May 5, 2011
Four Places Where Direct Mail Has Worked Magic
Wouldn’t it be nice if David Copperfield materialized at your next marketing meeting, gesturing with a flourish as your response rates magically spiked? Fortunately, stellar direct marketing results don’t involve disappearing and levitation. Marketers do their heavy lifting the old fashioned way - with fresh applications of tried and tested channels.
Pick a card, any card.
Bare Deal recently launched in Chicago as a new entrant to coupon mania. The company is bucking the all-electronic trend by embracing a coupon model that involves mailing scratch-off cards with hidden discounts to customers who sign up for particular offers on the Bare Deal website. This startup is betting that – by combining off-line and online into a seamless experience – they can effectively establish relationships that benefit their merchant partners and potential customers.
Do pay attention to the man behind the curtain …
He could be measuring the drapes for the house that he refinanced upon receiving the well-designed integrated marketing campaign from Massachusetts based Hometown Bank. With personalized landing pages, multiple response avenues, and triggered mailings based on application data, Hometown emerged with $9 million in new mortgages and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fresh deposits. All just eight weeks after the first postcards – that would be direct mail – were sent.
Have we met before?
In 2009, when the economy was looking grim, The Limited used direct mail to rekindle a relationship with some of the seven million customers in their database. Rather than scaling back on mail, the company sought out dormant or less active names with the goal of getting them to return to their stores. Direct mail is not only a way to say “hello, again,” it’s an opportunity to cross-sell and up-sell to customers.
Just step inside this special box…
Looking for a way to draw the attention of potential students and their families, the University of Dayton in Ohio partnered with the DHL (with an assist from the USPS) to deliver application material in the distinctive DHL envelope package. “The branded envelope sends the message that you are important — not bulk mail to us,” said Sundar Kumarasamy, vice president for enrollment management. Results were startling, with a 100 % increase in traffic to the landing pages designed to track the campaign.
Innovative direct mailers create their own magic all the time!
To help you get started on your next direct mail campaign, download our free resource, A Guide to Planning A Direct Mail Campaign for Your Organization.
