In today’s digital world, using direct mail strategies for prospecting, marketing, and sales might seem like an outdated concept. However, “snail mail” might be more valuable for your company than you’d think. We’re living in a world where almost every business is investing in digital advertising.
Every day, B2B consumers are overwhelmed by huge numbers of emails, marketing campaigns, and social media messages. In fact, over a third of consumers feel overwhelmed by all the digital content they encounter. Direct mail gives you a unique opportunity to reconnect with your audience.
According to one study, around 42% of recipients read the mail they receive, and nearly two-thirds make a purchase as a result of a letter. What’s more, as new generations enter the B2B market, the demand for direct mail is growing. Around 72% of Gen Z consumers say they actively look forward to checking the mail they get through their letterboxes.
Here’s how direct mail could transform your B2B GTM strategy.
The Benefits of Direct Mail for B2B Brands
Digital marketing strategies are still important for B2B brands in today’s world. To connect with a wide range of potential prospects, you need to be willing to engage with prospects and build your brand on multiple platforms. However, that doesn’t mean you should overlook “traditional” strategies.
The digital world is complex, over-saturated, and often dangerous. Direct mail can give you a way to reach your audience that feels more personal, secure, and authentic. Here are some of the major benefits of a direct mail strategy.
1. Direct Mail Gets Better Response Rates
It’s easy to assume that consumers will ignore the mail they see on their doormat more than the messages they see in their inbox. However, the reality is that the average person has over 1,600 unread emails in their inbox. Many business leaders and executives actively ignore messages from marketers and sales teams, because they’re too busy dealing with “work emails”.
On the other hand, studies show that direct mail generates actual engagement and responses. One study found that 62% of people believe direct mail is more likely to inspire them to act than an email. Another 50% also said they see direct mail as more important than email.
An earlier report from 2018 also found that response rates for direct mail averaged 4.4% compared to just 0.12% for email. If you want to initiate conversations with prospects, direct mail could be the way to go.
2. Improved Targeting Opportunities
While digital marketing campaigns for email, content, and social media do offer a range of targeting solutions, direct mail can give you more opportunities to target specific, granular segments of your audience. If you’re investing in account-based marketing (ABM), direct mail gives you a unique opportunity to create highly personalised messages for each ideal customer.
You can leverage the data you’ve collected about your customer to pitch products and suggestions based on what you already know about their pain points and goals. Plus, because direct mail arrives at a person’s home or business, not just on their computer or smartphone, it feels more personal.
Around 71% of Gen X customers say that direct mail feels more personal to them than any form of digital communication. This could mean you can build stronger relationships with your customers.
3. Reach Multiple Decision Makers at Once
In the B2B marketing world, companies often need to invest a lot of time and effort into building relationships with a variety of different stakeholders. If you’re selling a new form of software, for instance, you need to get the buy-in of the business leader, financial officer, and various other supervisors and managers.
With direct mail, you can send a single letter to all of the major members of a department, just by finding out the associated business address. This can give you an excellent opportunity to connect with multiple decision-makers at the same time.
Plus, since direct mail is tangible, it can be easily shared around office environments with minimal effort. People don’t have to worry about creating long email chains, saving them, and sharing them with other staff members. You don’t even have to worry as much about spam filters preventing your message from reaching the right prospects.
4. Less Competition
Experts believe by 2025, we’ll be sending around 325 email messages every day. At the same time, we’re constantly bombarded by hundreds of messages on a range of different social media channels. Even with the best digital marketing strategy, it can be difficult to stand out among the noise.
However, while around 33% of marketers sent weekly emails in 2022 (around 52 emails per year, multiplied by hundreds of companies), households in the US only received 361 pieces of direct mail in 2021. Direct mail can be an excellent way to avoid having to fight against multiple competitors for the attention of your target audience.
It’s also a relatively cost-effective strategy. A single, impactful letter can have the same impact on your target audience as dozens of emails that could potentially go unread.
5. Stronger Brand Presence
Virtually every B2B business is investing in multiple forms of digital marketing today. Even if you have a great creative team to help you, it can be difficult to differentiate yourself with the same old social media, email, and content marketing strategies. Direct mail can give you an excellent opportunity to build brand equity and credibility.
A well-designed package or letter can showcase the unique components of your brand in a variety of different ways. You could consider including gifts or freebies in your letter, that give your customers an insight into your products and services, and get them excited about interacting with your brand.
You can highlight your logo and brand colours in your direct mail campaigns, improving your presence in the minds of prospective customers. Plus, you can demonstrate your credibility, by showing your willingness to invest in high-quality marketing materials.
6. Elevate the ROI of Other Marketing Campaigns
As mentioned above, standing out in today’s competitive B2B landscape usually requires an omnichannel approach. Even if you have a strong content marketing and SEO strategy, and an excellent presence on social media, you can improve your access to prospects, and increase customer loyalty by engaging with buyers on different channels.
Direct mail can be a great way to boost the impact of your online campaigns. For instance, you can include QR codes in your email letters that drive customers to a specific landing page on your website, or take them to a product page where they can check out your latest offers.
You can include information on your direct mail campaigns that helps to drive traffic to your social accounts and website too, giving you more ways to connect with customers. Plus, you can follow up on your mail-outs with social media and email messages, asking customers to share their thoughts on your free gift, your message, or your offer.
Is Direct Mail Right for Your B2B Business?
Though direct mail might seem a little old-fashioned in today’s digital world, it could be a powerful resource for your go-to-market strategy. Studies show that direct mail campaigns generate an average ROI of around 112%. Plus, they offer an excellent opportunity to avoid the complexities of SEO algorithms, spam filters, and social media rules.
Direct mail remains one of the most effective ways to directly connect with your target audience, and start building stronger relationships. As the digital landscape grows more saturated, now could be the perfect time to rediscover the benefits of traditional marketing.
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