Listen to this blog summary:
Some marketing approaches stand out because they are particularly good at reaching and converting potential clients. Retargeting using direct mail is one such tactic. If you own a small business and want to boost your marketing efforts with direct mail retargeting, this article is for you. Let’s get into the specifics of how to put this plan into action.
What is retargeted direct mail?
Retargeted direct mail or direct mail remarketing is a marketing approach where personalized direct mail is sent to individuals who have previously interacted with a brand online or offline. This interaction could be visiting a website, signing up for a newsletter, purchasing, or engaging. The goal is to re-engage these individuals and convert them into customers by sending them tailored and relevant direct mail pieces. This strategy aims to bridge the digital and physical marketing gap, providing a more comprehensive and personalized customer experience.
Why is retargeting direct mail a good fit for small businesses?
Retargeting direct mail can be a good fit for small businesses for several reasons:
- It is a cost-effective way to reach a targeted audience. Direct mail is a relatively inexpensive marketing channel, and direct mail retargeting can help you reach people who have already shown an interest in your products or services.
- It is a personalized way to connect with potential customers. Direct mail can be personalized with the recipient’s name and other information, which can help you build relationships with potential customers.
- Direct mail retargeting can help you nurture leads and convert them into customers. Staying top-of-mind with potential customers encourages them to act, such as purchasing.
- You can use it to keep track of your campaign’s results. Direct mail retargeting can be tracked to see how effectively it reaches your target audience and generates results.
How retargeted direct mail work for small business owners?
Retargeted direct mail is a successful part of a small business owner’s marketing strategy at different points in the customer journey. Here’s how it can work at four different stages:
1. Awareness Stage:
At this stage, potential customers are just becoming aware of your brand. Retargeted direct mail can help reinforce their initial interactions and build brand recognition.
- Digital Interaction: A user visits your website after clicking on a social media ad but doesn’t make a purchase.
- Retargeting Ad: Show them retargeting ads highlighting your brand’s unique selling points.
- Direct Mail: Send a postcard welcoming them and showcasing your product range with a special discount for their first purchase.
2. Consideration Stage:
Customers in this stage consider their options and compare different brands. Retargeted direct mail can give them more information and incentives to choose your business.
- Digital Interaction: A user spends time browsing specific product pages but leaves without adding anything to their cart.
- Retargeting Ad: Display retargeting ads featuring the products they viewed and positive reviews.
- Direct Mail: Send a personalized catalog highlighting the products they were interested in and a limited-time offer to encourage a purchase.
3. Conversion Stage:
The goal is to convert potential customers into paying ones. Retargeted direct mail can nudge them to complete their purchase and reduce cart abandonment.
- Digital Interaction: Users add items to their cart but abandon the checkout.
- Retargeting Ad: Show retargeting ads with a reminder of the items in their cart and a discount code.
- Direct Mail: Send a mailer that reminds them of the items left in their cart and includes a personalized handwritten note and a special offer to motivate them to finalize their purchase.
4. Post-Purchase Stage:
After a successful purchase, retaining and engaging customers for repeat business is essential. Retargeted direct mail can foster loyalty and encourage them to become brand advocates.
- Digital Interaction: A user completes a purchase and signs up for your loyalty program.
- Retargeting Ad: Display retargeting ads showcasing complementary products or exclusive loyalty program benefits.
- Direct Mail: Send a thank-you card and a loyalty program welcome gift. Subsequently, mail exclusive offers, early access to sales, or referral incentives to keep them engaged.
By strategically implementing retargeted direct mail at each stage of the customer journey, small business owners can create a cohesive and personalized experience for their audience. This approach increases the chances of converting leads into customers, retaining their loyalty, and ultimately driving business growth.
Tips for creating effective retargeting direct mail campaigns:
If you want to create successful retargeting direct mail campaigns, consider following these tips:
- Start with a clear goal. What do you want to achieve with your direct mail retargeting campaign? Would you like to generate leads, increase sales, or build brand awareness? Once you determine your objective, you can customize your campaign.
- Target your audience carefully. Only some people who visit your website are potential customers. Ensure you target your direct mail retargeting campaigns to the people most likely to be interested in your offer.
- Personalize your messages. The more personalized your messages are, the more likely they will be opened and read. Use the recipient’s name and mention something specific about their visit to your website.
- Offer a relevant incentive. What will make people want to open your direct mail piece and take action? Offer your target audience a coupon, gift, or other relevant incentive.
- Make it easy to take action. Include a clear call to action in your direct mail piece, such as a link to your website or a phone number to call.
- Track your results. Tracking the results of direct mail retargeting campaigns is crucial for improving their effectiveness.
These tips will help you create direct mail retargeting campaigns that effectively reach your target audience and achieve your goals.
What are the benefits of retargeted direct mail over other marketing channels?
Direct mail retargeting offers several unique benefits that set it apart from other marketing channels:
- Personalization and Tangibility: Direct mail allows for highly personalized messages that address recipients by name and reference their specific interactions. The physical nature of mail creates a tangible connection that digital channels can’t replicate.
- Less Competition: Direct mail stands out because there’s typically less competition in physical mailboxes than crowded email inboxes or online ad spaces. This increases the chances of your message being noticed.
- Credibility and Trust: Physical mail is often associated with established and credible businesses, which can enhance your brand’s reputation. This is particularly useful for small businesses looking to build trust.
- High Open Rates: Research shows that direct mail tends to have higher open rates than email marketing. Recipients are more likely to open a physical envelope or package out of curiosity and revenue growth can reach 40% with dynamic retargeting (Source 99 firms).
- Less Intrusive: Direct mail is less intrusive than interruptive digital ads. Recipients can choose when to engage with the mail, leading to a more positive interaction.
- Multi-Sensory Experience: Direct mail engages multiple senses—sight, touch, and even smell if scents are incorporated—making it a memorable experience that can leave a lasting impression.
- Reaching Non-Digital Audiences: Direct mail can expand your audience reach, including those who prefer offline interactions, and encourage them to engage more comfortably online.
- Longer Shelf Life: Physical mail tends to have a longer lifespan than digital ads. Recipients may keep the mail on hand for reference or simply because of its physical presence.
- High-Quality Leads: Direct mail retargeting targets individuals who have already shown some interest in your business. These warm leads are more likely to convert than a broader audience from other channels.
- Innovative Design Possibilities: Direct mail allows creative and innovative design approaches. Unique packaging, interactive elements, and unconventional shapes can capture attention and engage recipients.
- Enhanced Local Marketing: Direct mail can be highly effective for businesses focusing on local markets in targeting specific geographic areas and tailoring messages to the local community.
- Integration with Digital Channels: Integrating direct mail with digital marketing can be effective. For instance, including QR codes, personalized URLs (PURLs), or unique coupon codes can direct recipients to specific landing pages or online offers.
- Data-Driven Tracking: Tools such as unique codes and personalized URLs can track and measure direct mail campaigns, providing valuable insights into response rates and conversion metrics.
- Complementary Strategy: Direct mail can complement other marketing channels, creating a consistent and cohesive brand experience across physical and digital touchpoints.
Retargeted direct mail offers a personalized, engaging, and credible approach to reaching your target audience, making it a valuable addition to a comprehensive marketing strategy.
Cost-effectiveness of direct mail retargeting:
The effectiveness of direct mail retargeting depends on various factors, including campaign size, target audience, and design. However, direct mail retargeting is considered to be a cost-effective marketing channel.
Here are some factors that can affect the cost of direct mail retargeting:
- The size of your campaign: Increasing the size of your campaign will decrease the cost per piece. Remember that this correlation is important to consider when deciding your campaign strategy.
- The target audience: The more specific your campaign, the more cost-effective it will be because you will only target people likely to be interested in your products or services.
- The creative design of your direct mail piece: The more creative and engaging your message is, the higher the chance of it being opened and read. It can boost reaction rates and return on investment (ROI).
Direct mail retargeting effectively achieves marketing goals and reaches your desired audience. By following these tips, you can make your direct mail retargeting campaigns more cost-effective and achieve your marketing goals.
Examples of successful direct mail retargeting campaigns:
Here are some successful examples of direct mail retargeting campaigns:
1. The Home Depot:
The Home Depot used direct mail retargeting to reach people who had visited their website but had yet to purchase. They sent out a postcard with a coupon for 20% off their next purchase. The marketing initiative led to a rise of 10% in sales.
2. Nordstrom:
Nordstrom used direct mail retargeting to reach people who had abandoned shopping carts on their website. They sent a direct mail postcard reminding them of the items left in their cart and a call to action to complete their purchase. The campaign resulted in a 15% increase in abandoned cart conversions.
3. Nike:
Nike used retargeted direct mail to reach people recently viewing their products on their website. They sent out a postcard with a personalized message and a discount code. The campaign resulted in a 12% increase in website traffic and a 5% increase in sales.
4. Abercrombie & Fitch:
Abercrombie & Fitch used direct mail retargeting to reach people who had recently visited their website but had yet to purchase. They sent out a letter with a personalized message and a coupon for 25% off their next purchase. The campaign resulted in a 15% increase in sales.
5. J.Crew:
J.Crew used direct mail retargeting to reach people who recently signed up for their email list. They sent a postcard with a welcome message and a coupon for 10% off their first purchase. The campaign resulted in a 20% increase in email list sign-ups.
These are just a few examples of successful direct mail retargeting campaigns. By following the tips above, you can create successful direct mail retargeting campaigns and reach your target audience with targeted and personalized messages.
The future of direct mail retargeting for Small Businesses:
Small businesses have a bright future ahead of them. As technology improves, there are more and more ways to make direct mail more specific and unique. So, marketers seek ways to stand out from all the other noise. This will make direct mail a better way for small businesses to sell themselves.
Here are some trends that will affect the future of renewing direct mail for small businesses:
- Increased personalization: Now more than ever, direct mail can be made to feel like it’s coming from you. This is because data analytics and machine learning are used. Small businesses can send direct mail to particular people based on their interests, where they live, and what they have bought in the past.
- Geotargeting: You can send direct mail to people in certain geographic places to reach them. This is helpful for small businesses that want to reach customers in their area or customers who are likely to be interested in their goods or services based on where they are.
- Multichannel marketing: Direct mail can be integrated with email and social media for a comprehensive marketing approach. This can help small businesses reach more people and improve their marketing efforts.
Retargeting with direct mail can help small businesses reach specific groups without spending much. Direct mail is not expensive, and many people might respond. In the future, as technology gets better, direct mail can become even more unique and specific. This will make it easier for small business owners to reach the people they want and succeed in marketing.
Ending note:
Direct Mail Retargeting is a powerful strategy for small businesses, creating personal connections that turn prospects into loyal customers. Our guide provides ideas, tips, and examples for successful campaigns.
At Accurate Mailing Services, we’re experts in Direct Mail Retargeting. We offer free consultations, accurate mailing lists, graphic design, printing, and bulk mailing services. Discover the world of Direct Mail Retargeting with us.
