Direct Mail Makes Comeback as Brands Bypass Digital Clutter

On its pulpy surface, direct mail is a 20th century relic fundamentally at odds with efficient, digital, 21st century marketing. But it pays to look at the whole package. Last year, business-to-business marketing firm Integrate and research partner Demand Metric conducted a survey of more than 500 b-to-b marketers and found that 60% reported their budgets were being cut going into 2023. Despite this, many planned to maintain or increase the amount they spent generating demand (61%) and marketing to customers (72%). Part of that effort involves direct mail. In another survey conducted in 2022 by Montana-based direct mail marketer PFL and Forrester Consulting, nearly 70% of the 158 b-to-b marketing leaders questioned planned to increase their spending on direct mail in 2023. More than 70% use it to get businesses attention early, while 63% use it to turn leads into customers. The Modern Executive Creative Director Must Be the Ultimate Multitasker Mostly, however, direct mail like video cards, information packets and packaged merchandise breaks through digital clutter—with 81% saying they’re likely to open a package they receive at work. It's really hard to miss a 3D box that shows up in your office or on your doorstep.Jennifer Bellin, CMO, PFL Direct mail marketing is no longer the cards and pamphlets of generations past. By using data to target recipients and get them items and information when they need it, direct-mail marketers have taken the junk out of their mail and given partners an eye-catching, digitally enhanced physical presence. “Organizations don't have a reach problem; they have an engagement problem,” PFL CMO Jennifer Bellin said. “Engagement with digital assets like email and digital ads is declining, and marketers are looking for new ways to reach customers and prospects and increase that engagement. It's really hard to miss a 3D box that shows up in your office or on your doorstep.” Making it real When experience management software company Qualtrics hosts a digital event featuring authors including Malala Yousafzai, Adam Grant or Dan Heath, it purchases their books and gives attendees a chance to win signed copies. The winners’ books arrive a day before the event in a Qualtrics-branded package that also includes a quote from the pre-recorded session, a personalized note from Qualtrics team members or executives, and a Qualtrics bookmark. As a result, people who registered for the event and received a book were 66% more likely to attend a session than those who received nothing. Though book winners made up just 2% of all people who registered for the event, they ended up generating 10% of those events’ business. Why B-to-B Companies Are Investing More in Brand Marketing “Even just anecdotally, I got so many responses from people who received the books, just saying, ‘Thank you so much, this was so amazing. I love that it was just such a nice surprise to receive in the mail,’” said Peter MacArthur, global digital marketing and account-based marketing senior analyst for Qualtrics. Initially, MacArthur’s co-workers were buying envelopes and books, and hand-stuffing packages. Today, Qualtrics teams with PFL to send out books exactly a day before events and to help its team of sales development representatives send out branded kits with notebooks, wooden boxes, teas, coffees and mugs to prospective accounts. The company is also working with PFL on an “always on” feature that automatically sends a direct mail piece to a website visitor who completes certain criteria. “We really felt like, with direct mail, having that physical touch associated with Qualtrics was valuable and different from what a lot of people get from b-to-b technology companies,” MacArthur said. The new old school Payroll and human resources software platform Paycor works with brokerages, banks and other clients who have come to expect a certain level of formality from their interaction with partners. Direct mail is an almost institutional part of those relationships, but Paycor wanted a way to handle the ordering, shipping list and tracking of a campaign’s success. They were looking for a way to have their direct mail marketing communicate with their existing marketing technology like Marketo and Salesforce so they could use their customer relationship management system to judge the performance of a campaign. PFL had both an in-house print shop and means of connecting to Paycor’s existing tech stack. Together, they launched a campaign targeting website visitors who entered their contact information. Where Paycor typically followed up with just ads and email, it added the second step of sending a package with a personalized note, a white paper and a Tile Mate personal tracking device. As a result, Paycor saw a return on investment almost 16 times greater than email alone and a 13.7% conversion rate for the entire campaign. Paycor has used video mailers and information packets with free tracking devices to market itself to potential clients. “If I'm doing an email campaign that also maybe has some paid ads, direct mail is another avenue to cut through the noise,” said Gretchen Swann, principal marketing program manager for Paycor. “While they might delete an email, while they might miss an ad or say, ‘I don't want to see these ads anymore,’ if they get something—especially a 3D piece at their house—it's going to catch their attention.” While that mailed item could be as simple as a folder, slide-out invitation or boxed gift, direct mail has little value to businesses without its invisible layers of personalization. Mailers can now contain video screens that can tell a company’s story or demonstrate its product. They can feature not only the lineup of a webinar but branded headphones to help ensure the reader listens. PFL partners with a university that sends a personalized acceptance letter and password for its app, and also encloses a sign asking new students to pose with it on social media. A health care provider uses a three-step mailer that includes a toothbrush and socks in the first piece, a video explanation of care plans in the second and a packet of coffee in the third with a message to call an agent. Finally, oil-change chain Take 5 incorporates customer data into its mailers to call out their car’s make, model and mileage, and sends coupons when the vehicle is due for scheduled service. Where a 2% response rate would be typical of an email or general direct mail campaign, Take 5 saw 5.25% of those who received its mailers come into the shop. “We believe that lives change for the better when we connect in an authentic manner,” PFL’s Bellin said. “One of the ways to make those connections is by creating a powerful, personalized direct mail moment that drives action.”