Businesses have more forms of marketing available to them than ever before. Whether they want to market themselves on the internet or in person, there is a solution or strategy for them. Sometimes businesses choose a combination of physical and digital marketing and other times they choose one or the other.
If you are interested in incorporating both forms into your organization’s marketing strategy, you need to take time to figure out which gets the fastest results. This is so you can invest more in one than in the other. This post explores this topic in more detail and explains which is best.
Postcards
Of all forms of physical marketing, postcards are considered the most effective. Not only can you partner with creative direct mail design services without spending a fortune, but you can also get your business’s marketing information delivered directly to the addresses of customers or consumers engaged with and interested in your business’s niche. Direct mail services often have established mailing lists, too.
➢ Lasting Impression
Direct mail postcards leave a lasting impression. They are personal, and customers will physically handle them. Even if they carry postcards straight to the trash, they will still open, look at, and hold them. They are also more likely to view your business fondly if you send them postcards, especially if they are attractively designed.
➢ Direct Contact
Unlike digital ads and other forms of online marketing, postcards are a form of direct contact.
They allow you to engage with your audience in a way that isn’t really possible on the internet. Consumers are guaranteed to open letters addressed to them, so if you send them postcards, there is no real way for them to avoid your marketing content.
➢ Response Rates
Generally, direct mail marketing has much higher response rates than many forms of online marketing. This is due to how personal it is when compared to them. Of course, you will only be able to get lots of responses if you send out a large number of postcards, since most people, whether you market products to them online or in person, will ignore your marketing content.
➢ Local Targeting
Direct mail marketing is ideal if you want to target people in a specific geographic area. This is because you can employ somebody to go around to every single house in the area you want to have your marketing content distributed and pay them to put flyers and postcards through people’s doors.
➢ Ad Blockers
One of the best things about direct mail marketing is that there isn’t much consumers can do to stop you from sending them postcards. When you market to people on the internet, however, they can always use ad blockers to stop themselves from having to look at your advertisements. As well as using ad blockers, they can send emails you send them directly to their junk inboxes.
➢ Long Lead Times
The downside to direct mail marketing is that because postcards have to be printed and sealed, campaigns often have long lead times. Still, you can get responses almost immediately. If you are willing to wait a while for your postcards to be printed, sealed, and distributed, you are guaranteed to see results.
➢ Upfront Costs
Another downside is that direct mail marketing can be very expensive, which means it isn’t the ideal type for everybody. If you run a small business and do not have a lot of disposable income to spend on marketing campaigns, direct mail marketing can still be a great investment, but you might want to start with digital marketing.
This leads to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, which are essential for business growth.
Digital Ads
Digital advertisements can be an effective way to spread awareness and gain exposure. A lot of people underestimate the benefits of digital ads, especially when they are used to direct mail marketing, which almost always yields results. Paying for digital ads can still be a good way to build interest in your business, however. As well as digital ads, you can look into search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, influencer marketing, and video marketing. All of these strategies work well alongside direct mail marketing and the use of digital ads.
➢ Instant Delivery
Digital ads are delivered instantly. However, there is never a guarantee that consumers are actually going to see them. If they have ad blocker software or a popup blocker activated, they likely won’t see your marketing content.
➢ Highly Targeted
Digital ad campaigns can be targeted a lot more effectively than direct mail ones. This is because you can send ads to people who are viewing specific types of content on the internet, which means you can target people who’re already engaged with content similar to your own.
➢ Lower Engagement
Digital ads tend to have lower engagement levels than direct mail ones. This is because people can block them, which means there is no real guarantee that they will even see them if you send ads to their devices.
➢ Immediate Insights
One positive of digital ads is that they can give you immediate insights. You can quickly and effectively determine whether your marketing efforts are working. You will be able to see how many people engage with your ads, and how long they engage with them.
➢ Can Be Blocked
Digital ads can be blocked, as mentioned above. This means people can avoid your ads in a way they are not able to when you send them via direct mail.
➢ More Competitive
Digital ads are a lot more competitive than direct mail ones are, because people generally open all of their mail, regardless of who it’s from. When you advertise on the internet, however, people might engage more with other people’s ads than yours.
➢ More Expensive
Finally, digital ad campaigns can sometimes be more expensive than direct mail ones. This is because digital ads are continuous, meaning they never stop, whereas there is usually a small gap between direct mail campaigns. If you are on a budget, shop around and try and find a type of marketing that’s right for you.
Between digital ads and direct mail marketing, it’s clear that direct mail is the best option. If you are a small business owner, why not get in touch with a direct mail service today? They will be able to explain the benefits of working with them to you and tell you about clients who have achieved success thanks to their support in the past.
Find the best direct mail company you can. Ideally, the service you hire should have lots of positive reviews on their Google Review and Trustpilot pages. This is because positive reviews are a clear sign a business can be trusted.
