The more you know about why the mail gets opened, the more you can tweak your campaigns for maximum effectiveness. Recipients’ top reason for opening any direct mail piece is that they are interested in the products or services you offer. But did you know that there are other reasons that recipients open their mail, too? These include:
- Having a positive view of the company.
- Seeing reading direct mail as a leisure activity.
- Seeing the production quality (printing/images/paper) as exceptionally high.
Add personalization on top, and you have a potent combination! Why? Personalization increases the chances of your mail being relevant to the recipient. If you know someone’s age and marital status, for example, you can use profiling to assign them to a life stage that gives you insights into their buying habits and needs. Likewise, if you know that a customer regularly buys books by a particular author, you can alert them when that author releases a new title.
Studies have found that recipients also open direct mail pieces because they have a positive view of the company. This tells us that regular, ongoing branding plays a key (if indirect) role in sales. When you invest in branding campaigns, even if you aren’t selling anything in those campaigns, this increases the likelihood that the recipient will open your direct mail piece when you are selling something. Even if the recipient does not have an interest in the product at the time, if they like your brand, they are likely to check out the offer anyway.
Want to increase the effectiveness of your direct mail even more? Studies have found that adding high-quality printing, imaging, and paper quality can increase open rates, too. When a piece is of very high quality, recipients feel obligated to open it and see what you have to say.
Combine these with personalized messaging, and your marketing pieces will have incredible stopping—and converting—power.
