Timing can make or break an omnichannel campaign. Oversaturate a prospect with messages and they’ll tune you out. But if you can build a cadence of messages that form a convincing narrative, you’ll have consumers converting in droves.
This goes beyond digital-to-digital coordination, like syncing social media messaging to banner ads and marketing emails. To build stronger omnichannel campaigns, approach them with an eye on the connection between digital and physical channels, like direct mail.
When you take into account the timing of physical and digital campaigns, the results are powerful. In a USPS survey of 75 marketing decision-makers, over six in 10 (63%) said that coordinating digital and direct mail campaigns resulted in higher response rates.
Basically, you can’t afford not to coordinate your digital and physical messaging.
Digital integration and direct mail coordination
Coordinating digitally powered direct mail with messaging on other digital media channels is simple. The Informed Visibility service from USPS gives marketers access to precise mail delivery information. This information can then be used to activate digital campaigns at exactly the right time.
When a direct mail campaign goes out, a sender using Informed Visibility can track each piece online. Perhaps most valuably, the sender can see when a mail piece is being delivered to a customer in near-real-time. This delivery data is key to coordinating complementary campaigns and building on the consumer’s exposure to messaging.
By knowing when a consumer will have a postcard, catalog, letter or other physical mailpiece in their hands, you can develop complementary digital touchpoints more effectively. This coordination of channels can take many different forms. You might send a campaign email two days after a direct mailpiece is delivered or activate a paid social campaign the same day a direct mail campaign hits mailboxes. Another tactic is to run digital banner ads 24 hours after the piece of direct mail is delivered.
Coordinated efforts like these help make messages stickier, keep your brand top-of-mind and create multiple touchpoints to build brand awareness. They are also proven to drive action. That same USPS survey showed that 48% of those using Informed Visibility tracking saw an increase in website traffic.
Omnichannel campaigns in sync
Reaching a customer when a brand message is still on their mind could spell the difference between a successful transaction that creates loyalty and one that doesn’t convert at all.
Thankfully, timing those interactions between digital and physical campaigns is no longer a guessing game. The Informed Visibility feature gives marketers a delivery date for direct mail around which they can plan and launch additional outreach.
To make the most out of digitally powered direct mail, synchronize digital marketing efforts to move people further down the funnel and create real-time action after every interaction.
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Christopher Karpenko leads brand evolution, customer engagement and branded content for the U.S. Postal Service, overseeing brand marketing strategy and positioning. Most recently, he introduced the USPS B2B social media channel and content marketing program. He has led the development of proprietary, sales-enabling mobile apps, such as the Marketing Impact Calculator that measures the incremental impact of various media to overall ROI.
