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By Tim Moran, VP Brand
A little “inside baseball” about marketing life here at Printing for Less. While we don’t have a large team, we have a crack team—especially those who do for us what we suggest and help you do: use direct mail innovatively to successfully engage with prospects and customers.
As part of that process, we must, first, deal with email in a couple of ways. For instance, we might have a campaign running with customers in which we offer them, via email, a variety of options from which to choose. This will connect them in some way—link, QR code, etc.—to some place that begins the steps towards receipt of direct mail. The details are irrelevant, for I’m sure all of the savvy marketers reading this know exactly what I’m talking about.
Now, these emails must be written, edited, proofed, approved, and added to our CRM, all of which takes a good deal of internal cooperation and communication—often via, yep, email. Which is what prompted this little blog. When one of these campaigns is nearing the sending stage, “test” emails go out for one last look by the team. We usually monitor and communicate this process through Slack.
Just the other morning, there was this interaction about one such campaign (initials are those of marketing team members):
SM
Did you receive my test this morning? I filled out the form just to make sure I would receive all emails.
KS
Like a notification to me to let me know what customers opted into?
SM
Yes, you should get a notification, did you get the notification this morning of my form fill?
KS
Yes, got it. Sorry, it got lost in the sea of emails.
And there it was: A real person at a real company—our company—doing real marketing and complaining that even internal email winds up being missed because of the volume of digital mail received. We at Printing for Less have been preaching for quite some time that people, today, are bombarded with digital content, pop-up ads, and, yes, emails—we call this “the sea of sameness.” Which, in this particular case, as KS said, is more specifically, “the sea of emails.”
A Life Preserver
That’s why it’s easy for your message—whether to a co-worker or a prospect or a customer—to be but a tiny fish, like Dory, lost in a vast digital sea. With hundreds of emails flooding our inboxes daily, it’s no wonder that important messages often get lost. But fear not, there is a life preserver, of sorts: direct mail.
Direct mail has a surprising superpower: Unlike yet another email, it’s hard to miss. Mail doesn’t easily vanish into the abyss of unread messages. A physical postcard, mailer, or a creatively designed box with cool stuff in it demands a certain amount of attention.
Imagine your target audience sifting through their stack of mail, fingers flipping through envelopes until—bam!—they come across your eye-catching postcard or package. It’s like finding buried treasure amidst the waves of bills and junk mail. Suddenly, your message isn’t just another digital blip—it’s a tangible, memorable experience.
Now, might this mail just end up in the trash or recycling bin? Perhaps, but that’s where the art of captivating design and strategic targeting comes into play. By crafting compelling visuals and tailoring your message to the audience’s interests and pain points, you can pretty well ensure that your direct mail piece doesn’t just get noticed—it gets remembered. BTW, Printing for Less is great at helping you do this.
And let’s not forget the power of personalization. It’s easily possible today to laser-target your direct mail campaigns to reach the right people with the right message at the right time. Whether it’s a personalized postcard addressing them by name, or a custom-designed box filled with goodies curated just for them—the possibilities are endless.
So, the next time you find yourself drowning in the sea of emails, believe that your customers and prospects are as well. But don’t despair—even you, KS. Take a plunge into the direct-mail waters and watch your message perform swimmingly.
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