As a direct marketing expert, I often see marketing professionals underestimate the value of direct mail.
They write it off as a necessary evil, and simply bolt it on as an afterthought to an otherwise well crafted campaign. This approach no longer works.
Direct mail has changed dramatically, and to be effective it must be efficiently integrated into a campaign. Just ask Chick-fil-A in Covington, Louisiana; they achieved a 121% response rate with a hyper-targeted direct mail campaign with personal URL and social sharing.
Learn the New Standards for Direct Mail
1) Targeting your audience: defining your target is critical. Are you speaking to current or prospective clients? What do you know about their preferences, and how are you addressing their needs?
2) Data handling: consider the financial cost or harm to your reputation with an error in data management. Last year the University of Virginia mailed a joint campaign with Aetna, and printed social security numbers in the address block of 18,700 students.
3) Personalize the message: studies show most recipients are egocentric, and may become irritated if direct mail is not personalized. How are you supporting personalized messaging and individual preferences?
4) Production management:  words are cheap. Too many production facilities claim to be proficient outside of their area of expertise. No one is good at everything!
5) Project management: integrated direct mail requires a different approach to creative and copy development. Understanding production capabilities is critical to develop sensible solutions that are not budget busters.
6) Integration compatibility: consider incorporating mobile barcodes, image recognition, augmented reality, and NFR into your direct mail, but be sure and test compatibility with a wide variety of devices.
7) Postage and delivery: high-level production management is a key factor in reducing postage and improving delivery time.
8) Data security: think Target and you quickly understand the risk in data security. This is another area that many providers claim to be secure but have no real or measurable protection for their clients.
ZOOM Cross-Media is an integrated marketing specialist with a focus on building enhanced engagement. Our roots are in direct mail, and we continue to do a lot of it. In 2013 we mailed millions of pieces.  We dig deep into our client’s objectives to deliver measureable and highly successful campaigns. Contact us to learn more about our unique approach to direct mail and integrated marketing.