valuable campaigns, then you don’t want to be going for a scattergun approach. Instead, you want to find the people who are most likely to benefit from what you’re offering, and who are most likely to benefit you. 

This means you’ve got to put time into your research. 

It’s not just about finding the right contacts but also making sure you’ve got the right contact details and learning about your prospects. You may choose to send a lavish gift as part of your direct mail, in which case, you need to know it’s going to the right address, and you also want to make it personal to the recipient. 

A good list is key to making sure you send the right message to the right people and ensuring it actually gets there. 

2. Choose Your Direct Mail Items 

When we think of direct mail we probably picture a flimsy flyer being posted through someone’s door. If you want big results from direct mail, then you need to think bigger than this. 

Outreach is all about starting a conversation, so how can you achieve this through your direct mail tactics?

A custom gift can be a perfect conversation starter, and the nice thing is, it can be personalized. LinkedIn is a treasure-trove of information for understanding what people care about, so use it to select gifts that grab attention and encourage people to take action. 

3. Personalize Your Copy 

There’s a thin line between creepy and thoughtful sometimes. 

If an unmarked box turns up at your offices with a gift from someone you’ve never heard of, then it’s probably going to freak you out a little bit. The gift is designed to grab attention, but it’s your copy that’s going to give your direct mail context. 

This is your opportunity to start the conversation and make a case for why the recipient should book a call with you. 

Again, the important thing is personalization. You want to make the recipient feel like the gift is specifically for them - not that you’ve sent it out to hundreds of people. Including a hand-written note can be a nice touch that cuts through the impersonal nature of digital marketing that we’re accustomed to. 

4. Follow Up

You have to remember that your prospects are busy people with a lot going on. They may have loved your direct mail, but they’ve just not got round to giving you a call yet. The point is, you won’t know unless you follow up. 
This is another opportunity to reflect the way we live in both the physical and online worlds by making your outreach multichannel. You can create a flow that engages people through direct mail, email, and LinkedIn to make it as easy as possible for your prospects to get in touch with you and begin the conversation.

If you’ve put time into your list building, then you’re offering value to the recipient, so don’t be worried about following up. Of course, you should respect people’s privacy and keep it within reason, but the follow-up is just as important as the direct mail itself. 

5. Keep Testing 

Creating a multichannel outreach campaign that includes direct mail isn’t straightforward. You’ve got a lot of moving parts, and you’re probably not going to get everything perfectly right the first time around. 

You’ll find you need to tweak different elements as you go, so make sure you’re testing your ideas regularly. Try out different gifts, mix up your sequences, and find the approach that works best for you. 

Keep an eye on your analytics for the email and social aspects of the flow and closely document what direct mail is being sent to each prospect. 

This will allow you to spot patterns and maximize the effectiveness of what you’re doing.  

Direct Mail Guide: Can Be A Great Way To Capture Your Client’s Attention

On the face of it, direct mail might seem like something that belongs in the 90s, but this is far from the truth. It’s actually a great way of reaching hard-to-reach prospects and engaging your most promising targets. 

Like any marketing, it’s an art. You can’t just pack up a box and send it out to hundreds of people, that would be a waste of time and effort! Instead, you’ve got to be strategic and constantly optimize what you do. 

Not everybody has the time and resources to make direct mail work, but you can cut your learning curve and get instant results by letting SalesHive take care of everything for you.

Learn more about our direct mail prospecting services!