Is Direct Mail Still an Effective Element of Modern B2B Marketing?

Let’s rip off the Band-Aid and just say it:

Yes, direct mail remains valuable to a business’ comprehensive marketing strategy, particularly in B2B applications. The only caveat is that it must be used strategically for this to stay true.

Let’s take a few moments to review why direct mail is commonly seen as a good tactic and how you can (and should) optimize it for your organization’s operational benefit.

Yes, Direct Mail Works… Here’s Why

The fact of the matter is that a campaign that incorporates direct mail is quantifiably more effective than one that doesn’t. Let’s examine some stats:

• Direct mail has a lower cost per acquisition than other marketing efforts. Compared to email marketing, each acquisition costs $19 on average, while email costs $33.
• Direct mail has open rates between 80 and 90%, compared to email’s 30%.
• Direct mail also garners about 37% more responses than email, up to 50% when personalized to the recipient.
• Direct mail is simpler for your audience to process, boosting recall, while helping 57% of people feel more valued as a customer.
• Direct mail can also generate significant returns on your investment, with a peak of 112%, outperforming many other initiatives.
• Direct mail can be used in tandem with other efforts to boost various marketing metrics, generating 40% conversion rates, 68% more website visits, and 60% higher ROI.

Granted, these benefits come at the cost of a little more work, investment, and other tradeoffs must also be considered. For instance, these efforts will take a bit longer, and those concerned with environmental sustainability may be worried about the waste that direct mail will generate.

If you elect to use direct mail, however, there are a few tips we can confidently recommend.

How to Make the Most of Direct Mail 

Here are some key features that will help make a direct mail campaign as successful as it can be:

Abide by the KISS Rule
From the content of your marketing to the actual formatting of each deliverable, design it all to be clear and direct your audience to the outcome you want. A mailer should identify your business and its brand, not confuse the recipient with its messaging. Stick to your established brand and tone of voice and leave the breadcrumbs you want your target to follow.

Personalize Your Message
As is the case with any marketing you do, it is important to identify your target audience’s pain points and address them directly, empathizing with their experience and the challenges that would encourage them to reach out to you in the first place. Even something as simple as inserting a contact’s name as compared to a generic greeting can significantly boost your success metrics.

Have All Your Efforts Work Together
The beauty of modern marketing is that your digital efforts and your traditional efforts now have the means to play nicely together. Don’t just use your mail to promote brand awareness, incorporate QR codes or shortened URLs to drive your targets back to your website to learn more and actively engage with your brand.

Track Your Results and Revise Your Efforts
Collect and review your data analytics to evaluate how successful your marketing efforts have been, and use those insights to craft better and more effective messages. A/B testing, or the process of running two similar efforts concurrently to see which performs better, is another valuable means of pointing your marketing in the right direction.

Take the Next Step

If you're interested in exploring the benefits of direct mail for your business, we encourage you to contact us today. We would be happy to discuss your needs and develop a customized plan to help you achieve your marketing goals.