How to Use Direct Mail Marketing to Maximize the Buyer’s Journey
When we have a problem, it’s human nature to seek a solution. This could be straightforward such as needing help with your yard management to finding a new dentist for your family. As a business with a solution to a problem, it’s your job to connect with those who need our help and make sure that they can quickly take action on solving their problem.
Your dream customer is looking for you right now. The key is finding your potential customers, presenting the solution, and having an easy path to success for them. Let’s briefly refresh the buyer journey and share ideas for how direct mail fits in nicely with the sales process for your business to create maximum success.
Direct Mail and the Buyer Journey
Let’s refresh on the buyer’s journey before diving into how direct mail impacts the overall sales process for your small business.
Awareness – The customer realizes they have a problem and need a solution. Here we need to show up in front of the customer so that they know who you are and what you offer.
Consideration – The customer knows they have a problem and they want a solution. They are browsing different options and researching solutions.
Decision – After research and thinking it over, the customer is ready to choose which solution and solution provider they want.
Bonus – Retention – This is critical in the buyer journey! This stage is when the customer returns to your business for the solution or recommends your solution to friends and family.
Now, let’s move on to discuss how direct mail can work directly with your sales process for an even better customer experience.
How Direct Mail Work with Your Sales Process
After reviewing the buyer process, you may think you only need to focus direct mail efforts during the decision stage, right? Not true at all! In fact, direct mail marketing can effectively boost your sales process at each step of the buyer journey. In fact, 84% of marketers would say that direct mail improves multi-channel campaign performance.
Research shows that customers need an average of seven to thirteen touchpoints from a brand before they buy. Now, this doesn’t mean that you need to send our seven to thirteen touchpoints, as your touchpoints are sent in different mediums. However, for best results plan for implementing direct mail marketing throughout these touchpoints.
When reviewing the four stages of the buyer’s journey, you can see how a direct mail piece can work for each one. From appearing in the mailbox when the customer is aware of the problem, offering a solution or promotion during the decision stage, to finally, sharing a referral bonus or program with a beautifully designed mail piece can help make your brand stand out from the rest.
3 Keys for a Successful Direct Mail Integration
There are three keys to a successful direct mail integration with your business’s sales process. With fierce competition, it’s more important than ever to maximize each piece of mail that you send out. Follow these three tips for the most effective campaign.
- Personalization – Personalizing the mail piece helps to grab your customer’s attention and make them want to engage with your brand. You can incorporate this including names, colors, imagery, and more. Read our full guide to personalizing your direct mail here.
- Easy Conversion Path – Without being overwhelming, each direct mail piece should have an easy-to-follow CTA (call to action) that your customer can go from mail piece to purchase in just a few steps. This could be a simple QR code that takes them to a sales page.
- Tracking – You need to track each mail piece that you send out so that you can gauge the success from it and make pivots for any future pieces. This may look like tracking web visits from a QR code or the number of promo codes used from a mail piece.
With the three keys to success in your pocket and a better understanding of how direct mail will improve your sales process, you need to find the best direct mail partner for your business needs.
How to Find the Right Direct Mail Partner for Your Next Campaign
Finding the right direct mail partner can help you create and execute a successful marketing campaign. Look for a company that specializes in direct mail and offers variable data insertion, inline printing, and mailing services all in one place. Working with a company that only focuses on direct mail means you have the best services and execution for your campaign.
McAdams Graphics is your direct mail marketing partner and our expert and friendly team is ready to learn more about your business today. Let’s schedule a call to start the conversation.