Some people might think that Direct Mail and Online Marketing are rather odd bedfellows. One seems kind of “old school” and the other is what’s happening today. In fact, by combining the two, businesses can end up with a powerful combination that produces more “bang” for their marketing buck.
As powerful and flexible a tool as the Internet is, cyberspace is a big place. It’s easy for your message to get lost out there among the millions—even billions—of pages of content. Blogging certainly helps people find your content, but there’s another way to drive people to your website.
A carefully crafted direct mail piece can pique the interest of your customers and entice them to go to your website for more information. And with mail volume down considerably over the last few years, the chances of your direct mail piece standing out are better than ever. There’s simply less competition in your customers’ mailboxes.
Consider, too, that there is a significant segment of the population that doesn’t spend as much time online—unless they have a reason to do so. If you make them a compelling offer, or capture their interest with the promise of information that will help them solve a problem, they won’t go searching for you somewhere out on the Internet—they’ll go directly to a page you’ve designed specifically for them. And on that page you can have specific information about the things that they want to know about.
You can even use direct mail to get potential customers to sign up for periodic updates in the form of online newsletters or RSS-feeds. Or if your business is hosting an event, you can invite people using a card that directs them to a landing page to respond.
The fact is, that sometimes people hang on to direct mail longer than they do to emails or other electronic messages. How many times have you picked up a mailing that you left on your desk because you just didn’t need what was being offered at the time. Then the need presented itself, and you found the card and went online to order—or at least to get more information?
Combine your direct mail and online marketing efforts—and get a bigger bang for your buck!
Blog Post Written by Spencer Powell
Spencer is the Inbound Marketing Director at TMR Direct. Spencer specializes in helping clients create and execute effective inbound marketing campaigns.