March 22, 2022
Increasingly, shoppers are experiencing digital fatigue. We all are. Faced with a constant stream of emails, we simply press delete – often without reading them at all.
According to a survey by Deloitte, about a third of US consumers (32%) said that, since the COVID-19 pandemic began, they have felt overwhelmed by the number of devices and subscriptions they need to manage.
This figure—and the feeling of overwhelmingness — was higher among parents who had minor children at home (43%) and adults who were working from home at the time of data collection (40%). In a further report by Sendoso, 80% of respondents indicated that their target audiences are fatigued by virtual events and digital engagement efforts.
Increasingly, the items that catch our attention are those we can see, hold and touch. It’s why we’re turning from e-books back to print, hard copy books and why record shops are making a comeback.
And it is why the clever money is looking at direct mail marketing – or, to put it in layman’s terms, MAIL.
Instead of sending a reminder email that is more than likely going to be deleted unread, businesses are opting to send programmatic mail – that is, leaflets, letters, vouchers, personalised to the recipient.
And, because most of us receive far fewer mail than we ever used to, this mail stands out.
Customers appreciate the thought and care that has gone into contacting them this way – as opposed to via some computer-generated generic email – and the entire process takes less than 24 hours.
Programmatic direct mail has a plethora of uses and these are some of them:
- Browse but no sale – a user visits your site, shows significant interest but selects no products.
- Abandoned baskets – they add to their cart but don’t complete the checkout process.
- First time purchasers – a means of opening dialogue and reinforcing brand with a new customer
- Customers stop buying – lapsed or lapsing customers you’d wish to remind and bring your brand “front of mind” again.
- Loyal customers – rewarding their custom and showing appreciation.
And don’t just take our word for it. MarketReach and JICMail have both found that direct mail is enjoying a resurgence, spurring 70% of consumers to online activity.
Their figures show that 80% of top UK advertisers use door drops and direct mail and that not only are 96% of mailings are opened and read but 41% searched online for more information about a company as a result of receiving mail in the last 12 months.
Direct mail is also perceived to be more trustworthy with 87% of people considering it to be believable, compared to 48% for email communications.
Their study shows mailings remain in our homes on tables for 8 to 9 days and are looked at between four and five times, while 5% of consumers – especially lapsed customers – are prompted to access their accounts and 7% are prompted to purchase.
In fact, direct mail can utilize QR codes or unique URLs to move customers from offline channels to online.
So, from branded, printed letters to birthday cards, personalised and mailed to customers complete with offers and vouchers to stimulate further sales, direct mail marketing could help your business stand out from the crowd.
CWP has multiple options to fulfill your direct marketing needs from small projects on our digital presses to long run variable data projects.