On your 100th Birthday you’d be disappointed if the queen only sent you an email
It could be my age but I still love receiving mail, aside from bills that is.
Having grown up in a mostly digital era where emails have become so regular, when my phone bings announcing a new email I cast it aside and rarely if ever open them, that’s if it made it past my junk folder. So why is it that when I’ve been sent the exact same message through the post I respond so differently, why do I like receiving mail?
The dreaded inbox
How many emails do you receive a day and how many of those do you actually read? The fact is, most of us are receiving far more emails than we want to read. We don’t have the time to trawl through emails and that means your marketing message or key piece of information is sitting at the bottom of an endless email list.
Let other businesses focus on email marketing, let them sit at the bottom of the list. In the meantime there is nowhere near as much competition landing on your prospects doormats, this increased visibility and optimised open rates are worth aiming for.
The physical form & personal touch
I am rarely exposed to physical mail and when it does land on my doorstep I open it with wonder and I feel that bit more special that I have something titled for me. The physical form of mail always intrigues me, there is a real value in having something to hold.
It’s a well-known fact that people value something more (24%) that they can see and touch, compared to something they can only see. By sending an offer by mail, recipients will perceive it as worth more than the same offer on screen.
You’re not going to get any closer to your prospects than direct mail. With the right valued information and a strong sales piece you walk right into their home, sit on their table and pitch your product with far more of their attention than on a digital platform with so many distractions.
Mail makes people feel valued and has increased trust
With increased technology comes an increased concern for privacy. Given all the recent publicity people are increasing their security settings and people don’t trust attachments and links in an email, which makes it increasingly difficult to create an email that stands out and gives the “wow” factor.
Direct mail is not faced with these same problems. You can “attach” as much as you want without setting off alarms. Bells and whistles of a fancy package are added bonuses instead of red flags. Consumers are bound to trust your direct mail sales piece more than they would a suspiciously fancy email.
Mail delivers strong ROI
It’s not to say that email is irrelevant because it certainly isn’t and will remain a powerful marketing tool. However, combining email and mail into the marketing mix increases reach, open rates and importantly ROI; I’ve read heaps of research proving this. Companies combining both mediums achieve better results and conversions, which makes it a no-brainer surely.
When I first delved into the life of mail it did seem somewhat confusing which is why I completed a course in Direct Mail. It certainly doesn’t have to be the case if you target and plan well. Use the knowledge of mailing experts to plan your next campaign, as one of the country’s largest mailing houses come and talk to us about how to add mail to your marketing mix.
Mail is opened, Mail is kept, Mail is shared, Mail stands out, Mail makes people feel valued, Valued mail drives feelings which drives actions, lots of them, Mail drives people online from all ages, Mail delivers strong ROI.
*** Source: Royal Mail Marketreach https://www.marketreach.co.uk/