As the new year approaches, we find ourselves in that heavy planning stage - we're gearing up to launch and run *hopefully* successful marketing campaigns. Some of us in the marketing world might be scouring the internet for future marketing trends, and then maybe a few of us wish we could just whip out a crystal ball to know the best way to spend our client's marketing budget, right?
What we are all looking for is a way to bring our clients more of the right kind of business in a high ROI way.
What's not working is digital retargeting by way of online ads. Audiences are paying less attention because of digital ad oversaturation. We're not seeing the traction like we used to, so we can't count on digital ads to be successful.
What is working is Personalized Direct Mail, which has shown steady success year after year. Audiences are paying attention to what’s in their mailbox. Direct mail success is something you can count on.
Like peanut butter and chocolate are better together, what if two types of successful marketing were used together to create a great ROI?
Instead of using a digital ad in your retargeting efforts, try a personalized direct mail piece. Personalized Direct Mail is sent to the place where an audience pays more attention…their home mailbox.
Here are three success stories of businesses who used digital retargeting via postcards, and how this brought more of the right kind of clients with a high ROI.
1. An ecommerce business turns postcards into conversions.
As marketers we know that it takes seven touches on average to get a consumer to buy. We also know that for a campaign to gain traction, it might take 3, 6, 9 months or even a year. A Marketing Agency was in a pickle since their ecommerce client wanted to try out digitally powered direct mail, but only for one month. The ecommerce client got lucky - their retargeted campaign saw great ROI in that one month! (And they decided to keep going after all!)
What they did right: The Marketing Agency made sure that the personalized postcard had a great CTA with a Special Offer Code and was targeted to what the web visitor was just viewing on the client’s website. When their client’s web visitors received a postcard their direct mail response rates were just over 4%. Their ROI was $27,000.
2. A Home Remodeling Business targets the best prospects – their unknown website visitors.
A Home Remodeling Business learned that they were losing the opportunity to connect with 90% of their website visitors. Homeowners who want to remodel often research businesses who specialize in remodeling before deciding which business would be the best fit for their project. The Marketing Agency working with the Remodeling Business, put together a strong customer acquisition strategy which included using a digitally powered direct mail solution to connect with unknown website visitors.
The unknown website visitors were matched to a postal address using first party cookies, so the process was privacy compliant.
Next, the Marketing Agency created a postcard that was targeted, personalized, and tailored to what those unknown web visitors were just researching on the website. And the campaign was timely, the Remodeling Business was able to send a postcard to over half of their unknown web visitors within just a few days of their website visit.
Outcome: In only a month and a half, the Remodeling Business has already booked a $12,000 project with a new client.
3. Non-Profit grows donor base with the success of digital + direct mail.
Non-Profits know that the number one reason someone doesn’t give a donation is that they weren’t asked. This non-profit was frustrated that their best potential donors were visiting their website but were leaving before donating. The non-profit decided to try out Digital Retargeting using Postcards (instead of retargeting with online ads).
What worked well: After prospective donors visited the non-profit website, those prospects received a postcard at their home within a few days of their visit. The postcard was personalized, targeted to donors, and clearly asked for a donation. The postcard encouraged over 5% of prospects to go back to the non-profit website and give!
As a recap, it's important to note that in all three success stories we shared, the Marketing Agencies:
- Tried out a new marketing tool,
- Reached their client’s best prospects at home, and
- Sent a timely, relevant, and personalized Postcard.
Trying a new marketing tool for your client can seem risky, but remember, you will be combining two proven, and steadily successful marketing tools: digital retargeting and direct mail.
Let this be your year to try something new for your clients and ring in success at a high ROI!
