The Role of Direct Marketing in the Digital Age

The role of social media has transformed how businesses undertake direct marketing to both existing and prospective clients; online games, discussions and debates, and real time updates enable any business to engage and gather information from their target audiences on a frequency that until recently wasn’t even possible. So have Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, You Tube and the numerous other social networks essentially killed off the use or need for Printed Direct Mail? Some marketers think so referring to this as some sort of “Digital Age Darwinism” suggesting that print direct mail is being pushed aside by social media as it is expensive, time consuming and isn’t well received by audiences.

There can be no question that companies are starting to realise that purchasing data lists and then dispatching poorly targeted promotional printed items to a large audience is not cost effective, however does this mean that we are now on a path to seeing the death of print direct mail? The answer to this question is almost certainly no, and in fact we could be just about to see resurgence as companies look for an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. After all, how many emails are either ignored, never opened or even reach an inbox as they get filtered into junk or spam folders. Print direct marketing may be far more expensive, but the return on investment is so much greater.

Printed direct mail delivers a far greater impact than digital methods, in fact a recent survey suggest that as much as 91% of those sent a printed direct mail piece would actually open it. What’s more a whopping 85% of those surveyed indicated they would actually prefer to receive something tangible (e.g. a CD) rather than the equivalent digital version (e.g. link). This research provides strong evidence that customers when communicated to by businesses still prefer to receive something tangible, something which has yet to be addressed or matched by the digital environment.

Companies are realising instead of sending mass mail outs they need to start creating personal mailings, which are appealing or are of a perceived value to a selected list of prospects. The size of your company is no limit to the effectiveness of your print direct mailing campaign: multinationals can offer the personal touch; small companies can punch to the maximum of their weight.

One recent brand awareness exercise created a highly bespoke printed direct mail campaign. The campaign involved the creation of a booklet that told the story of three chilli amigos Elvin, Nevil and Vinel (a play on the company’s name) and their journey from Mexico to the UK. The booklet was beautifully illustrated and sent along with a plastic pot, soil and chilli seeds in a branded box (which looked like they had been sent from Mexico) to a number of prospective clients. Upon receiving the direct mail piece a prospective client would plant the chilli seeds in the soil and pot provided, following the comical instructions laid out within the booklet on how to look after their chillies. The hope was the chilli plant would then sit on their desk and remind them of the company that had sent them. If the recipients visited the company’s website – as the booklet encouraged them to do – they would find a recipe for chilli jam. This encouraged the customers to follow through the various stages of the campaign and they got something back in return for engaging with the brand. The direct mail campaign was highly successful with a result of every £1 spent resulting in a £6 return.