Outdated & ineffectiv? Are you kidding? Uplift your conversion rates with Direct Mail
In an ultra-digitalised world, where brochures and flyers are fading from the spotlight, it may seem paradoxical to many businesses that direct mail automation (the postal dispatch of self-mailers, letters, and postcards) is actually gaining relevance as a performance channel. However, despite the widespread belief print is outdated, direct mail remains an essential component of a successful marketing mix and often seen as the “hidden champion” among performance channels.
So, if you still think that direct mail automation is old-fashioned and ineffective, you are – to put it bluntly – “living under a rock”. Why? Because in 2024, Direct Mail has nothing to do with impersonal mass mailings. Hyperpersonalised direct mail campaigns stand out, captivate recipients, and reward businesses with conversion rates averaging between four and 10 per cent. Curious to know how this is possible? Then read on!
Definition: That’s Direct Mail Automation
Before we reveal what direct mail automation (also known as Programmatic Print) is, let’s first clarify what direct Mail campaigns are: direct Mail is the postal delivery of letters, postcards, or self-mailers to existing customers. As said above this has nothing to do with impersonal massmailings like brochures, flyers, or leaflets; instead, direct mail does more than just promote. It provides segmented and therefore hyperpersonalised advertising messages that surprise your customers and build long lasting loyalty.
Example: Direct Mail Automation
Imagine you’ve purchased a pair of blue trousers from a fashion brand. Three weeks later, a postcard arrives in your letterbox. They show three additional clothing items that perfectly complement your trousers. You realise that the brand still remembers your purchase, which flatters you, so you immediately use the trackable 10 per cent discount code.
In fact, you can automate direct mail campaigns just like email campaigns within your marketing cloud and integrate them into the customer journey. This can save you up to 70-80% of manual effort. And how does it work? Trigger points, segmentation, and buyer personas come into play.
For example, you can specify whether direct mail items such as postcards, letters, or self-mailers should be sent at a particular time: 3 days before a birthday or 4 weeks after a first purchase. Alternatively, the mailings can be triggered only when certain conditions are met: Customer “Smith” has always been very active but hasn’t made any purchase the past year.
Worth noting: Many CDPs like Emarsys, Salesforce, Braze, and others enable seamless integration with Optilyz. This means you can work on a unified customer journey within the same tool and incorporate your direct mail! You can find an overview of our partners here.
Direct Mail is an Opt-Out Kanal
In our day-to-day work with our clients, we often encounter confusion around the topics of Double Opt-In and direct mail automation. What exactly is Double Opt-In? What is Opt-Out? How does the GDPR affect direct mail automation?
Why do we need the Double Opt-In?
In many countries, especially within the European Union, the Double Opt-In procedure is a requirement for compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR stipulates that companies may only contact individuals via email if they have explicitly consented twice (Double Opt-In).
You’re probably familiar with this: when you sign up for a newsletter or another service on a website, you first enter your email address. You then receive a confirmation email from the provider. In this email, you will find a link that you need to click to confirm your Double Opt-In. By clicking this link, you confirm that you are indeed the owner of the provided email address and consent to receiving emails. From this point on, you will receive the provider’s emails or newsletters regularly, which must be unsubscribable with a single click.
Do I need the Double Opt-In for my Direct Mail campaigns?
The good news first: No! Even many marketers are often unaware that Double Opt-In is not required for direct mail campaigns. This means that customers can be contacted by letter, self-mailer or postcard without prior consent. If they don’t want to receive any information anymore the have to do Opt-Out.
4 prejudices about Direct Mail Automation
Perhaps you and your team are currently hesitant to incorporate direct mail automation into your marketing strategy. One of the reasons for this might be that the direct mail seems too complex and costly. We want to convince you that this is not true and have taken a closer look at the most common prejudices.
1. Direct Mail is outdated and ineffective
Many businesses believe that direct mail is outdated and has no relevance in our digitalised world. Many think that consumers only respond to digital ads and ignore print advertising. But here’s the truth: direct mail is a high-performance marketing channel! Outdated? Nonsense! direct mail offers your customers a unique tactile experience that digital media simply can’t provide.
Think about this: Relevant post gets often pinned to the noticeboard or fridge and is more likely to be opened than emails. That’s because direct mail has a personalised approach. Nowadays, receiving and opening a tactile, personalised direct mail is a highlight – a nostalgic, rare experience. Companies should keep this in mind.
2. Programmatic Print is expensive and time-consuming
Direct mail seems to be more expensive and time-consuming compared to digital channels, due to costs for printing, materials and postage. The logistics appears tricky as well. But is it really that complicated? To be honest: The initial planning may be a bit more complex than for digital campaigns, but after getting used to the process it is as simple as email marketing. And do not forget conversion rates between 4 and 10 per cent.
In fact, these two marketing channels are more alike than you might think! Programmatic print also relies on a data-driven omni-channel approach and requires many of the same skills that are crucial in email marketing. So, it’s a misconception to claim that direct mail is inherently more expensive and time-consuming! Alongside planning, software is key – and this is where optilyz comes in.
With us, you and your company can design your campaigns efficiently. By automating your direct mail campaigns, you significantly reduce manual effort. Did you know? You can easily integrate optilyz into your marketing cloud or CDPs – without requiring additional technical resources. This way, costs can be reduced while simultaneously boosting performance. Among others, we work with the following integration partners: Salesforce, Klaviyo, Brace… A win-win situation!
3. No one reads Direct Mail; it just ends up in the bin
Many marketers assume that advertising letters and postcards go straight to the rubbish bin without being read. But that’s not true! Postal direct mails create relevance: direct mail receives more attention compared to digital messages. Why? Because there’s less competition! Think about it!
A physical letter is usually taken out of the letterbox, opened, read, and kept if it contains something important (e.g., a discount voucher) – we call this the “fridge effect”. This effect describes how relevant post remains in the household for an average of six to eight weeks! and is regularly read by more than one person. This leads to more sustainable customer engagement and increases the likelihood of a sale. Emails, on the other hand, are often deleted without being read or end up in the spam folder. What a shame!
Case Study: Additional revenue through second order & reactivation campaigns
Turning customers into regular clients is at least as challenging as acquiring potential new customers. What motivates them to place a second order after their first purchase? Similar questions arise with customers who used to buy regularly but have been inactive for some time. When is it worthwhile to invest in reactivating such inactive customers? Through precise customer analysis, Fressnapf was able to identify the optimal times and achieve impressive additional sales with direct mail campaigns.
4. Digital channels are more efficient and eco-friendly than Direct Mail Automation
Print products are often automatically labelled as bad for the environment because they create paper waste. But are their digital counterparts really the “greener” alternatives? In 2018, we sent around 848 billion emails in Germany. That’s an average of 28 emails per person per day. Each of these emails produces approximately 27g of CO2, which totals 756g of CO2 per day. So over the course of a year, sending emails generates 275.94 kg of CO2 per person.
The German Environment Agency recommends that our annual CO2 consumption should be less than 1 tonne to live a climate-neutral life. This means that by sending emails alone, we already use up a quarter of our annual CO2 budget. By using recyclable materials and responsible printing processes, we aim to make direct mail campaigns sustainable. Additionally, we work with local printing and delivery networks to minimise the ecological footprint.
Moreover, thanks to our highly detailed segmentation process, our customers don’t send mass mailings but rather hyper-personalised direct mail that meets each customer’s individual needs. This approach makes a significant difference – both in terms of return on investment and the reduction of paper waste.
Through optilyz technology and consulting, we were able to reduce our cost-per-order from mailings by 75%. We now plan to continue pursuing the path of greater customer centricity in our mailings.
Steven Petter (Head of Marketing, Maciag)
Resume: Direct Mail Automation is the future of adverising
You might be surprised, but direct mail automation is a game-changer in marketing. It’s a powerful performance channel that can fit seamlessly into your overall marketing strategy. In fact, we think it’s the future of performance marketing. Curious to learn more or want to find out how to set up direct mail automation? Let’s chat. Book a call with us today:
