[Revolution Series] Direct Mail Converts at 3.7% – is it Part of Your Modern Marketing Mix? Robert Rebholz [Podcast]

With an average conversion rate of 3.7%, could direct mail be making a serious comeback? Whether you call it print, postcards, mailers, letters, direct mail, or print marketing, the proof is literally in the paper: more than half of marketers believe print is the most trustworthy vehicle! And there’s more good news: print no longer needs to sit alone, siloed and separate from everything else you’re doing. It can finally be a bigger, integrated part of your customer communications. As Rob Rebholz, Co-Founder & Managing Director of optilyz describes in today’s Revolution-style episode, for marketers that include print within the context of their overall omnichannel strategy, its impact and potential can be immensely amplified.

“#DirectMail is moving from this ‘print dep’t’ into #CRM & suddenly, these amazing things can happen by combining channels to deliver a new #CX” says @robrebholz CLICK TO TWEET

Direct mail is more than just a branding play or a one-off awareness blast — it’s a performance channel where holistic marketers are running profitable campaigns. And as a byproduct of not only integrating direct mail within an entire digital marketing approach, automating these campaigns, as Rob alludes to, will have enormous time-saving benefits so your team can spend more time strategizing and creating.

Show details and highlights

► (2:27) Is direct mail still working?

► (4:13) Direct mail converts well and drives ROI.

► (5:07) Use cases: post-purchase and first-time buyer

► (7:11) Personalizing direct mail with data — and combining it with other channels

► (11:39) Stop sending the same offer to everyone.

► (13:53) Rob on the future: shifting to strategy

Print marketing has moved beyond postcards and catalogs — what are some innovative ways you’re seeing direct mail being used?

“In the past it was too complex to think about personalizing mailings — it just wasn’t worth it… think about very low-volume use cases, very specific, highly personalized touchpoints that generate impressive performance… [for example] cart abandonment campaigns. [Let’s say] someone went to your website, was going to make a purchase, but didn’t buy the product. Two days later, they may have a letter in their mailbox with an offer for that product… [Consider] a second-order push campaign. [Let’s say] you acquired a customer online, they made their first order, but didn’t end up buying a second time. When you think about ‘how do I engage that person to make further purchases?’ [you can use direct mail] to integrate it within your omnichannel strategy. The more you use data — like every other channel, by the way — the better the results… [a more advanced step] is combining channels. Some brands that combine channels — like email and direct mail — all of a sudden manage to double conversion rates.”

Robert Rebholz

Co-Founder & Managing Director, optilyz

@robrebholz

“In the past, it was too complex to think about #personalized mailings – now we see brands that combine #directmail w/ other channels doubling conversion rates” says @robrebholz CLICK TO TWEET

3 Key Takeaways

73% of consumers prefer direct mail over other advertising methods, and just over half of customers find print marketing to be the most trustworthy marketing vehicle. Print marketing — or direct mail — is a “cheap” channel, as Rob puts it, but there’s a lot of ways to use and integrate it with your other channels. Print/direct mail no longer has to be siloed either and is becoming more easily integrated within the overall CRM system.

As a performance channel, automated, personalized direct mail — like abandoned cart or post-purchase mailers — breaks through the clutter and grabs attention where other brands just aren’t reaching out. What’s old is becoming new again.

Application of customer data to direct-mail campaigns — as part of an omnichannel approach — can create a new revenue stream and works to reach all demographics across virtually all use cases.

Other information

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Resources and links discussed

Rob loves The Tim Ferriss Show

Visit optilyz.com to learn more about scaling your direct-mail campaigns in new ways

Check out Robert’s Revolution co-presentation (with Poster XXL) where he dives deeper into the benefits of print

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