9 Ingenious Direct Mail Marketing Ideas You Must Try

Creating a more targeted method of engaging with potential leads can often increase your chances of achieving greater results from your marketing efforts. This truth is reinforced by the recent report by Printing Impressions, which emphasizes that around four out of five consumers are more likely to engage with a brand due to it offering a more personalized experience.

So, what are some direct mail marketing ideas and unique methods of engagement that can drive people to notice you?

Below, we explore nine targeted marketing solutions to bring a customer into your fold. Read through to find engagement-boosting tips that could work for your brand and discover how to work with Taradel to make it a reality.

1. Postcard-Sized Fold-Out Pocket Brochures

Instead of a single-page postcard, remember that paper is easy to fold. Turn every piece of direct mail into three four-panel spreads without the need for extra postage, and significantly boost the amount of space on which you can put offers. You can then use this area for:

• Step-by-step guides
• Testimonials and case studies
• Before/after photos
• Photos of services offered

Together, it serves as a small "zine" specifically tailored for your brand. So long as you keep the weight down, the extra pages can be for anything you want. Then, use a QR code on the final flap as part of the call to action to help customers find your website.

2. Postcard Digital AR Portal

Add a simple version of what you are trying to sell on your website to the outside of the postcard, along with key elements to enable it for augmented reality (AR). Then, instruct recipients to scan it with their phone's camera, which will launch an AR portal displaying a finalized product in 3D when they do.

As AR content boosts click-through rates by 85%, it will be essential to consider whether the extra cost for brand elevation techniques like these is worth the investment. However, remember that you can also use information from those accessing the AR portal to learn about the types and modernity of phones that potential customers have, helping you target them more effectively in the future.

3. Plantable Seed Mailers

Use 100% recycled paper embedded with legal, non-GMO seeds to ensure that even discarded postcards can be an asset to your company. As your postcards are recycled, they can leave a lasting impression in a garden that reminds people of you.

If you use a non-invasive flower that isn't typically found in the area, you can then associate it with your brand, leaving a lasting reminder as postcards become small "seed bombs."

4. Pop-Up Mailers That Spring into Action

Pop-up mailers that fly out of envelopes may not have the simplicity of postcards, but they can be extremely memorable when used to best effect. People may even repackage them and give them to others for the novelty alone.

If you choose to incorporate further technology into them, leveraging a fridge magnet and including NFC technology allows people to place these "popped" mailers in an easily accessible location and then use them for another purpose.

For example, people can quickly access digital content by "scanning" the magnet, helping them find your website.

5. Scratch-Off Postcards That Play Like Games

Instead of giving people everything straightaway, you can use "scratch-off" cards in your direct mailing to give people an activity, even if it is something as simple as scratching off the same "reward" on every postcard. The extra effort to obtain the benefit will give them the feeling that they have "earned" it, thereby increasing the likelihood of people engaging with it.

If you want, you could even hyper-focus these cards and offer people from specific places different offers that they are more likely to engage with. However, be aware of local laws related to gambling in your region, and write carefully so it doesn't seem as though they are winning the prize rather than revealing it.

6. Aromatic Coupons That Smell like Success

Scent strips can give your mailers an additional sense of power. As smell is one of the most potent memory triggers among the senses, using this can encourage people to remember what you offer them more often.

Which scent you use will depend entirely on your specific brand. However, coffee, lavender, leather, or a "new car" smell are a few powerful olfactory triggers you may want to investigate. Alternatively, explore other senses and how they might trigger memories in your potential clients for additional options.

7. DIY Mini Models

Instead of a boring blank postcard that people will discard after use, use the card itself as a challenge. Provide them with assembly instructions to turn it into a thematic piece of origami or to cut out pieces to create a specific, branded model.

When people make something, they are more likely to keep it, and thus, you may well find people hold onto your promotion for longer if they create a model with it.

8. Touch-Activated Color-Shift Cards

As heat-sensitive ink can change at around the warmth of a finger, remember that you can use it to create an activity for your potential leads. Instead of merely looking at a postcard for a code, ask them to hold onto it for a short period to reveal the benefit under their thumb.

If you can find a way to make this more thematic with your brand, that would be even better.

9. Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Mailers

Give each postcard a short narrative about how someone resolves their pain point, then ask readers to choose what to do next. Using QR codes or scratch-off panels, allow them to create a narrative where their decision has consequences, but ensure that all of them ultimately direct the reader to your website.

Use These Direct Mail Marketing Ideas for Success

Direct mail continues to thrive, and those using some of the above direct mail marketing ideas are at the forefront of such efforts. However, these are not all difficult to implement.

Taradel's all-in-one platform can help you use some of these innovative mail strategies within minutes while also giving you options for digital marketing engagement and other efforts.

It's time to see what you can do. Start your next campaign with Taradel. With our combined decades of experience, we can advise you on the best option for your brand today.