Direct Mail Automation & How Does It Increase ROI?

Direct mail automation software can help streamline mailing physical gifts and other marketing material. Learn how it can help increase company revenue.

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What if there was a way to automate your direct mail marketing? Imagine all the time you could save time and money on postage, printing, and labor. What if you could track your direct mail marketing results in real-time and improve your ROI? Well, this is not a fantasy, it’s called direct mail automation.

In this guide, we will explain what direct mail automation is, list the benefits of using it, describe the key features to look for in software, and list the best marketing platforms available. We’ll also show how it works with other marketing strategies and why you should switch to direct mail today to boost your ROI!

Table of Contents

• What is Direct Mail Automation?
• Benefits of direct mail automation
• Key features to look for in a direct mail automation software
• Best direct mail automation software
• How does direct mail automation work with other marketing strategies?
• Email marketing vs direct mail
• Which industries benefit the most from direct mail?
• Why you should make the switch
• Get a better return on your marketing investment with Sendoso

What is Direct Mail Automation?

Direct mail automation is the process of using software to streamline, manage, and track direct mail marketing campaigns. It includes everything from designing and printing the materials to sourcing unique products and delivering them worldwide.

Any marketing team who has tried to implement a direct mail campaign on their own knows all too well how time-consuming and costly manual processes can be. There are so many moving parts, from sourcing the products to printing and shipping them out. It can quickly become a full-time job, taking away valuable resources from other areas of your marketing strategy.

Direct mail automation to the rescue! By using software to automate the process, you can free up valuable time and resources to dedicate to other areas of your business.

To be considered a direct mail automation entity, the business must:

• Allow users to upload and manage lists of physical addresses
• Offer design features or templates and dynamic content
• Facilitate the printing, postage, sending, and tracking of direct mail
• Ensure compliance with USPS regulations

Benefits of direct mail automation

There are several advantages to using a direct marketing campaign, which can be broken down into three main categories: time-saving, cost-effective, and data-driven.

Time-Saving

Automation software takes care of the entire process from start to finish. Simply begin with a consultation to discuss your goals, upload your lists, design your piece, and determine the timing of your campaign. The software will take it from there! You can even automate follow-ups after a certain amount of time has passed to ensure you’re getting the most out of your investment.

Cost-Effective

Not only does direct mail automation save you time, it’ll also save your marketing budget big bucks! Direct mail automation helps streamline repetitive marketing actions and tasks so you’re not wasting time (or money) on things that can be easily handled by a machine.

Data-Driven

Automation software makes it easy to track your direct mail campaign’s progress and performance. This data can then be used to improve future campaigns for even better results. From open rates and follow-up rates to booked meetings and deals closed, the visibility of the software makes it simple to keep tabs on data and multiple points of the sales cycle.

Personalized

With automation, there are endless possibilities for personalization and segmentation. You can create hyper-targeted direct mail campaigns by incorporating data from your CRM or other software platforms. This ensures that your message is relevant to the recipient and has a higher chance of resonating, leading to engagement.

Ability to Scale

One of the best things about direct mail automation is that it can be scaled to accommodate any size of business. Whether you’re a small company with a few hundred contacts or a large enterprise with millions, direct mail automation can help you reach your goals.

What’s more, as your business grows, direct mail automation will become instrumental in keeping up with your customer base.

Increased ROI

Improving your ROI is the name of the game, and direct mail automation can help you do just that. With its ability to personalize messages and target specific demographics, direct mail automation ensures that your message is getting in front of the right people.

Automated correspondence allows for a more consistent communication stream with new and existing clients. This intentional outreach will help you stay top of mind, and increase response rates, which can ultimately result in increased sales and ROI.

What to Look for in Direct Mail Automation Software

When you’re ready to automate your direct mail process, there are a few key features you’ll want to look for:

• CRM Integration: The best direct mail automation software will integrate with your CRM. This allows you to track your direct mail campaigns along with your other marketing efforts, and get a holistic view of your customer’s journey.
• Segmentation: Look for a platform that allows you to segment your audience so you can send more targeted, personalized messages.
• No Minimum Run Sizes:  Avoid direct mail providers that have minimum run sizes. This will limit your ability to test different creative and offers and make it more difficult to personalize your messages.
• Scalability: As your business grows, you’ll want a direct mail provider that can scale with you. Look for a platform that doesn’t charge per piece.
• Flexibility: The best direct mail providers will offer a range of services, from design to print to postage, so you can customize your campaigns to fit your needs.
• Customer Service: When you’re just getting started with direct mail, you’ll need a lot of hand-holding. Look for a direct mail provider with great customer service, so you can get the help you need when you need it.
• Experience: You want a direct mail provider that knows the ins and outs of direct mail marketing and can offer insights and advice to help you make your campaigns successful.

Best direct mail automation software

You’re ready to take your campaign to the next level and boost your ROI with direct mail automation, now you just need to choose the right software. Based on the criteria above, here are our top three picks for the best direct mail automation software:

Sendoso

Sendoso is the leading direct mail automation platform. With Sendoso, you can easily create and send personalized direct mail campaigns at scale. Their user-friendly platform makes it easy to get started with direct mail, and their customer service team is always on hand to help you with any questions. Sendoso’s easy integration complements all your favorite CRM tools like Salesforce, Marketo, HubSpot, and more. A real-time dashboard allows you to track customer data. They even offer a free trial and plans start at $500/month.

Postalytics

Postalytics is a powerful direct mail automation platform that makes setting up personalized direct mail campaigns simple and functional. With Postalytics, you can easily create and send direct mail campaigns that are customized and targeted to your specific audience. Postalytics can sync to all your CRM or Marketing Automation tools to complement your email and digital marketing strategies.

SnackMagic

SnackMagic is a direct mail platform that specializes in personalized direct mail campaigns. With SnackMagic, you can quickly create and send delicious direct mail campaigns that are targeted to specific audiences. SnackMagic also offers a wide range of features to make it easy to manage your direct mail campaigns, including: campaign tracking, contact management, delivery, and more.

How does direct mail automation work with other marketing strategies?

Direct mail automation can work with other marketing strategies to create a more holistic and effective approach to marketing. For example, you can:

• Use direct mail automation to complement your email marketing efforts
• Send targeted and personalized direct mail campaigns to your email list, to increase engagement and conversions
• Use direct mail automation to target specific industries

Email marketing vs Direct mail

Direct mail has been around for a long time, but with the advent of email marketing, some businesses have been led to believe that direct mail is no longer an effective marketing strategy.

In reality, both a digital campaign and direct mail can be highly effective when used correctly. The key is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each so that you can use them in the most effective way.

• Email marketing is more affordable, but direct mail like postcards and letters have a higher response rate.
• With email marketing, you can target large groups of people with little effort, but direct mail allows you to get personal and creative.
• Email marketing is instant, while direct mail takes longer to arrive.
• Direct mail is more tangible, so it can be more impactful.

Which industries benefit the most from direct mail?

Realistically, any industry can boost its connections with clients and help increase its ROI with direct mail automation. But due to the nature of their work, some marketers stand to gain more than others. Industries that benefit most from direct mail marketing pieces are:

• Real estate
• Insurance
• Financial services
• Consumer goods
• Healthcare

Why you should make the switch

There are many reasons to switch your marketing strategy from email to direct mail, or at least supplement your email campaigns with some well-targeted direct mail. Here are a few key reasons to make the switch to a marketing automation platform:

• It’s more personal
• It’s more tangible
• It’s more impactful
• It’s more targeted
• It’s less saturated

Work smarter not harder and with direct mail automation and reap the benefits during your next sales cycle!

Get a better return on your marketing investment with Sendoso

There’s no doubt that personalized direct mail campaigns are more relevant than ever. Recent studies show that 80% of millennials report being attentive to direct mail, while 50% say they ignore digital ads. To cut through the noise and make a real impression with potential customers partner with Sendoso.

Sendoso’s premier direct mail automation platform enables your marketing team to:

• provide highly differentiated sending strategies with proven results
• exceed revenue goals, expand brand awareness, and increase customer lifetime value
• generate demand and grow the sales pipeline to drive revenue
• acquire prospects and increase customer retention
• amplify your brand while demonstrating value

Diversifying your marketing strategy to incorporate personalized sending with Sendoso is a sure-fire way to get a better return on your marketing investment.

​Learn more about how to increase your ROI with direct mail automation from Sendoso! Request a demo today.