How much time do you spend on marketing
Often it’s an afterthought, a task pushed to the end of the to-do list and a hurried email or a quick look at Google ads is about as much as you can muster. Of course, larger businesses have whole departments devoted to these things, but there are ways you can stand out from your competitors, both big and small.
We believe, and you may have had the proof drop through your letter box recently, that mail is a much underused, but incredibly powerful medium.
Direct Mail has a bad reputation, and in a lot of cases, it’s well deserved. We’ve all heard of junk mail, but people only consider something junk if they don’t want it.
Think about your own purchases and you’ll probably find mail has played a role somewhere. It might have been something as simple as a takeaway, or perhaps an order from a catalogue from your favourite shop. If you add in membership packs or customer magazines there’s a strong chance you’ll have held something in your hands from a company you end up doing business with.
The difference between junk and gold is all in the targeting. Here mail has an inherent strength against other media because the company sending it has almost as much interest in targeting as those receiving it. A misdirected email doesn’t cost much upfront, but when you’ve spent time crafting and printing an item, you want to make sure it goes to the right person.
When done right mail has real and lasting impact. In the last quarter of 2022 mail had an open rate of 66%, with 46% retained in the home, what’s more, 14% of people said they discussed it with someone and 5% that it prompted a purchase.
It’s increasingly hard to reach customers these days, and even more difficult to stand out from your competitors. A well-produced and written mailing can do this with 70% of customers saying mail makes them feel valued and 87% describing it as believable (as opposed to 48% for email).
Taking the time to craft a well-written and designed mailing really can say a lot about your business. It communicates solidity and permanence, as well as showing people you really value their time.
It’s not just traditional audiences who are more receptive to mail. Gen Z (the oldest of whom are now 26, believe it or not) are much harder to reach, valuing highly personalised communications, and whilst they are exposed to huge amounts of online communications they are likely to be more receptive to a personalised real-world approach.
Another element valued by younger consumers I sustainability, and mail has even more impact if you’re able to say it was sustainably produced. This is increasingly true of all consumers, research by IBM shows that 51% of consumers value environmental sustainability more now than 12 months ago.
This is an area we can really help with, as 100% of the paper we print on in our production facilities is certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), and we use vegetable-based inks as an alternative to petroleum-based products. We recycle over 98% of our waste, we use green energy, and we only work with environmentally conscious suppliers. What’s more, we are a carbon-neutral business as certified by Carbon Neutral Britain, a project that helps businesses offset their emissions.
We can help you with all of the above, in fact. You may have an existing customer list, or perhaps even some ideas for what you would like to send. We can help with anything from a simple, classy letter on high-quality paper, to a more complicated design.
If you’re not sure what would work best, we can help you with everything from writing and designing your mailing, and even through our partners putting together a high-quality, GDPR-compliant, list of potential customers.
Depending on what you’d like to send, you could spend under £1 per potential customer, although this will depend on the volume and nature of your campaign.