The Role of Direct Mail in Multi-Channel Marketing Strategies

The future is multi-channel. If your business is still relying on one or two platforms for advertising, then it’s time to broaden your horizons. Multi-channel marketing is key for brand awareness, customer acquisition, and sales conversion. You will see greater results when you start integrating traditional and digital channels, such as direct mail, with online ads.

Although direct mail is a powerful advertising tool on its own, it’s even more effective when used in a multi-channel approach. In this blog, we will explain why (and offer a few tips). If you have more questions, contact the direct mail experts at Troi Mailing Services.

What is multi-channel marketing?

As the name suggests, multi-channel marketing is a marketing strategy that combines multiple online and offline communication channels. It allows you to reach and engage with customers at different touchpoints and stages of their purchasing journey.

Social media, email, print ads, and direct mail are all examples of unique channels that can be integrated with this strategy.

What are the benefits of multi-channel marketing?

• Reach new customers

Multi-channel marketing enables you to meet prospective clients in their preferred channels. The more places your brand appears, the greater the chances you’ll encounter and convert a new customer. However, if you only advertise on one platform, you will miss many potential clients simply because they don’t frequent that channel. 

• Boost brand awareness

Secondly, multi-channel marketing boosts your brand’s visibility. Customers see you everywhere, so you’re much harder to miss. The more they encounter your brand, the more likely they are to remember you (especially when they’re ready to purchase!). As your brand awareness grows, so do the sales opportunities.

• Greater engagement

Just as you can increase brand awareness in this way, so can you improve the success of a specific marketing campaign. Campaigns become more powerful when they appear across multiple advertising channels. After all, a customer is more likely to forget about an upcoming sale or event if they only see one ad, one time, in one place.

• Gather data

Every marketing channel contains valuable insights about your customers. You can learn about their preferences by gathering data from email, social media, and direct mail campaigns. Then, you can use that data to better tailor future campaigns.

How is direct mail used within a multi-channel marketing strategy?

On its own, direct mail remains one of the most effective forms of advertising today. It offers fantastic engagement rates, increases brand recognition, and stays top-of-mind longer than other mediums. 

However, it is also particularly powerful when used in a multi-channel marketing strategy as it both complements and enhances digital channels. Combining direct mail campaigns with other forms of advertising is a recipe for success. Let’s take a closer look at the many benefits.

Bridge Online and Offline Channels

Integrating online (digital) and offline (traditional) channels can unlock better results for your business. This is because it leads to a more cohesive branding experience. At every touchpoint, customers encounter a consistent and united message. This increases brand recognition and the chances of engagement and conversion.

Digital mail seamlessly integrates digital and traditional mediums, making it the perfect bridge in your multi-channel strategy. You can easily combine direct mail campaigns with email marketing, social media, and online advertising.

For example, direct mail can drive recipients to visit a website, engage with social media content, or take advantage of an online promotion. By including a personalized URL (PURL) or QR code on the direct mail piece, you can create a seamless experience for your customers (and track results).

Reinforce Branding

It’s important that your branding is consistent across all touchpoints and channels. This is crucial for improving brand awareness and building credibility among prospective customers. Here, direct mail again plays an important role.

Direct mail is a tangible piece of promotional material, which makes it highly impactful. Since it should contain the same branding (logo, colour, typefaces, etc.) that appears on your website and social media platforms, it helps reinforce your brand in the mind of the consumer, thus improving brand recognition.

Increase Reach

You need to meet your audience where they already are. Many consumers still prefer traditional advertising to digital, while older generations may not even be online at all. Consequently, your business will likely miss prospective customers if you rely solely on digital means.

Direct mail advertising increases your marketing reach, putting your brand in touch with new audiences that may not have seen your online ads. You can create new, engaged, and loyal customers.

Generate Higher Engagement

One of the most significant advantages of direct mail is that it offers superior engagement rates to digital ads. When you include personalization in your direct mail campaign, engagement rates are even higher.

Plus, direct mail is very cost-effective. The engagement-to-cost ratio is very appealing for businesses looking to maximize impact from modest marketing budgets.

Businesses opting to run exclusively digital ads are missing out on this opportunity. You can secure greater and deeper engagement by integrating digital and traditional channels.

Less Competition

The world of digital advertising is highly saturated. Consumers are constantly bombarded with ads on social media, websites, and streaming services, making it much harder to stand out.

However, direct mail campaigns face far fewer competition. It’s also easier to differentiate yourself from what few competing mailer recipients do receive. All it takes is a beautifully designed, thoughtfully written, personalized, and high-quality mail piece.

If you’re unsure where to start, the direct mail experts at Troi Mailing Services can help.

Tips for Multi-Channel Marketing

• Link between channels

You should make it as easy as possible for customers to move between online and offline channels. If it’s too cumbersome, they’re unlikely to take the necessary steps. Seamless integration is key to any successful multi-channel marketing strategy.

By including PURLs, QR codes, and special codes in your direct mail campaign, you can create a smooth experience for customers. Simply scanning or inputting one of these features takes recipients directly onto online platforms.

• Track and measure results

PURLs, QR codes, and special codes also allow for easy tracking of results. It’s important to know how customers are finding you, where they’re engaging, and what prompted them to make a purchase. Tracking, measuring, and analyzing results is crucial for every successful marketing campaign, traditional or digital!

• Experiment

Marketing requires constant testing and tweaking. You should try a range of formats, messages, and channel campaigns to discover what resonates best with your audience. Over time, you’ll develop a comprehensive and highly effective multi-channel strategy.

With direct mail marketing, be sure to run A/B testing regularly. Troi Mailing Services can help.

Direct Mail Advertising With Troi Mailing Services

For decades, Troi Mailing Services has run successful direct mail advertising campaigns for Toronto businesses. We help you connect directly with potential customers, unlocking greater engagement and brand awareness with direct mail.

If you’re ready to include direct mail in your multi-channel marketing strategy, we can assist you. We are your one-stop shop for direct mail design, printing, and fulfillment.

To learn more about our direct mail advertising, call Troi Mailing Services at 1-866-486-0423 or contact us online.