From the very beginning, marketers and companies believed that the internet, television, email, social media, radio - and pretty much all other digital communication channels - would kill direct mail. Decades later, direct mail remains one of the most powerful ways to get your message to your target audience.

There are several reasons why direct mail marketing just won’t die. We’ve highlighted some in the personalized direct mail statistics below:

• Personalized direct mail is 54% more engaging than general ads
• Direct mail can help you achieve an ROI of more than 500%
• 76% will discuss mail from a brand they bought from
• 54% will discuss mail from a company they’ve heard of but not bought from

Just like every other marketing campaign, salespeople find it hard to nail personalization in their direct mail campaigns. So, how can direct mail be personalized? In this article, we’ve compiled the best tips and tricks to deliver direct mail to your customers in a personalized way.

How to Personalize Your Direct Mail?

74% of marketers say that targeted direct mail personalization boosts their overall customer engagement rates. This is to say that personalized messages can help boost visibility and turn potential customers into buying customers when executed well.

However, personalizing direct mail requires a little more than just throwing together some postcard or flyer and sending it out to customers.

That said, here are a few ways successful brands have mastered the art of direct mail personalization in direct mail marketing:

Research Your Target Audience

Researching the target audience enables you to become less product-led and more customer-centric. It enables you to identify their needs, expectations, and the problems your customers are facing. This, in turn, enables you to send direct mails that show you understand their needs and have potential solutions to their problems.

Create a Direct Mail Kit

In our context, a direct mail kit is the complete package of information you send to a prospect. It includes letters, brochures, order forms, and other printed materials that are mailed to your prospects.

You can design your custom direct mail kit to include your logo, your address label, and any other printed materials you would like to include. This can help you keep track of your printed materials, and also make it easier to track your customers’ engagement and response rates.

A custom direct mail kit is an excellent way to personalize your direct mail and make it unique to your business. And, since you’re sending out hundreds of direct mail pieces each year, having a custom direct mail kit should make it easy to track your direct mail materials.

Give Something of Value

If you are looking to stand out from the competition, you may want to consider giving something of value to your customers. Here are personalized direct mail examples with some valuable offers for each recipient:

Let’s say you run a pet store and you want to target customers who have pets. Instead of just handing out catalogs about the latest dog snack to hit your shelves, why not give something more valuable, like a digital gift card? This gift card would be redeemable online or at the physical store. This way, the customer will have a chance to purchase their pet’s favorite treats, toys, and other essentials that come with having a pet.

Another great way to add something of value is to give away free samples. This can help you target customers who are interested in your product but may not be currently using the product. Free samples give customers a taste of what your product can do so that they can decide whether your company can meet their needs.

Show Your Appreciation

A heartfelt thank you note in your mail can go a long way in forging a good relationship with your customers. But, rather than having one printed on a mass scale, why not handwrite it?  

Thank the customer for the time they took to visit your store, buy something from you, or recommend your products to their friends and family.

Show Your Brand Personality

Many companies try to incorporate their personality into their branding, but they often forget to incorporate it into their marketing and messaging. Brand personality doesn’t have to be difficult. Start by using your brand colors and fonts on your mail.

If your branding is that of a fun and quirky company, use corresponding colors to grab your customers’ attention. The idea is to create a personalized direct mail piece that feels like your brand and make your recipient feel like they’re part of it.

Create a Custom Postcard With Your Brand Logo

A custom postcard with your brand logo is another great way to personalize your direct mail. Personalized postcards can include your logo and theme. The visuals can be fun and engaging to create a lasting impression on your customers.

Custom postcards with your logo can be used for a variety of purposes; for instance, you can use custom postcards with your logo to thank your customers for choosing your company or coming to your event.

Use Interactive Direct Mail

Interactive direct mail is a broad term that covers different elements embedded in your direct mail campaigns. For instance, you can include QR codes or links that take your audience to your website. This allows you to expand your audience and get your direct mail to a wider group of people.

Use Coupons to Your Advantage

Who doesn’t love coupons? One good way to personalize your direct mail is to include a coupon in the mail. The coupon can include a special offer, discount, or other information that makes it relevant to your audience. This can be a great way to boost sales and bring in more revenue.

And, of course, you can also give your customers, and prospects a discount on their favorite products. Any type of coupon you can think of can work with direct mail marketing, so feel free to try out your ideas and see what works best for your business.

Lastly, don’t forget about adding a direct mail call to action. It will guide your customers on the next step to take when they’re through with your mail.

Main Levels of Personalization

Direct mail is one of the oldest marketing tactics, dating way back before the early days of the telegraph. It’s a tried and proven way to get your name in front of potential new customers. However, there are so many intricacies involved in designing direct mail campaigns that even seasoned marketers sometimes struggle to execute them well.

With that in mind, here are the levels of direct mail personalization:

1. Individual Data

Every customer is unique in their own way. With a little bit of research upfront, you may discover that most of your customers are millennials who love trying out products before they actually buy. In this case, your best strategy is to include free samples in your mail.

Build a mailing list with individual information about customers, such as their names and physical address, preferences, and other relevant personal information for your campaigns.

2. Demographic Data

Demographic data requires a little more effort to collect than individual data. Demographic data is information that isn’t specific to one person: customers’ age, gender, ethnicity, job title, or industry. This information enables you to create mail and other marketing materials that are more likely to appeal to certain groups of people within your customer base.

3. Behavioural Data (aka actionable insights)

Behavioral data is a much more advanced level of direct mail personalization because it takes into account the way customers interact with your brand.

With all this information it’s possible for large businesses with significant resources to create personalized direct mail marketing campaigns with a detailed understanding of the recipient’s behavior and preferences.

Advantages of Using Personalised Direct Mail

We cannot overlook the advantages of direct mail, especially in this digital age as companies race to compete for the attention of customers through text, email, and other electronic channels.

Here are a few advantages of using carefully structured personalized direct mail programs:

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1. Direct mail is affordable. You can use direct mail to get your name out there without spending a fortune.
2. Long-term impact. Direct mail stays with the customer longer than other marketing communication. Customers can easily go back to your mail for reference without having to sort through thousands of emails or marketing texts from other companies.
3. Direct mail is personal. A direct mail campaign can be made more personal than a promotional email or call center marketing campaign, because it’s targeted at the customer’s mailbox.
4. Direct mail is flexible. Because you can use different pieces of direct mail for different groups, you can also make sure that your campaign gets noticed by many at the same time. With an average 9% response rate, you’re more likely to get a response from customers across all channels.

One of the best ways to make people take action is by creating a sense of urgency. With direct mail personalization, it is not as complicated as it sounds because all the information relevant to your customer—their name and address—is right in front of you. You only need to call them out to get an irresistible time-limited discount at your store or get a time offer through the letter or flyer you’ve sent them.

Conclusion

Personalized direct mail marketing campaigns are a worthwhile solution for companies looking to stand out from the crowd and get their brand’s message across in a unique way. Try using custom labels, coupons, or interactive signs to personalize your direct mail in many different ways if you’re not sure where to start.