In an ever-growing digital landscape, one disruptor in advertising and marketing stands out: direct mail. That’s right — classic print and paper mailers shipped directly to your customers’ doors are pushing beyond the noise to give consumers an outlet they actually pay attention to. It may be brash to endorse direct mail marketing on a newsletter that we directly mail to you , but your reading of this article should be proof enough: Direct mail works, and you need to try it. If you’re still not convinced, allow us to explain why this is a secret we just have to share. In a world where most of us work and attend meetings, classes, family gatherings, church meetings, and other get-togethers through our screens, don’t you want to be the voice that stands out and appears in their mailbox instead? We have screen fatigue, and people likely aren’t paying too much attention to the advertisements they have been seeing for months. In business, you have to change and develop new marketing tools. Experimenting with direct mail or special offers may cost you some money, but the returns could be well worth the investment and time spent in developing the route. As an entrepreneur, though, the only risks you can take are calculated ones. You have to be sure there will be some reward, no matter how small. Direct mail marketing is nothing new, yet it has been proven to work time and time again. Why? When you boil it down, direct mail marketing works because it’s based on an idea that has always stood the test of time in business: the power of relationships. In order to reel consumers into your brand, you need to reach them in diverse ways. Enter direct mail marketing. It disrupts the noise from your digital platforms while connecting with people in a real, personal way. Today’s consumer takes months before making a purchase. When your voice has been consistent, loud, and diverse, you’re more likely to stand out. And today’s target millennial audience is also looking at print and direct mail before making a purchase. In fact, more millennials learn of products through direct mail, even in a digitally focused world. The digital world is still very influential. We may be tired of staring at our screens, yet we find ourselves pulled to social media, streaming services, and blogs even after we log off work. Businesses need to have a diverse online presence, whether that’s on social media, a blog, or your website, but you don’t have to adhere to one platform over the other. In fact, it’s best if you use direct mail to disrupt your online campaigns and use your online campaigns to disrupt your paper marketing. Relationship marketing that directly targets your consumer works every time. Direct mail has always disrupted the flow of standard marketing, and if you’re focusing your efforts solely on the digital platform because of the pandemic, then you’re making a big mistake. Direct mail is one of the easiest ways to connect with your consumers and stand out while doing it. In a Digitally Focused World The Power of Direct Mail
The majority of people who visit your website, or see one of your ads online, will navigate away and never think about you again. Lead magnets are vital for making sure you can keep prospects in your marketing strategy. Unfortunately, the incentives most people use for their lead magnets are laughable at best. “Sign up for our newsletter!” or “Never miss a blog update!” are common strategies that never get much response. The secret to effective lead magnets lies in the offer. You want prospects to give you their name and email address for your list. What are you willing to give them in return? Growing your list is valuable to your business, so you can’t offer trash. You need to give away something precious. A great lead magnet offer from a landscaping company would be a guide to “10 Steps to Keep Your Lawn Green.” The guide should be legitimate, and those steps should work. They should be the same strategy the professional landscapers use for their customers. Likewise, an auto repair shop could offer a pre-trip safety checklist, while a data security company might give away a webinar on migrating data to the cloud. If the offer is something that someone is already willing to pay for, it’s a great lead magnet. When creating a lead magnet, many people are afraid to make their offer too valuable. “But if I give away my secrets, clients won’t need me,” they fear. If you have this fear, then you’re undervaluing your work. If you provide a valuable service, you shouldn’t have to worry about your clients being able to do it without you. Take the landscaping company, for example. Prospects who download the guide will appreciate the valuable information, but quickly realize they need help to achieve that beautiful green lawn. The average person doesn’t have time to do all 10 steps themselves. And if someone who downloads the guide can do it all themselves, that’s great for the landscaping business. When a neighbor compliments their lawn, the person who downloaded the lead magnet will talk up the landscaping business for providing such a great resource. Then the neighbor will download the guide, adding another email to their list. Or better yet, the neighbor will call the landscaping business directly because they don’t have time to do all 10 steps. To create a lead magnet, start by asking what you can’t afford to give away. Then turn that into a form that can be downloaded from the internet, put it behind a landing page, and start building your email list. Here’s Why Your Lead Magnets Don’t Work STOP OFFERING TRASH!
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