It's no secret that email is one of the most common forms of online communication. However, when it comes to marketing, direct mail still beats email in terms of response rates. Why is this? There are several reasons: direct mail is more tactile and engaging than email, it takes less cognitive effort to process than email, and it can be more personalized than digital channels. Both marketing and sales teams can use direct mail and gifting to generate demand and establish trust within buying committees.
Direct mail outperforms email for marketing because it is more tactile and engaging. Direct mail is a physical break from our digital world, allowing us to feel the paper and the colors; we are not required to stare at a screen or read small text. Additionally, direct mail takes less cognitive effort to process than email because emotional processing is facilitated by the physical material, and you aren't distracted by constant ads or notifications. Finally, research has shown that ABM strategies generated up to 27% more sales revenue and a 42% higher conversion rate due to greater engagement and personalization.
Imagine receiving an unexpected, personalized gift by mail, unwrapping it, and looking for a message to see who sent it and why. This would likely capture your focus for a few minutes, while marketing emails are often scanned and passed over within seconds.
Companies that incorporate automated direct mail in their sales and marketing find it helps build stronger prospect relationships. Every communication, from a postcard to customized presents or discounts, evokes strong emotions and contributes to long-term trust in the company. They also see increased brand recognition from the impact direct mail makes on customers.
If direct mail is so great, why aren't more companies using it?
Direct mail as an offline marketing tactic has been around for a long time, but it's still relatively uncharted territory for most sales and marketing teams. Sending postcards, gifts, and other pieces of mail have always been a time-consuming process, which is why many companies shy away from using direct mail. Another is that technology hasn't provided a platform for companies to easily manage all of their offline communication.
However, what if you could send hundreds or even thousands of pieces of mail with the click of a few buttons? Fulfillment, packaging, delivery, and other logistics are all included as soon as you provide a list of contacts. This is the concept of automated direct mail with Postal.io.
Beyond simplicity, automated direct mail improves sales and marketing performance with greater visibility and alignment across teams. Target accounts and associated direct mail activities are tracked in a CRM, giving the team the tools and analytics they need to segment audiences, identify high-intent opportunities, and verify conversions. Direct mail can even be automated when contacts take triggered actions, streamlining engagement even further. Finally, sales teams can coordinate with marketing to develop meaningful, personalized campaigns.
Automated direct mail can drastically improve sales and ROI when used as part of an omnichannel approach. Every company needs to consider this for their sales and marketing going forward.
