Print isn’t dead, and to prove it we’ll post you flyer! Printing in sheffield is truely alive. In the July 2011 issue of the Journal of Marketing,  the results of a research project on multi-channel marketing (telephone calls, email, direct mail) for a large auto dealership were published. The results were that: customers accepted about twice as much direct mail (printing materials) , compared to phone calls and emails, before their spending levels started to decrease. The hypothesis is that “customers view physical printed mail as less intrusive than telephone calls or email—they can view such messages at their own convenience.”

Here are some interesting statistics:

• According to a United States Postal Service Study, 80% of households read or scan advertising mail.
• In a survey sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association and Pitney Bowes, 39% of respondents said they tried a business for the first time because of direct mail advertising, and 70% said they renewed a business relationship because of a direct mail promotion.
• An iProspect study conducted found that 67% of online searches were driven by offline messages, resulting in purchases 39% of the time. In addition, shoppers who receive a direct mail piece directing them to an online site spend, on average, 13% more than those who do not receive a printed piece.

All marketing must be joined-up

It is easy to track an email campaign, but just how do you track the effectiveness of a direct mail piece ? Well if add a QR code along with some incentive, which is web based – it can easily be tracked. The message is always the same; if you have a great offer people will lap it up – just make sure you check it is working.  A QR code effectively makes the mail piece interactive, since scanning the code with a smartphone will take the viewer to a location on the Internet—a website, Facebook or twitter.

Direct Mail Design

Don’t forget that in addition to tracking the marketing campaign, you will need a good mailing list and also a design that will get your message noticed amongst everyone else: Don’t leave it to chance send out something that will enhance your company as well as sell its wares.  All direct mail should include an offer and reason for contact; even if it’s just information. The offer is the incentive the prospect needs to take the next step—to register interest.

Creating a sense of urgency (a time limited offer) motivates your client to act now rather than later. Here is where a QR code, especially if it leads to a redeemable coupon, has a great advantage. Make it quick and easy; people don’t tend to pay attention for very long. If it is properly constructed, your client may find it easier to respond immediately rather than setting the offer aside (and potentially forgetting about it).