When trying to get that footprint on the brain in the way only print marketing can, direct mail marketing is a great application.  We’ve talked in other blogs about the advantages of direct mail to segment deeper and personalize better, but there are some additional tools unique to direct mail marketing that help execute your marketing strategy more effectively and efficiently:

• optimal geographical targeting – Sometimes it really is about location, location, location! According to the Direct Marketing Association, direct mail is the preferred channel for receiving marketing from local shops (51%) and banks (48%).  Unlike digital, print and other forms of marketing, direct mail GPS style targeting allows you to pinpoint a geographical location not just by radius or zip code. You can target areas on specific sides of major roads, or around other obstacles that while they may be within a desired radius they create geographical resistance to buying, which saves you valuable marketing resources by not mailing to unqualified prospects.
• exact delivery date positioning – The use of intelligent bar codes provides you with real time tracking, so you know the specific time range when your mail will be delivered to your customer or prospect. This is an invaluable feature for helping your direct mail marketing strategy sync with all the channels in your overall marketing plan. A few examples would be:

1. drip coordination– emails and social media posts or ads can be scheduled to launch as part of a drip campaign with your direct mail marketing more precisely.  You can send out a heads-up teaser, “we’ve got an offer for you!  keep an eye on your mailbox” or plan a follow-up “last chance reminder” offer following receipt of your direct mail piece.
2. sales support– your sales team will find it much easier to put out a follow-up call at the perfect interval of time after the piece has arrived.

• enhanced segment breakdown – In addition to offering the ability to break down your market into subsegments based upon demographic and psychographic attributes, direct mail marketing offers other unique ways of segmenting.  For example, rather than remailing an entire location to make sure you reach new residents, you can specifically target just new arrivals, or “new moves”, in between your larger campaigns.  This helps further personalize your message and saves money by mailing only to the most relevant prospects.

Whether your market is B2B or B2C, direct mail marketing as part of an integrated marketing strategy that includes email, social media, and online marketing is a great way to harness the power of print for achieving marketing success.