Marketing is Evolving: How Integrated is Your Marketing? The Future Blends Digital and Direct
Traditionally, direct marketing has fallen into three areas: outbound calling, direct mail and email marketing. These channels are the go-to choices for marketers looking for response. Marketing is evolving quickly in the digital world, though, and making a big impact on direct marketing.
Every business must acquire new customers for continued growth. Deciding on whom to target usually comes from profiling the existing customer base and creating a targeted marketing list. In the world of traditional direct marketing, this might take the form of a purchased list that includes postal information. Maybe you also add in email and phone contact information too. If this list is bringing big results for your direct mail campaign, you may decide to use it again to reach the same customers during your digital campaign. Not a problem. Here are a couple ideas for adding digital to your direct mail efforts:
Targeted Banner Ads: The same list of customers who have received direct mail pieces can also be targets for banner ads and online video. Your previous experience with these targets helps you better justify paying for impressions and click-throughs. You already know these are the kinds of people that you want to reach. The combination of these hyper-targeted banner ads with traditional direct mail can give a boost to your campaign.
Social Media: Think of using social media as direct marketing with conversational flair. While social media might be a great place for customer interaction and feedback, it isn’t the right place for the sales pitches associated with a direct mail letter. Instead, social media helps create more brand awareness by, for example, using your targeted list to serve ads to prospects on Facebook while they browse. The ads followed up by a direct mail piece or email with an effective call to action can produce a lift to overall campaigns.
This combination can be used just as effectively in customer retention campaigns as with new acquisition. Knowing your industry, the value of your product or service and communicating it across the channels in a synergistic way can make a big impact with prospects.
As a marketer, you’ve got your hands full with the ever-changing marketplace and the pressure to provide measurable results. With a multitude of communication channel choices and diversification in audiences, you have to communicate with the right people in the right way. And in today’s fast-paced competitive marketplace, you must be able to measure your success in real time and make quick course corrections to stay ahead of your competitors. Combining direct mail with digital and social creates a quick and agile complementary mix.
