How To Use Direct Mail for Small Business Marketing | Taradel

Are you looking for an effective way to promote your small business?

Have you considered direct mail? Since you're here, we guess you have. The real questions are how to use it and whether it's worth it.

If you're seriously considering taking advantage of small business direct mail marketing, this guide will provide you with all the necessary information.

We'll cover the advantages of direct mail for small businesses, its potential downsides, and the costs involved. Most importantly, we'll provide you with a step-by-step guide on using direct mail for your small business marketing, along with several best practices.

Let's get on with it, shall we?

What Is Direct Mail Marketing?

First, to ensure we're on the same page, what is direct mail marketing?

While it's obvious for some, many confuse direct mail advertising with email marketing. These are two entirely different marketing techniques.

Essentially, direct mail marketing refers to any physical correspondence businesses send to their customers. It involves printing and mailing marketing pieces (postcards, pamphlets, etc.) to gain their business.

Email marketing, on the other hand, is a digital marketing strategy. You can say it's a younger cousin of direct mail. It also involves businesses sending messages to their customers, but in the online space, not physical.

Does Direct Mail Marketing Still Work?

Yes, it does. Moreover, you'd be surprised how effective it can be. While some consider direct mail marketing outdated, it can perform better than many digital marketing strategies.

And if you aren't sure whether to trust us, let the numbers do the talking:

• up to 90% of direct mail gets opened compared to 20-30% of emails;
• the response rate to direct mail marketing is up to nine times higher than that of email;
• 59% of US respondents say they enjoy getting direct mail from brands about new products and services;
• direct mail recipients purchased 28% more products and spent 28% more money than consumers who didn't get the same direct mail piece;
• on average, direct mail offers a 29% return on investment (ROI).

And these stats show only a fraction of direct mail capabilities.

Once you learn how to use it, direct mailing will become your greatest marketing ally. It will help you attract more customers and build your brand, especially if you combine direct mail with other marketing channels.

So to answer your question, yes, direct mail marketing does work.

Advantages of Direct Mail for Small Businesses

The stats above perfectly show the potential results of a successful direct mail campaign. However, every door direct mail marketing offers several unique advantages for small business owners.

Direct Mail Encourages Interaction

When was the last time you opened an email marketing message? And if you did, had it encouraged you to take action? Or did you just go through it quickly before deleting it?

Probably the latter. Let's face it, as convenient as emails are, they don't encourage most people to take action, even if they include a catchy CTA. The same cannot be said for direct mail pieces.

As mentioned, direct mail's response rate can even be nine times higher than email. Think about it. Whenever you receive direct mail, you have it physically in your hands. You need to open and read it before you decide what to do with it.

That said, sending direct mail to your target audience will at least make them look at the piece. That's a big deal, and with the proper CTA, you will likely convince them to respond. For instance, you can include a coupon they need to bring to your store to redeem it.

Direct Mail Campaigns Are Memorable

Nowadays, we're all flooded with emails and online ads. And who can blame businesses for that? Digital marketing is faster than traditional marketing channels and allows them to reach wider audiences at a lower cost.

The problem is that online consumers are overstimulated. They look at an online ad or email and instantly throw it out of their mind. The same cannot be said about direct mail, though.

Direct mail marketing campaigns are much more memorable. They often create nostalgia businesses can boost by creating more personal messages.

This helps create an emotional connection between brands and customers, increasing engagement. People are also more likely to keep a brochure or a pamphlet. Indeed, according to one study, mail marketing materials are kept in a household for 17 days on average.

Direct Mail Allows Businesses To Get Creative

Creating a direct mail marketing piece offers a range of possibilities to get creative. First, there are several direct mail options - coupons, pamphlets, brochures, postcards, etc.

Secondly, you can engage with your customers and create more personalized content. Even a trivial thing like choosing an envelope grants you many possibilities.

And last but not least, direct mail campaigns are easy to combine with other marketing channels. For instance, you can include a QR code in your direct mail postcard that leads to your website, a YouTube video, an online poll, etc.

Direct Mail Marketing Campaigns Help Target a Wide Demographic

If you know that a part of your target audience doesn't have access to social media or email, a direct mail marketing campaign is the best way to reach it. Also, by combining direct mail efforts with digital marketing materials, you'll be able to turn even more consumers into potential customers.

The Competition Is Limited

With most businesses opting for digital channels, direct mail marketing opens an opportunity for local businesses to stand out.

First, limited competition improves your chances of consumers reading your marketing materials. They won't feel overstimulated with similar content, meaning they'll be more likely to at least look at what you have to offer.

Also, since people receive direct mail marketing materials less frequently, they'll be more surprised whenever they get one and, therefore, more likely to read it.

What Is the Cost of a Direct Mail Campaign?

From a marketing point of view, direct mail can be incredibly effective for your small business. Can the same thing be said about the costs of running a direct mail campaign, though?

A short answer is yes. Direct mail marketing offers an excellent return on investment - 29% on average, to be exact.

How much does it cost?

Typically between $0.30 and $3.00 per direct mail piece. It can be more, though, or less, depending on your type of direct mail, ad design, printing services, copywriting costs, and direct mailing services.

Here's how these costs typically divide:

• Type of mail. When designing your campaign, you can choose between several types of direct mail, such as postcards, pamphlets, letters, or catalogs. The bigger and more 'flashy' your pieces are, the more you can expect to pay. You can expect to pay up to $10 a piece for oversized postcards or magazines.
• Ad design. The next thing you need to consider is how you want your direct mail postcards or catalogs to look. When it comes to designing your pieces, you have three options. You can either design in-house, use an online template, or hire a professional. The first two options are the most cost-effective, although the third might bring you the best results.
• Printing. Printing services typically vary between $0.03 and $2.00 per unit, although that will depend on the project's complexity. Printing costs will also depend on how many pieces you want to print. The bigger your order, the lower your costs should be.
• Copywriting. Similar to designing your direct mail pieces, you must ensure it has convincing content. You can create a copy yourself, but hiring a professional is always better. Depending on the form and copywriting services, you can expect to pay around $0.10-0.20 per word.
• Mailing. When mailing your campaign, you can rely on the Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) service the USPS provides for mail advertisement flyers and letters. The cost of every door direct mail service varies between $0.16 and $0.19 per delivery.

These are the leading direct mail costs. You should also consider several other factors, such as personalization and integration costs, volume, and mailing list costs.

It's also vital to note that different direct mail services and marketing agencies will use different pricing.

What Are the Types of Direct Mail?

As said, you can choose between several different types of direct mail. When choosing one, you need to consider what you want to achieve with your direct mail campaign and who is your target audience.

The costs will also come into play, so be sure you figure out your marketing budget to ensure your choice is cost-effective.

What are your options? We can distinguish the four primary ones - letters, self-mailers, postcards, and catalogs:

• Letters. Letters refer to any direct mail piece that's packed in an envelope. Letters are more informative and typically used by brands in finance or law, which use them to generate leads that can later be converted to sales.
• Self-mailers. Self-mailers are newsletters, brochures, booklets, etc. Such direct mail pieces are usually more colorful than letters. They also contain less content. Instead, they are made to be eye-catching and provide customers with essential information.
• Postcards. Postcards are probably the best way to display your business's information in a fun and engaging way. Postcards usually use large and eye-catching images with some helpful content that can help them acquire more customers. Postcards are generally considered the most cost-effective direct mail marketing option. The most popular way to mail them is via the Every Door Direct Mail service.
• Catalogs. If your small business sells goods, you can display them via catalogs and send them to your potential customers. You can use them to provide information about your products and try to convince your target audience to come to your store (whether it's online or brick-and-mortar).

How To Use Direct Mail for Small Businesses?

Now that we have the basics out of the way, we can get to the most important part of this guide - how to create the direct mail strategy for your small business.

In general, launching your direct mail campaign isn't much different from starting a digital strategy. What will differ is the distribution method. That said, let's cover, step by step, how to create a small business direct mail campaign.

Step 1: Identify Your Marketing Goals

Regardless of your marketing campaign type, the first step is identifying your goals. Marketing objectives are the core of any strategy. They will enable you to determine the target audience, design your marketing collateral, measure the campaign's success, etc.

So what can be your direct mail marketing goals? Some common objectives might include the following:

• generating new leads,
• introducing new services and products to existing customers,
• announcing sales, discounts, etc.,
• generating traffic to your store or website,
• or re-engaging old customers.

Once you have your goal, you can get to the next step.

Step 2: Know Your Audience

Who do you want to target with your campaign? As said, that will depend on your goal.

First, you will need to identify the audience. If you want to generate new leads or traffic, you will need to target consumers that don't know you yet. On the other hand, if you're offering sales and discounts, you're probably trying to re-engage your existing clients.

In general, if you want to define your audience, the best idea is to answer the following questions:

• Who are you trying to reach?
• What are your audience's needs?
• What are their buying habits?
• Where do they live?

Without identifying your target audience, you won't be able to create a targeted mailing list; without a list, you won't send your marketing materials to the right people. That brings us to the next step, which is...

Step 3: Create Your Direct Mailing List

Once you have your target audience, you need to create your mailing list. As the name suggests, that's the list of your potential customers' addresses.

Where to get one? Basically, there are two types of targeted mailing lists - in-house and purchased:

• In-house mailing lists. Such lists are addresses and names of your existing customers, which is the data you should already have in your database (if you have one already, of course).
• Purchased mailing lists. You can buy or rent mailing lists from third-party agencies or direct mailing services. Purchased lists are your best option if you don't have an existing audience or want to target a new one.

Step 4: Think About Your CTA

The proper CTA makes all the difference. Think about how you want to engage with your audience. Once again, everything comes down to the 1st step - creating a goal.

If you want to generate new leads, the best idea is to include an offer they can redeem by registering for your newsletter. The idea here should be to convince them to leave you some kind of contact information so you can add them to your database.

Remember that your CTA should grab the person's attention. It needs to lead to them making your desired action. Here's where copywriting and design skills come into play, so it may be a good idea to consider hiring a professional (unless you have an in-house content creator).

Step 5: Choose Your Direct Mail Format and Design Your Piece

Once you know what you want from your direct mail campaign and how to reach your audience, it's time to choose how you want to send your message. That means choosing your direct mail format.

As said, you can choose between several options, including letters, postcards, pamphlets, catalogs, etc.

Choosing one will depend on several factors, namely your goal, audience, and budget. For instance, if you want to re-engage with your existing clients, you can send them personalized mail containing a survey or a coupon code as a form of gratitude.

The design itself is also essential. Generally, it's always a good idea to design something eye-catching that grabs your customers' attention. You can check our templates if you're looking for inspiration.

Step 6: Print and Send Your Mail

Okay, you know to whom to send your marketing collateral, and you have your design. The only thing that's left is printing and sending your materials.

First, printing. Depending on the type of your mail piece and its complexity, you should expect to pay around $0.03-2.00 per unit. The cost will also depend on the printing company, as various printing services can have different pricing.

Once you have your letters or postcards printed, it's time to mail them. The best idea is to do that through the EDDM service from USPS.

These two processes require a lot of effort, but you can speed them up through automation. We'll talk about it briefly, so stick with us for a little longer.

Step 7: Measure Your Direct Mail Campaign

Once your direct mail marketing campaign is up and running, you need to measure it. Use the engagement metrics that match your goals and track how the campaign performs.

Based on that, you will be able to determine its success and see which elements of your strategy require improvements.

Keep in mind that direct mail campaigns usually take much longer than digital marketing ones. They can also be more challenging to measure without the appropriate tools.

Direct Mail Tips and Best Practices for Small Businesses

Creating a successful direct mail marketing strategy can be challenging. As you can see, there are many aspects you have to consider, and it can take a while until you see positive (or negative) results of your campaign.

On the other hand, there are many different approaches you can take, as direct mail marketing grants you a lot of chances to be creative.

And as for some good practices we can leave you with, here are several tips you can use to make the most out of your direct mail campaign:

• Always set up clear goals you can later measure;
• Know your audience and ensure you tailor your message to them;
• Keep your mail pieces focused and organized;
• Make sure your CTA is the focal point of your mail piece;
• Always opt for bulk mailing and printing to make your campaign more cost-effective;
• Combine direct mail marketing with other campaigns.

The best tip we can leave you with, however, is to automate the entire process.

Taking advantage of our Taradel EDDM Online Tool, for example, will allow you to target, design, launch, and measure your entire direct mail campaign.

Taradel will also help you combine your direct mailing with other marketing efforts to create the most efficient marketing strategy possible for your small business.

Plan your campaign with Taradel today, and take advantage of the best direct mailing service, fully automated and designed to make marketing campaigns straightforward.

Should You Use Direct Mail Campaigns for Your Small Business?

While direct mail marketing might seem like an outdated concept, it grants a fantastic opportunity for small businesses to promote their services and products. It comes with a high engagement rate, involves limited competition, and offers a fantastic ROI.

Of course, direct mail campaigns usually take much longer to generate desired results. Moreover, the results can also be difficult to measure, not to mention that printing and mailing services can be pretty costly.

You can, however, eliminate all the potential challenges with automation. Using the best direct mail services, such as Taradel, you will be able to fully automate each process of your marketing strategy, combining direct mail with other marketing efforts.

Take advantage of automated direct mailing services and stand out from your competitors.