Marketing floods our inboxes, websites, social media feeds, and even texts and voicemails every day. We live in a world of oversaturated marketing ploys.
As a result, it’s becoming more and more difficult to release a marketing campaign that stands out from the rest.
Statistics show that the average consumer is exposed to thousands of advertisements each day – from social media to Spotify, to the radio, to Google, to the news, the list goes on!
In 2015, the number of consumer emails sent and received each day totaled over 93 billion and this number has increased at an average annual rate of 6 percent. In fact, it’s projected to reach nearly 118 billion by the end of 2019.
Consumers today have become both blind to the constant stream of advertising around them and wise to the tips and tricks advertisers use to catch their ever-waning attention.
Marketing has changed and we must learn how to evolve our marketing strategies based on what the consumer wants and will respond to.
1. Direct Marketing & Digital Marketing Are Better Together
Digital advertising allows for increased interaction with a specific audience, it’s cost-effective, it’s data-driven, and it produces real-time results! It’s no wonder the world of advertising is quickly turning digital.
But, according to one study, digital marketing is actually harder to process than the direct mail we’re so quick to avoid.
The study compared the effects of direct mail with digital media (email and display ads) by recording electroencephalography (a brain imaging method that records the brain’s electrical activity at the surface of the scalp using sensors) and eye tracking (tests that measure the gaze and movement of the eyes using a small, specialized camera).
The study proved that direct mail actually requires 21% less cognitive effort than digital marketing.
In fact, when asked to cite the brand name of an advertisement they had just seen, recall was 70% higher among participants who were exposed to a direct mail piece (75%) than a digital display ad (44%).
This allows direct mail to complement today’s latest marketing strategies in a way that no one could have foreseen!
2. Direct Marketing Stands Out From the Crowd
According to The Household Diary Study by the United States Postal Service, total mail volume dropped 2.1% from 2001 to 2015. Today, the average household receives 15 pieces of mail per week. That’s less than three pieces of mail each day…
The fact that the USPS is experiencing a decline in direct mail marketing is actually a good thing!
With less competition in the mailbox, direct mail has more value and finds itself receiving more attention and responses than ever. USPS reports that 93% of households take time to sort their mail each day and 83% enjoy receiving mail.
More importantly – studies show that millennials are all about direct mail! A recent Forbes article stated that “…the biggest surprise may be that millennials’ affinity for mail, in general, surpasses that of other generations. They are more likely to scan their mail and more likely to take time to read it and to show it to others.”
The truth is, direct mail is actually more powerful than ever – but only when combined with other marketing methods.
Direct Marketing Delivers Results
By combining the success of the classic direct mail marketing campaign with strategic use of digital (including/especially email) marketing you can achieve the highest return on investment and will gain the best results.
This type of marketing strategy allows marketers to create a campaign that’s unique and stands out in a world that’s oversaturated with normal marketing methods. It compels consumers to respond because the marketing is different from the methods they’ve learned to ignore.
Digital marketing has widespread capabilities and highly targetable information that’s incredibly relevant to your audiences.
Direct mail marketing is able to do something digital marketing is incapable of – it can be placed in your target audience’s physical mailbox where they must see it, touch it, and respond to it (their response can be yes or no, but they must interact with the piece directly).
By choosing an omnichannel marketing campaign, you’ll be offsetting the weaknesses of digital marketing with the strengths of direct mail and vice versa.
An omnichannel approach can lead the recipient through each step of the buyer’s journey with marketing that responds to his or her actions whether they’re sorting their mail, checking their email, or browsing the web.
If you want us to show you how to effectively increase your brand awareness and sales, you can reach out to us at learn@jandlmarketing.com or just schedule a meeting.
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