Physical To Digital Marketing: The Best Strategy Of 2023
Randy Lisciarelli
Updated: June 27, 2023
Listen to This Audio to Get a Full Overview in Two Minutes:
Although Digital Marketing has raised and eclipsed physical marketing, it didn’t make direct mail obsolete. People still enjoy receiving mail, so using an integrated mix of digital and physical marketing can be the best strategy for 2023.
Direct mail and digital marketing can exist separately but thrive when integrated. Royal Mail says more than 50% of consumers prefer combining digital and physical marketing. These customers feel more personally engaged in advertising and spend as much as 25% more due to the combined effort. The secret to unlocking these benefits lies in integrating digital and physical channels.
Add to this the fact that only 15% of Millennials ignore direct mail, in contrast to the 50% who say they ignore digital ads. Moreover, customers are more likely to remember what they read in a physical mail document than in a digital one.
The Power of Direct Mail
Direct mail uniquely captivates and engages recipients in a tangible way that digital marketing often cannot replicate. The tactile experience of holding a physical piece of mail can evoke emotions and establish a personal connection with the recipient. Furthermore, physical mail is less prone to being ignored or overlooked amidst digital advertisements bombarding individuals daily.
Direct Mail and Email Marketing are both forms of outbound marketing, meaning that they reach out to people interested in specific offers. On the other hand, inbound marketing (SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing) provides content and useful resources and helps customers to find companies when they need their products and services.
Finding the right balance between outbound and inbound marketing, between digital and physical advertising, is key to achieving effective customer engagement. It’s important to understand how they fit into the bigger marketing efforts and learn to practice them not as isolated techniques but as a marketing-integrated mix.
How to integrate Digital and Physical Marketing:
While direct mail possesses its strengths, combining it with digital marketing can create a powerful marketing strategy that leverages the benefits of both mediums. Let’s explore how businesses can seamlessly integrate direct mail and digital marketing into their marketing efforts for optimal results.
Direct Mail and Email Marketing
Direct Mail and Email Marketing are highly effective marketing methods that work hand in hand to engage potential customers and drive better results. Direct Mail and Email Marketing are both forms of outbound marketing, meaning that they are reaching out to people interested in specific offers.
On the other hand, inbound marketing (SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing) provides content and useful resources and helps customers to find companies when they need their products and services. Finding the right balance between outbound and inbound marketing, between digital and physical advertising, is key to achieving effective customer engagement. It’s important to understand how they fit into the bigger marketing efforts and learn to practice them not as isolated techniques but as a marketing-integrated mix.
Businesses can benefit from increased response rates and improved customer engagement by leveraging both direct mail and email marketing combined channels. Studies have shown that using Direct Mail and Email Marketing together can result in up to a 35% lift compared to using a single channel alone (source: IWCO).
Here’s a step-by-step guide on effectively direct mail and email marketing combined for maximum impact:
Targeted Direct Mail Campaign: Start by designing a specifically targeted direct mail campaign. Create beautiful postcards or catalogs that resonate with your audience and generate interest in your offering. Personalization and relevance are vital in capturing attention and creating traction.
Timely Email Follow-Up: Once you’ve sent out the direct mail pieces, follow up with a well-timed email to the same recipients. Send the email on the day the mail is expected to arrive to maximize the impact. Craft a simple and compelling subject line like, “Remember to check the postcard you received for an exclusive coupon and big savings this month!” This serves as a reminder to recipients about the unique offer in the direct mail piece that they would want to take advantage of.
Reinforce the Message: Ensure the key message and call-to-action are consistent across direct mail and email. Delivering the same critical information through multiple channels creates a stronger impact and increases the likelihood of recipients taking the desired action.
Drive Digital Engagement: If your direct mail and email messages prompt recipients to visit your website or engage with your online platforms, highlight this in the direct mail and email content. Studies conducted by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) have found that 92% of direct mail recipients are driven to digital activities. By emphasizing the online aspect, you can encourage potential customers to visit your website and further explore your offerings.
Sequenced Communication: Consider building a sequence of communications that reference each other. Start with the direct mail piece, and in subsequent emails, refer back to the previous physical mail and highlight its benefits. This sequential approach creates a cohesive customer experience and reinforces the message over time, increasing the chances of conversion.
Lead Generation and Nurturing: Use direct mail to capture the attention of customers whose email addresses you still need to get. Offer a freebie or an enticing incentive encouraging them to provide their contact details. Once you have their email addresses, implement a progressive automated drip email campaign to nurture leads and build trust and recognition over time.
You can send a longer email sequence describing your company and offer in more detail. Some useful tips:
Reinforce the message by delivering the same critical information on both channels to make a bigger impact.
Build communication in sequence, one ad after another, and reference the second (digital ad) to the previous one (physical ad).
Use direct mail to deliver the most important takeaway and initiate the dialogue with those customers whose email addresses you don’t have yet.
Start with a free offer direct mail to generate leads, then nurture your leads with a progressive automated drip email campaign to gain trust and recognition.
By implementing these strategies, businesses can effectively combine Direct Mail and Email Marketing to create a powerful and cohesive marketing campaign. Remember to continually evaluate and optimize your efforts based on customer response and engagement, ensuring your messages resonate with your target audience and drive desired actions.Read also Key market trends: direct mail or email?
Direct Mail and Content Marketing:
Though distinct practices, Direct Mail and Content Marketing can greatly benefit from each other’s strengths. By integrating these strategies, businesses can achieve more effective results and enhance customer engagement for inbound and outbound marketing. Here’s how to leverage the power of both approaches:
Online Content for Direct Mail Recipients: When directing direct mail recipients to your website, ensure you have valuable and engaging content for them to explore. Provide in-depth information about your business, products, services, and industry. With customers increasingly conducting online research before making purchases, having comprehensive online content helps them learn more and build confidence in our offerings.
Personalized Landing Pages: Take our existing successful direct mail campaigns and create personalized landing pages for recipients to visit. Encourage them to provide information about themselves in exchange for accessing exclusive content or offers. This approach works well for all types of businesses, including nonprofits. Enticing recipients to read and learn more about our content increases their chances of remembering your company and making future purchases.
Additional Tips:
QR Codes: Utilize QR codes in direct mail to direct customers to landing pages, social media campaigns, or videos. This seamless transition from physical mail to digital content enables recipients to access and engage with your online offerings easily.
Personalized Links: Embed personalized links within your content to capture analytics and gain insights into visitors. This data can include location, demographics, interests, or the time and day of their visits. Leveraging this information helps you better understand your audience and tailor future marketing efforts accordingly.
Measurement and Analysis: Utilize digital channels to measure the performance of our direct mail campaign by redirecting recipients to personalized URLs. This allows us to gather valuable insights such as unique visits, average time on the page, conversion rates, and more. Analyzing this data provides valuable feedback and helps us optimize your marketing strategies.
By combining Direct Mail and Content Marketing, businesses can create a seamless customer experience that bridges the gap between physical mail and digital content and impact inbound and outbound marketing. Utilize these strategies to engage customers, provide valuable information, and drive conversions. Continually assess and refine your approaches based on data-driven insights for optimal results.
Direct Mail and Social Media can give your direct mail campaigns real momentum by placing your social media URL and asking your recipients to follow or like your page. Or posting your direct mail campaign directly on a social media platform. Also, you can use your social page to encourage your fans to join your mailing list.
Useful tips:
Increase your exposure and reach by creating targeted audiences using the same segments as your targeted direct mail.
Design your normal direct mail and then adapt your direct mail design to the landing page and social media post design for an integrated, unified look and feel.
Through social media, create anticipation about an upcoming direct mail campaign.
Include social media icons on your direct mail piece, and encourage your recipients to follow, share, and like you on social media.
Gather information about your social outreach – those who clicked on your social ads and expressed their interest – and use it (basic demographics, education, interests, buying behavior, and more) to improve your direct mail list.
To get the most out of your marketing, integrate all these separate techniques into multi-channel marketing to create a powerful synergy that converts potential customers. This will tie the physical and digital aspects of your business together. Lastly, Direct Mail and Social Media will give the consumer a choice of how they interact with you.
Ending Note:
As we navigate the ever-evolving marketing landscape, businesses must explore innovative strategies that blend the strengths of physical and digital realms. By combining direct mail with digital marketing, Accurate Mailing Services can harness the unique advantages of each medium to create a powerful and impactful marketing strategy tailored for 2023. This approach enables personalized communication, seamless integration, and effective tracking, ultimately fostering audience engagement, trust-building, and driving desired actions.
At Accurate Mailing Services, we encouraged businesses to embrace this optimal strategy of integrating direct mail with digital marketing to unlock new opportunities for growth and success in their industry. Contact us today for a free consultation.
