We recently discussed the benefits of more interactive direct mail and the evolving trend among companies to enhance direct mail interactivity. The natural next concern for your business is how to create more engaging pieces that help you attain the results you desire.
The following is a look at some of the best ways that you can engage your targeted prospects more effectively through direct mail interactivity!
Personalize the Message
It may seem a bit basic to suggest that you personalize a message to increase interaction with prospects. This strategy should apply across all of your marketing tactics.
However, the point of including it here is to emphasize the benefits of engaging prospects based on interests they have already shown.
Why?
Prospects want to be seen as more than a sale. To personalize their experience is to earn their ongoing business because you show them that they matter to you. Receiving a direct mail piece tailored to anything from taste to budget is a simple way to stand out in a prospect’s mailbox.
Don’t believe us? Using someone’s name can increase the response rate of your direct mail piece by 135%.
Care for another example of taking your personalized direct mail message next level?
Abandoned shopping carts create a lot of missed opportunities in e-commerce. While it is common to send digital follow-ups through email and retargeting campaigns, it is sometimes more effective to send a personalized mailer to the prospect.
Include mention of items that a given prospect thought about buying and consider using a discount incentive to motivate renewed interest in the purchase.
A recent study showed that conversion rate from direct mail pieces that correlate with digital abandoned carts was 113.5% of the email retargeting conversion.
Add a Next-Step Call-to-Action
Virtually all marketing messages contain some type of call-to-action. However, one way to enhance interactivity with your mail piece is to create cross-channel synergy with your CTA, which prompts prospects to connect with you in multiple ways.
Whatever it is you want your direct mail prospect to do, make it clear to your recipient how he/she can take action. Ensure the action will take minimal effort on their part.
Include a phone number to call in large, bold, colorful type. Need them to visit a website? Keep the URL short and sweet. Some companies set up a dedicated landing page tied to particular pieces and then invite the recipient to scan a QR code or follow a link for the next step to make it easier than ever to take action.
Such approaches allow you to create very specific content that matches steps within the buyers journey and the interests of niche prospects.
Infuse Virtual or Augmented Reality
When discussing direct mail improvements made possible by technology, first thoughts normally turn to high-quality printing capabilities. And certainly, well-designed and produce pieces are vital to campaign performance.
However, advances in virtual and augmented reality allow for improved interactivity in your mailers as well.
That’s because while direct mail is confined to a postcard or a letter or even a catalog, VR and AR can provide next level information to interested prospects.
That said, don’t try TOO hard with your AR or VR piece. Extravagant ideas, while often wonderful in theory, can raise your production and mailing costs significantly.
While it does typically cost more to produce these types of mailers, dimensional pieces attract more attention out of the mailbox and you have a lot of potential to develop 3D experiences, virtual tours, sophisticated product previews or models, and showrooms.
Drive Their Emotions
When you consider that 95% of purchase decisions are determined by subconscious factors, the most significant of which is emotion, it’s easy to see how using emotional selling can drive engagement.
So, if your direct mail piece isn’t written around a feeling that could be why you’re not getting your desired results.
Sales expert Geoffrey James believes that all buying decisions we humans make is due to some combination of greed, fear, altruism, envy, pride, and shame.
Emotion can be a powerful engagement tool when used effectively. And understanding the emotion you want leads to feel upon reading your direct mail piece is critical to sending an effective piece.
Conclusions
The more interactive you make your direct mailers, the more likely it is to command attention and inspire a response from the targeted prospects. Personalizing your messages, driving synergy between print and digital marketing channels, and utilizing technological advances are all effective strategies to generate direct mail interactivity.
