Digital fatigue has become a real issue for consumers and marketers. The onset of the pandemic caused businesses to focus mostly on their digital platforms. This hyperfocus and reliance on digital media has led to increasing levels of digital fatigue, thereby creating a new challenge: how to establish authentic engagement with consumers to override digital fatigue and create new connections that drive business.
A simple solution for this is to incorporate direct mail as part of your marketing campaign. The “2022 Hybrid Audience Engagement Survey” conducted by PFL revealed personalized physical mail has significantly higher engagement and response rates at 54% than other forms of communication—even personalized email at 32%.
Adding a non-digital channel to your approach can break through to your prospects in a way that digital alone struggles to do. Direct mail gives you an opportunity to leave a lasting impression and build a more personal connection with your prospects.
How can direct mail enhance a digital campaign?
In an age where everyone has a computer, the digital tablet has become the next laptop and consumers can’t seem to put their smartphones down, it’s not surprising why marketers all too often think that direct mail is not as viable as digital advertising. But what kind of impact does direct mail have?
- Businesses that opt to use direct mail and digital ads together enjoyed a 28% increase in conversion rates and a 450% increase in response rates.1
- Up to 90% of direct mail gets opened, compared to only 20-30% of email.2
- Direct mail recipients purchased 28% more items and spent 28% more money than people who didn’t get that piece of direct mail.3
- Oversized envelopes have the highest response rate at 5%.4
With direct mail in your marketing mix, you’ll be able to reach prospective audiences and initiate new relationships more efficiently and effectively than you can with digital campaigns alone. It’s important to include something of value in your direct mail piece—people often expect to see an offer in direct mail, and they tend to hold on direct mail pieces, so lists of services or hours are good, too.
- Consumers see direct mail as offering value when they include coupons or coincide with BOGO or other discounts.
- Because people tend to hang onto a mailer until they can use the offer, they may look at the piece over days or weeks after it’s been received.
- In addition, studies have shown that feeling and touching a mail piece triggers emotions that makes the engagement all that more real, credible, and memorable.
The truth of the matter is, the effectiveness of direct mail continues to grow (suggestion: direct mail is still effective, even as more and more people spend time on their digital devices. You can use direct mail today to grab your audience's attention and connect with them on a personal level.
- 1 (Writers Block Live)
- 2 (Data & Marketing Association)
- 3 (United States Postal Service)
- 4 (Data & Marketing Association)