An Exact Target study found that buyers between the ages of 18 and 24 claim direct mail has an extremely high influence on what they decide to purchase and 75 percent of people between the age of 25 and 34 have made a purchase as a direct result of a direct mail piece they received.  When direct mail is executed properly, it can be effective for both older and younger skewing audiences and, when personalized messages are sent along with QR codes, you’re response rate and overall return on investment will increase.

Build your database and personalize your message.  By building a strong database you are able understand and evaluate your target audience’s purchasing habits and interests; if you know your audience, you’ll be able to send more relevant and effective communications.  It is also important to understand that generic marketing is becoming more and more ineffective – this means it’s more important than ever to take the time to understand your audience and send targeted messages that will most likely entice them to respond to your call to action.

Incorporate interactive print, specifically, QR Codes. QR codes and personalized URLs add an additional point of engagement for your audience.  Statistics show that digital media, such as mobile media, have a high rate of engagement amongst consumers.  By combining both print and digital you’re reaping the benefits of each medium; over 85 percent of direct mail pieces are read and digital media has a high rate of consumer engagement.  The longer your audience is engaged with your brand the more likely they are to respond to your message and it will keep your brand top of mind.

And finally, capture, measure and track response rates to enhance future campaigns. This step goes hand-in-hand with using interactive print.  When using interactive print you’re able to better track the success of your campaign by understanding what is clicked on the most (or the least,) what link brings the highest traffic and which people click and develop into ‘hot’ leads.  It can also be beneficial to participate in A/B splits, not only with your direct mail piece’s design and message, but also with the interactive media’s landing pages.  By doing so, you’re able to pinpoint what messages have the highest impact on generating a strong response rate to your message.

Timothy Freeman

President

Print & Graphic Communications Association