3 Compelling Reasons or Benefits To Use Direct Mail For Retail and Ecommerce Businesses
Statista says more than two billion people used an online platform to purchase products and services in 2020. In addition, with just 5.9% of sales happening through stores, more businesses are adopting a hybrid or fully eCommerce approach. So, it is as good a time as any to talk about direct mail for eCommerce and retail industries.
In this article, we will talk about the scope of direct mail marketing for retail and eCommerce companies. It also discusses three compelling reasons or benefits of using direct mail for your retail and eCommerce business.
This article explains why your business organisation should use direct mail as a marketing and communication channel for your business.
What is Direct Mail For eCommerce and Retailers?
To start with the basics, direct mail for eCommerce and retailers is an offline marketing method. It involves sending printed marketing materials, such as:
- Postcards
- Brochures
- Catalogues
- Handwritten notes
- And more
One of the benefits of using direct mail marketing for retail businesses, including eCommerce, is that you can target existing and potential customers. If you are a seasoned marketer or familiar with different marketing channels, you would know that this is a relatively rare advantage.
As you know, direct mail marketing is not a new concept. Business organisations, especially brick-and-mortar stores, have used it for years. However, direct mail for eCommerce is a relatively new concept but not an unexpected one.
Over the years, the physical and digital worlds have become more and more integrated. The multi and omnichannel marketing approaches already involve eCommerce direct mail in their campaigns.
And now, we even have things like the Metaverse closing the gap between the online and offline worlds. The digital and physical worlds can complement each other and boost sales via both channels. And direct mail for retailers and eCommerce plays a significant role in this.
3 Compelling Reasons For Using Direct Mail For eCommerce
Suppose you are still in the consideration stage for implementing direct mail for eCommerce. In that case, you are probably looking for a reason to take that leap. After all, bulk mailing is relatively expensive, especially if you are not using an automated solution like PostGrid.
We can list three compelling reasons why online brands with an online presence should use direct mail marketing.
#1 Direct Mail For eCommerce Make Your Stand Out
One of the best things about using direct mail for eCommerce is that it’s not a typical marketing approach. Today, even offline businesses rely on digital marketing. Hence, offline marketing, like direct mail, is a breath of fresh air.
With less competition using the direct mail channel and yours being an online business, your direct mail will stand out. You could also say that online media are overflowing with marketing messages and content that people automatically ignore. On the other hand, you have a better chance of getting a positive response from your eCommerce direct mail.
Direct mail has an incredible open rate of 90%, which is more than enough to give you a fighting chance. The email and text messages clutter the inbox and make it annoying even to open it. On the contrary, people like opening their physical mailbox, making eCommerce direct mail more successful.
#2 Direct Mail For eCommerce Helps You Build Trust and Loyalty
Building loyalty and trust among your customers should prioritise every business organisation, including your eCommerce company. We know that it is easier said than done. However, direct mail for eCommerce can help to make it a little easier for you.
Online businesses often fail to establish a personal connection with their customers. But something as small as a personalised postcard could be enough to break this barrier. With eCommerce direct mail like Postcards, you can emotionally impact your target audience.
On top of that, seeing online brands on print media like direct or publications like the local newspaper raises your credibility. People tend to view (exclusive) online brands with unintentional scepticism. By using direct mail for eCommerce, you can make your brand look legit in the eyes of the customer.
#3 Direct Mail For eCommerce Helps You Boost Website Traffic
Few things bring joy to eCommerce businesses more than boosting their website traffic. Although many eCommerce brands tend not to notice it, eCommerce direct mail has significant scope in increasing website traffic.
The response rate for direct mail is almost 9x higher than most advertising channels. It alone is enough to make eCommerce direct mail an ideal choice for your re-engagement or retargeting campaigns. You can use direct mail to drive more traffic to your website using a QR code or a PURL.
The QR code or PURL could lead to an online sale or landing page. By using an advanced direct mail solution like PostGrid, you can personalise the mailer with relevant products on sale. You can raise the value of your eCommerce direct mail by adding a unique discount code.
3 Compelling Reasons For Using Direct Mail For Retailers
Not all retail businesses have an online presence. However, we strongly advise that such companies implement it as soon as possible. And sometimes, retailers have an online presence without eCommerce capability. In either case, direct mail for retailers is still an efficient marketing channel.
Then there are retailers with a physical and online presence who still choose to ignore direct mail as a marketing strategy. It is almost as if retailers forgot why they used to implement direct mail for retail for their organisation. But don’t worry, we are here to remind you of the same.
Here are three reasons or benefits of using direct mail for retailers:
#1 Direct Mail For Retailers Is Consistent
One undeniable thing about direct mail for retailers is that it is always consistent. The thing with digital marketing is that it often tries to achieve the desired results with a single touch point. With direct mail, things are a lot different.
Most retail stores send bulk mail regularly to their customers. You can schedule automatically run the mailing process if you have a working website and a reliable CRM solution. All you need for setting up scheduled direct mail marketing for retail is an advanced direct mail automation software like PostGrid.
Besides helping you to set up a scheduled mailing for your retail business, you can automate all your mailing processes. It means you can send everything, including direct mail for retailers to invoices using PostGrid’s automated system. You can also use PostGrid’s web interface to set up your bulk mailing.
#2 Direct Mail For Retailers Offer Can Sell Any Product
Direct mail is a marketing channel that can work equally well for all types of products. You can advertise high-risk products like firearms, prohibited on online platforms, including Google and Facebook. With direct mail for retailers, you have no such limitations.
However, it would greatly help your business organisation if you could automate the whole process. Automation makes it significantly easier to mail different marketing materials, such as brochures, catalogues, postcards, etc. Hence, you can quickly diversify direct mail for retailers using tools like PostGrid.
#3 Direct Mail For Retailers Is Cost-Effective
We are not going to lie and tell you that direct mail marketing for retail is cheap. However, we can tell you that direct mail is highly cost-effective compared to other marketing channels. That’s not all. With an automated system like PostGrid, you can optimise your direct mail expenses.
For instance, automation eliminates any chance of manual error in your direct mail for retailers. It minimises the return rate of direct mail. As a result, companies can minimise the loss of resources, money, and time. You can further enhance your direct mail deliverability with PostGrid’s address verification API.
How To Successfully Implement Direct Mail Marketing For Retail And eCommerce Businesses?
Direct mail marketing for retail and eCommerce businesses indeed has high read and response rates. However, even that does not guarantee success for your direct mail campaigns. Three things can impact your direct mail marketing efforts and decide whether they will succeed or fail.
#1 Target Lists For Retail And eCommerce Direct Mail
You can never underestimate the value of targeted mailing lists for direct mail marketing for retail and eCommerce businesses. A quality target list can do more good for your campaign than hefty discount offers.
Think of it this way, no matter how good an offer you give, you can’t close a sale if the audience is not interested in the product. PostGrid’s direct mail automation tool can help you with this part of direct mail marketing for retail and eCommerce businesses.
PostGrid’s direct mail API can integrate with almost all major CRM solutions, including:
- HubSpot
- Salesforce
- Zoho
- Drip
- Marketo
- And more.
As a result, you can create highly targeted mailing lists for your campaigns. And you can even verify the mailing list using PostGrid’s address verification tool to ensure maximum visibility.
#2 Personalisation
Personalisation is another crucial part you need to ensure the success of direct mail marketing for retail and eCommerce businesses. People don’t respond well to a generic postcard. The least you can do is address the customer by their name in your direct mail letter.
Personalisation becomes significantly easier if you use an automated direct mail system like PostGrid connected to your CRM solution. It allows you to personalise everything from the customer name to the products you use to target specific customers. Hence, using a tool like PostGrid for direct mail marketing for retail eCommerce businesses is crucial.
#3 Direct Mail Automation
Of course, you can not even begin to implement direct mail marketing for retail and eCommerce businesses without automation. Can you imagine the work hours it can take just to put a direct mail letter inside its envelope for 10,000 audiences?
With an advanced tool like PostGrid, you can accomplish this with a click. As a result, you get more time to focus on the more essential aspects of your business while you leave the heavy lifting to PostGrid. Besides optimising direct mail marketing for retail and eCommerce businesses, PostGrid can help you optimise business communication.
Here is a list of things PostGrid can help you with your retail and eCommerce business.
- Processing tax forms.
- Ensuring communication compliances.
- Printing and mailing custom forms and statements.
- Printing and sending invoices and customer billing statements.
- Printing and mailing customer appreciation notes.
Conclusion
We can undoubtedly say that direct mail marketing for retail and eCommerce businesses is an effective marketing strategy. However, in most cases, companies give up too early, thinking it is too difficult to implement.
Although it is valid for a manual approach, things are different when you use an automation solution like PostGrid. Automation significantly enhances your retail and eCommerce direct mail capabilities, such as automated bulk mailing, personalized mailing, etc. Hence, it is always advisable to invest in an automated system like PostGrid for optimal results for your direct mail campaigns.
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The post Direct Mail for Retail and eCommerce appeared first on PostGrid UK.
source https://www.postgrid.co.uk/direct-mail-retail-ecommerce/
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