Most of us know what direct mail is. But let us have a clear outline before we move ahead. 

Direct mail consists of sales and marketing activities through direct mail campaigns of entitled goods and services by organizations, in short – creating and managing promotional activities by physical mail. The mode and content of the mail can be customized according to the target audience. Direct mail campaigns cater to goods and service sold between entities or sold directly to end customers. 

The modern direct mail advertisers are using augmented reality to modernize their direct mail campaigns. For example, EE, a mobile network operator, successfully used Blippar technology powered by AR to enhance paper bills. With the Blippar app, customers can scan the inserts and know more about the services offered by EE and watch exclusive shows through Augmented Reality. 

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A few interesting direct mail statistics:

• US advertisers spend $167 per person on their direct mail campaigns. 

• 70% of the customers say direct mails feel more personalized than other kinds of online interactions. 

• 42% of the recipients scan and read the direct mail they receive. 

• The responses from direct mails are five to nine times higher than any other advertisement channels. 

• If brand name is added to the direct mail, the response is increased by 137% 

These direct mail statistics do share an enduring story, and the channel has turned out to be one of the most successful marketing channels. Brands can take help of the following top platforms to enhance their direct mail marketing efforts: 

• Sendoso

Sendoso is a popular gift sending platform aimed at supporting ABM and B2B sales. It acts as a sales accelerant and has proved itself in increasing conversion rates. 

• Reachdesk

Want to automate your direct mailing and e-gifts? If so, Reachdesk is the perfect choice. The team at Reachdesk helps B2B sales and marketing professionals to break through the digital noise by creating memorable brand moments that matter to the prospects, customers and employees. Reachdesk helps to unlock and scale the highest performing channel in building pipeline, reply rates, driving loyalty and accelerating sales. 

• Postal.io

Posta.io is an integrated direct mail platform for B2B marketing and sales teams empowered with machine learning capabilities. It can automate and optimize creation, delivery, and reporting of brand assets in the sales process. 

The main features of the platform includes direct mail automation, promotional product management, and Account-based direct mail. 

• Alyce

Corporate B2B gifting turns easy with Alyce as the direct mail platform helps create personal bond with your prospects, partners and customers alike. Alyce is a personal experience platform and companies like Okta, Lenovo, Grubhub are successfully using its capabilities to turn around their customer experiences. 

• Gunderson Direct

Use Gunderson Direct and your direct mail initiative can work wonders! The platform is known to offer services beyond automated direct mailing and joins the puzzle of strategic partnerships allowing brands to continuously develop and iterate marketing campaigns. For decades, Gunderson has put forward marketing programs to receive huge responses. 

There is no denying that targeting customers in a personalized and unique way with direct mail can improve brand awareness, longevity and maximise profits in the long-term. We can substantiate the claims from the following examples of top brands using direct mail campaigns: 

• O2 

A very popular telecommunications company observed that the company was going into losses. As a result, the company decided to run a highly personalised campaign to target their top 50 businesses. 

Titled as ‘Digital Wave’, the campaign featured a hologram adviser called Dave, which would connect with each recipient personally. All the responses were tracked, which was followed up by a sales person later. The campaign ended up generating £ 2 million.

• Toolkits

The company invested £400 pounds to generate sales worth £50,000. Look what they did. They sent out tool boxes to their business prospects with a missing set of pliers along with a note that said, ‘there is something missing from the box and we have it.’

The campaign generated positive buzz in the industry and turned out lucrative for the brand. 

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Final Word

Even if one direct mail campaign fails, there are chances the others might work. So keep trying!

Several marketing, sales and HR teams use direct mail software today to deepen customer or employee connections. We are sure you’ve heard of HR teams welcoming new joinees with welcome packages! Even individual sales reps or managers use automation platforms to send gifts to new prospects or customers. Direct mail marketing is also used often to drive ABM strategies for better results. As the online marketplace gets more noisy and crowded, direct mail will be a channel for marketers and advertisers to fall back on, to build relevant and memorable customer experiences.