Direct Mail for Online Retail: Same Dog, New Tricks

Talk to most business owners and marketing professionals who sell just about anything online, and they can probably tell you stories of marketing campaigns they have done that have gone great and others that have been a flop. Is there a recipe for great campaigns? Yes, there are many. At the end of the day, it’s about leveraging the technology you have to gain the right data and insights to make the most of your direct mail campaigns.

Let’s look at two great “new tricks” for you:

Retargeting 

With the technology available today, you can reach a market you might not have reached before; shoppers who abandon their virtual shopping carts at your store. Direct mail can be hyper-targeted and sent while your products are still fresh in their minds from looking recently. In fact, according to Dave Cesaro, “marketers saw a 300-400% lift in conversion rates when targeting cart abandoners specifically.” That’s no joke, and while it takes some tools to be able to retarget, it’s worth it, especially for high-value items. For example, car manufacturers and dealers can send a follow-up postcard or mailer to a recent prospective customer who was looking at one of their new SUVs. Not only can they do that, but they can also customize that direct mail piece with the model, color, and options of what the customer was building, all without ever actually asking for much if any information from the customer. Typically, companies use IP targeting for this, but cookie-based targeting is picking up steam as you can ask customers to opt-in when visiting your site. 

Couponing

If you offer online coupon codes, you should already be tracking who uses them. Typically those who are looking for deals sign up to receive emails in exchange for those coupon codes. The problem? Those same customers do that for dozens of other sites and their virtual inboxes are flooded with them, especially around popular promotion times and holidays. The solution? Direct mail! Stand out from the masses and hit their inboxes with a sampling of what you can offer them with a relevant deal. Email is hard to personalize beyond some keywords, but direct mail allows you to personalize each piece (even among thousands or millions of mailers) with product ideas that will most appeal to them based on their past history or demographics. It also allows you to test various codes and sales to see what is most effective.

At the end of the day, the combination of online data and direct mail is a winning combination. Want to learn more about these “tricks” or learn about the others we have up our sleeve? Contact us today at (978) 642-0300. We look forward to hearing from you.