4 Reasons Why Direct Mail Marketing Should Be a Priority in 2024

Fellow marketers: Do you feel like your emails are being buried?

In truth, they probably are. The average office worker receives 120+ emails a day. So how can you be unique and personalized in your messaging to prospects when every other marketer is vying for their attention too?

By getting on their desk—not just their inbox. Oh yes, that’s exactly what we’re saying. And why we know that direct mail marketing should be a priority for every company in 2019. Not only does direct mail have 30x the response rate of email, but campaigns including direct mail are 27% more likely to deliver top-ranking sales performance.

But if those statistics don’t convince you, consider the following five reasons.

Why We Should Focus on Direct Mail Marketing Now More Than Ever

1. Emails get archived or deleted. Direct mail is forever.

Take a minute and look around the office. How many of your coworkers have decorations, trinkets, or other swag items on their desk? That could be your brand—right on their desks! You can’t expect a prospect to hold on to your case study or mailer forever. But you can get more creative with what you send them. Modern direct mail marketing is so much more than simply printed collateral.

Surprise your prospects by sending small “out-of-the box” swag items: AirPods case, car freshener, metal tumbler, fidget pens, hand lotion, etc. that they can use every day. Or send fresh desk succulents as a thank you to all of your event attendees. You can even send out printed copies of eBooks or reports. They might not be prominently displayed on someone’s desk; but if the information is valuable, they’ll definitely keep it nearby. This is a surefire way to keep your brand top-of-mind.

2. Even the most personalized email can’t compare to a handwritten note.

We know that personalization is a key part of customer experience: 77% of consumers have chosen, recommended, or paid more for a brand that provides a personalized service or experience. Adding a prospect’s name and company to an email makes it customized. If that prospect is getting a hundred emails a day with their name and company, however, the experience is definitely not personalized.

Direct mail marketing allows you to truly personalize your outreach. Consider choosing a relevant gift for each of your top account-based marketing prospects and send it to them paired with a handwritten note. (With a sending platform, you can do all of that with a click of a button.) Not sure what to send? Think back on the conversations you’ve had together or check out what interests they share on their social media feeds. Not only will this demand more attention than an email, but taking the extra time to put thought into a hand-selected gift shows that you both know and understand your prospect.

3. No one likes managing their inbox, but they love receiving packages.

Do you love answering emails? No? Your prospects don’t either. But it’s almost impossible to ignore a package that lands on their desk. Or even better, who do you know that would ignore a hand delivered box of fresh cupcakes, cookies, or macarons in a custom-branded box?

And the chances of them throwing it away before opening (like we do with most emails) are slim.

With direct mail, the consumer inspects the personalized package and spends more time absorbing and processing the message then if they were to check off the ‘read’ box in the corner of an email. On top of that, research shows that people enjoy receiving packages in the mail.

4. Social media shoutouts = free advertising.

We live in the age of social media. Everyone wants to share the unique and exciting things happening in their lives. When we send our prospects and customers cool direct mail pieces like our “summer fun” box filled with a branded towel, tumbler, one-pager, and handwritten note, they are so delighted by the experience that they want to share it with their colleagues and friends. We even found that those organic posts from our recipients receive 6x the engagement of brand-generated posts.

Your brand and logo could reach thousands of people just because one prospect loved your gift and posted it on the internet. That one gift turned into 1000+ impressions! Check out this blog to see some of the amazing shoutouts we received from our direct mail marketing sends in 2018.

Direct mail marketing gives you the opportunity to create a much more real connection with your audience by (literally) putting your message in their hands. Instead of sending another “Hello?” email when your prospect goes dark, take this opportunity to send a personalized item that connects with the buyer and continues to build a relationship. We’re not telling you to ditch digital outreach entirely, but decide how and when to use which channel to create a full-pronged approach to your brand’s messaging.

Curious what other interesting and attention-grabbing direct mail marketing ideas we’ve got up our sleeves? Grab a copy of our most popular eBook below!