Category: Direct Mail

Two factors influence the success of a direct mail campaign: design and data. Using APIs to integrate data from other internal sources can boost the effectiveness of each, allowing for fast and seamless communication between software programs and platforms.

Direct mail campaign effectiveness is driven by the underlying data used, from who to mail to, and when, and with what promotion or offer that will resonate best with that audience. Developing data integrations utilizing APIs to automate and streamline direct mail campaigns from the look and personalization of mailers to the precise segmentation of data for improved campaign targeting is key. Leveraging APIs allows you to tie data together from a diverse set of sources, and use that data to improve campaign performance. API’s allow you to integrate with CRM, ecommerce, and variable print technologies to trigger customized messaging based on consumer behavior and in coordination with multi-channel outreach. Direct mail data integrations using APIs help track delivery, analyze results, and affordably scale direct mail campaigns based on trusted, actionable data.

What is an API? 

An application programming interface (API) is a set of programming code that enables data transmission between one software product and another over the internet using a set of definitions and protocols.

How do APIs work? 

An API acts as a go-between for a client (the application sending the request) and a server (the application sending the response). The client is the software that the user interacts with. The server performs backend logic to understand the request and performs the database operations it is asked to carry out. It then sends the resource (information that that server offers and provides) back to the client in a format the client software understands and can use. The client and server only share data that is necessary and neither of the two is ever exposed to the other, which offers better security and governance.  

What are the benefits of APIs?

APIs allow businesses to communicate and transfer data between the assorted technologies, computer systems, and applications that they use on a daily basis. APIs provide function and flexibility, and remove inefficient manual processes to reduce errors and let employees concentrate on more important tasks. The result is a more motivated and productive staff and better customer experiences.

Benefits of Leveraging Data Integrations Using APIs for Direct Mail

Direct mail campaigns that use APIs to integrate with CRM, ecommerce, and other marketing automation software make it easy to and efficient to segment data, personalize mailings, and track and measure direct mail campaigns. It turns what can be a time-consuming operation into one streamlined automated process that includes:

• Importing segmented lists to boost engagement and improve response rates along every stage of your relationship with your prospect.
• Sending “Triggered” mailings that go out to prospects who meet certain conditions based on behavior, purchases, or life events, like marriage or new home ownership.
• Creating high-resolution PDF files of marketing mailers that can be personalized with variable data printing and shared with direct mail print shops for quick turn-arounds.
• Integrating with postal services software for price savings and accurate tracking data.
• Tracking campaign results to ensure delivery to targeted audiences, calculating return on investment (ROI), and conducting A/B testing to measure and adapt for greater success.

Ways Data Integrations Using API’s Impact Direct Mail Campaigns

Direct mail campaigns that integrate multiple sources of data using APIs are designed to enable software systems, rather than humans, to handle many of the mundane, repetitive tasks associated with putting together a direct mail campaign. They offer advantages to boost the effectiveness of direct mail for targeting audiences and tracking results that include:                          

1. Personalized Content – Develop programs that dynamically generate personalized content for each recipient. This could include personalized product recommendations, exclusive offers, or targeted messages based on the recipient’s behavior and interests. Building a database of potential customers from multiple data sources, including lookalike models and personas, provides better targeting opportunities and continually grows audiences. This knowledge lets businesses personalize direct mail with more than names and addresses. It gives marketers information to craft personalized product offers, customize promotions by segments, and include personal URLs (PURLs) and QR codes to engage prospects with multi-channel marketing.        

2. Segmentation and Targeting – Breaking down data according to prospect characteristics and patterns increases the likelihood of direct mail engagement and generating a response. There are four basic categories for segmenting data lists to customize direct mail effectiveness:

• • Behavioral Segmentation: Leverage data to segment your audience based on their behavior. This could include purchase history, website interactions, or responses to previous direct mail campaigns. This is valuable information because you can identify and trigger specific behaviors with targeted messages that are tailored to the experiences of your prospects.
  • Demographic: Integrate demographic data to create targeted mailing lists. This segmentation practice helps marketers develop messaging that appeals to specific income and age groups, as well as gender and education levels. This ensures that your direct mail campaigns are reaching the right audience with the right message.
  • Psychographic Targeting: Leverage data from third-party data sources to create audience segments based on factors such as personality, values, beliefs, and lifestyles. Marketers can tailor messaging based on an understanding of motivations and speak directly to your prospects individual desires and principles with greater effectiveness.
  • Geolocation: Integrate geolocation data to customize your direct mail based on the recipient’s location. This can be especially powerful for local promotions or events. Businesses deploying geolocation to compile effective mailing lists must choose between EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail), targeted, or saturation direct mail campaigns.

3. Automation and Triggered Campaigns – Build and execute direct mail campaigns that go off without a hitch by using APIs to develop processes that seamlessly integrate with existing tech stacks. Schedule and perform campaigns that are planned and coordinated with a multi-channel marketing campaign or that are sent based on the actions of prospects. 

• • Event-Based Triggers: Set up triggers based on specific events or actions, such as celebrating a customer’s birthday or the anniversary of their first purchase. You can send coupons that follow-up on recent purchases or a special thank you with personalized offers. Trigger mailings based on website visits, abandoned shopping carts, and lapsed subscriptions.
  • Integration with Marketing Automation Platforms: Connect your direct mail system with marketing automation platforms to seamlessly incorporate direct mail into your broader marketing strategy. This allows for coordinated and synchronized campaigns across the various channels your audience trusts every day.

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4. Measurement and Analytics – Continually monitor campaign performance on customized dashboards that clearly let you see how your direct mail campaign is performing with. Include QR codes and PURLs to track engagements and conversions, and optimize data analytics to measure attribution.

• • APIs for Analytics Platforms: Integrate your direct mail data with analytics platforms to measure the impact of your campaigns. Track conversion rates, response rates, and other key metrics to refine your future campaigns.
  • A/B Testing Integration: Use APIs to integrate A/B testing capabilities into your direct mail campaigns. Test different elements such as messaging, design, or offers and analyze the results to optimize future mailings.

Compliance and Data Security:     

 Guard against data breaches and stay in compliance with data-privacy and data-security regulations enacted to battle cyber-attacks and prioritize the protection of the consumer data you collect.

• GDPR and Privacy Compliance: Ensure that your data integrations and API usage comply with data protection regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR. Implement secure protocols to protect customer data.
• Permission Management API: Implement APIs for managing customer preferences and permissions, allowing recipients to opt in or out of direct mail communications easily.                               

Using APIs to connect to multiple data sources gives you quick and easy integrations with leading ecommerce, CRM, and through-channel marketing platforms that flow segmented consumer data into your direct mail and simplify the entire campaign from start to finish. Contact a Marketing.com marketing expert today to learn more about how we can help your business connect the dots and integrate data into your direct mail for better campaign performance. 

Direct mail is one of, if not the, most effective ways to attract attention and business on a local level. However, executing a direct mail brand-to-local marketing strategy for your franchise system can be tough when it’s necessary to take into account and balance the unique needs of several, often diverse, communities of customers in each of the local marketing territories of your franchisees. From list selection, creative localization, printing costs, mailing and measurement scaling, direct mail has been a challenge often leading to a fragmented marketing strategy. In this article we review how franchise systems can leverage direct mail effectively for your franchise network.

1. Implement content management,  list acquisition, asset management, personalization and ordering through one convenient through-channel management platform 

Franchises are realizing the tremendous advantage to be had by managing every facet of print and digital marketing with content marketing platforms that help them strategize and coordinate direct mail campaigns. 

From one user-friendly interface, franchises can manage content distribution and delivery for multiple direct mail campaigns across several locations, maintaining brand and messaging consistency with pinpoint data accuracy. The backbone of every successful direct mail campaign is the mailing list, and management software systems like Marketing.com’s dot platform allow franchises to strategically segment customer data to make sure the direct mail arrives in the hands of the intended audience.

2. Control Direct Mail Costs with Innovative Print Technologies

Franchises are capitalizing on the ability to enhance direct mailings with variable print personalization, interactive direct mail and print solutions powered by Augmented Reality (AR), and real-time tracking of delivery and response data. These emerging technologies give them tools to let households connect and engage in marketing and promotional print campaigns through QR codes and personalized website URLs. They also provide benefits through real-time response analysis, which is a rather recent development that has strengthened the impact of direct mail to gauge and adapt campaigns. A study by Beaconstac found that in some cases QR Codes can let companies reduce printing and operational costs by up to 98%.

As an added bonus, the flexibility to keep content fresh with QR codes and other embedded coding reduces costs and bridges the gap between print and digital channels, turning previously static content into vibrant, interactive messaging. According to DemandGen Report, 88% of marketers said that interactive content is effective in differentiating their brand from their competitors.

3. Enhance Personalization with On-Demand Printing

On-demand printing works hand in hand with variable data to customize and personalize each piece of direct mail. It also adds a cost-effective way to keep messaging targeted with quick turn-around scheduling without a sacrifice in print quality. On-demand printing reduces the amount of space local businesses need for storing marketing materials and helps keep materials from becoming outdated with old contact info, addresses, and expired promotions. Relevancy matters to shoppers. According to a joint study by OneSpot and the Marketing Insider Group, nearly 80% of consumers said personally relevant content increases their purchase intent for a brand’s products and services.

In fact, failing to make direct mail content important to the recipient can actually turn the customer away. That same survey found that nearly half of consumers won’t spend time with branded content if it’s not relevant to their interests. Adding print-on-demand capabilities through an effective content marketing platform lets franchises develop trust with their customers by sharing valuable information that’s needed to make informed decisions. Personalization creates relationships that feel more authentic.

4. Initiate and Build Franchise Loyalty Programs with Direct Mail

Direct mail holds tremendous opportunities for franchises to increase the lifetime value of relationships with customers through loyalty programs. The advantages that make direct mail managed with a content management system a valuable tool in a franchise’s marketing toolbox – trust, personalization, relevance, and triggered, print-on-demand flexibility – can lift loyalty program participation and increase revenue. According to Que-it, the top performing loyalty programs boost revenue from customers who use them by 15-25% annually.

A successful loyalty program is a franchise’s confirmation from their customers that they’re doing things right. Loyal customers want to stay informed, and will share data with a franchise in order to receive discounts and personalized rewards. Best of all, they help franchises control customer acquisition costs. A study by Forbes found that, depending on the industry, it can cost five to seven times more to attract a new customer than to hold on to an existing one.

5. Strengthen Local Marketing in Real-Time

Through channel systems that offer direct mail functionality can help you tailor local offerings and communications for your franchise system. They’re able to build upon unique local characteristics to form deeper connections with customers. It’s a matter of meeting the customer where they are, integrating their location and personal data, and creating experiences that reflect the needs, customs, and buying preferences of local audiences.  

Localized direct mail campaigns take advantage and build on the brand awareness and familiarity created by other local marketing components, like store signage, billboards, and even positive recommendations shared on social media by friends. Franchises use direct mail to get local audiences to take action, whether it’s redeeming a print coupon, scheduling an appointment, or attending a special promotional event. Small Business Trends data found that a significant 62% of people who responded to direct mail made a purchase.

Innovative print technologies and the ability to easily manage franchise direct mail with through-channel platforms like Dot™ increases the impact that direct mail already makes with customers. Franchises should seize on the benefits of personalization, cost savings, customer loyalty, data optimization, and visibility that make direct mail a valuable component of all omnichannel marketing strategies.

Contact a Marketing.com franchise marketing expert today to learn more about Dot™, our comprehensive, technology-centered, people-powered platform that seamlessly manages direct mail and omnichannel marketing campaigns and connects the dots across all your franchise marketing channels.

Great news for marketers and direct mailers!

On September 27, 2023, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) approved the Postal Service request to make Mail Classification Schedule (MCS) changes to establish two distinct Mail growth incentives — a First Class Mail Growth Incentive and a Marketing Mail Growth Incentive.

The incentives will run concurrently from Jan. 1, 2024 through Dec. 31, 2024 and the Postal Service will issue a 30% postage credit based on the incremental volume in CY 2024 subject to a minimum mailing volume of one million qualifying pieces for the entire incentive period. Postage credits will be issued to qualified Mail Owners after six, nine and twelve months from the start of CY 2024.

Helping Improve Mailer Return-on-Investment (ROI)

The purpose behind these initiatives is to drive Mail Owners to increase the volume of First-Class and Marketing mail they send in CY2024 while providing them with lower overall postage costs on incremental growth. The end result is to allow mail owners to maximize their total return on investment by providing additional cost-savings and strengthening the value of mail. Mail Owners, defined as a business entities, organizations, or individuals who make business decisions regarding the mail piece content, directly benefit from the mailing, and ultimately pay for postage on the mail piece directly or by way of a mailing agent, can participate in either or both Mail Growth Incentives. However, the incentives cannot be combined for the purposes of reaching the million-piece.

Mail Owners With Less Than A Million Pieces Welcome to Participate

The registration period for both incentives will run from November 2023–June 2024 and occur through the Mailing Promotions Portal, which will be made available through the Business Customer Gateway. As part of registration, USPS will provide the Mail Owner with their corresponding baseline volume. The Mail Owner must record their agreement with this baseline volume, and meet these three other conditions to participate in the incentive plan:

1. The Mail Owner must mail at least one million mail pieces in CY 2024 in the mail class relevant to the incentive (First-Class Mail or Marketing Mail).
2. The Mail Owner’s CY 2024 volume must exceed their volume in FY 2023.
3. The mailer must meet registration requirements for these incentives, which include accepting a baseline volume for each incentive determined by the Postal Service.

Mail Owners with volume mailed of less than a million pieces in FY 2023 can participate. They must grow their volume to at least that baseline before postage credits would begin to accrue.

Most Marketing Products Eligible

Registration for each mail class will occur separately, and the corresponding postage credits will be calculated separately. Any Mail Owner who expects to grow volume and have at least one million pieces in CY 2024 will be eligible for the postage credits if they register for these incentives. Qualifying Market Dominant products eligible for the incentive are: First-Class Mail Presort Letters, First-Class Mail Presort Cards, First-Class Mail Presort Flats, USPS Marketing Mail Letters and High Density/Saturation Letters, USPS Marketing Mail Flats and High Density/Saturation Flats, USPS Marketing Mail Carrier Route Letters and Flats, and USPS Marketing Mail and Saturation Parcels. The Marketing Mail Growth Incentive will apply to EDDM Commercial mail, but not to EDDM Retail mail.

This effort supports the Postal Service’s 10-Year Delivering for America plan to achieve financial stability and service excellence, through bold approaches — working with businesses who rely on the postal system to grow volume and revenue.

Direct mail works. The evidence is clear.

67% of people say physical mail is more personal than digital messages. (USPS)

All age groups are interested in direct mail, and 92% of millennials have been influenced to make a purchasing decision by direct mail (National Mortgage Professional Magazine)

39% of customers say they try a business for the first time because of direct-mail advertising. (DMR)

That makes the question: How do I make direct mail work for my business? 

A number of variables come into play that impact your direct mailing campaign. However, your business can greatly improve opportunities for success by incorporating these best direct mail practices into every campaign.

1. Embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Direct Mail Automation – There’s no denying that AI provides significant benefits for direct mail, especially when integrated into a multichannel marketing platform that can manage every facet of a direct mail campaign. AI and automation can support campaign content creation and management, target audiences with pinpoint data segmentation, manage multiple campaigns, and accurately and effectively analyze campaign data in real-time. That’s why, according to BusinessWire, 81% of marketers who use a software platform like Marketing.com’s for direct mail, agree it delivers the best response rate of all channels their company use today.

   AI can transform direct mail campaigns by providing actionable insights that lead to better decision-making capabilities. Managing direct mail campaigns through a single dashboard gives your staff access to all of your marketing resources and the ability track performance in one place.  AI automates and performs many direct mail tasks at more amazing speeds than previously possible and provides accuracies in reporting that can improve conversion rates and also save your company money on print and postage costs and reduce waste through improved efficiencies. 

2. Optimize Mailing Lists – You can expect better direct mail conversion rates by fine tuning your house and prospect mailing lists to target your ideal customer and then give them something of value through your company’s direct mail campaign. Mailing lists have become much more that a collection of names and addresses, and today can be created from insights into consumer behavior to build exact customer profiles that increase engagement and response rates. As a result, your direct mail gets seen by the people you want to see it. A recent survey by the Data and Marketing Association (DMA) found that house lists with direct mail leads pulled an impressive 9% average response rate. More astounding, the study found that prospect lists enjoy a 4.9% response rate, nearly double what you can expect from an average email marketing campaign.

   Relevancy matters to the audience you’re reaching out to with direct mail, and segmenting your lists makes your company’s messaging more personalized and meaningful. There is valuable data at your fingertips, and a channel marketing platform can help you energize it into intelligence, empowering you to effortlessly launch engaging direct mail campaigns.

3. Include a Strong Call to Action – Increasing direct mail conversion rates can simply be a matter of including a clear, direct, and easy to follow call to action in your company’s direct mail material. Focus the purpose of your piece around the one step you want your customer to take, whether it’s redeeming a coupon, scheduling an appointment, or visiting a website or landing page to place an order. Households trust direct mail. Another DMA study shows that nearly 60% of Americans consider mail a good thing.

   The visual element of direct mail presents a wide variety of ways to capture attention and make the CTA stand out when people sort through their direct mail. Effective CTAs create a sense of urgency with deadlines and motivate the recipient with both a sense of excitement and a fear of missing out on something special.

   The growing acceptance of CTAs embedded in direct mail as QR codes or Personal URLs (PURLs) to engage with customers across multiple channels has the added advantage that these innovations allow you to better track customer interactions.  Print marketing statistics show that more than 60% of recipients either scanned a QR code or typed in a website’s URL from a piece of direct mail.

4. Make It Personal – Use the data you have on hand about your customers to add personalized content into practically any part of your direct mailing piece and make each piece unique. Customers are willing to give you information if you can make your relationship feel genuine. When your company reaches out, they expect that it’s to their advantage to respond. According to NerdWallet, more than half of consumers want direct mail from brands they’re interested in.

   Innovative print technologies, like variable data printing and software that handprints addresses, greetings, and signatures, allow for highly personalized messaging that creates emotional connections that lead to even greater conversions. Running direct mail campaigns through a channel marketing platform like Dot allows for API integrations that provide tools to help your mailer get noticed. Personalized direct mail is even effective for reviving relationships with dormant customers. According to a recent ANA study, 70% of customers surveyed have re-started a relationship because of direct mail.

5. Make It Part Of Multichannel Marketing – Direct mail on its own delivers great results, but when it’s added to a multichannel marketing mix, conversions skyrocket. That’s because consumers today don’t rely on only one marketing channel to get their information. Direct mail is the most trusted, but every way you market your business can add value to the customer journey. According to the USPS, marketers saw their ROI increase by 60% when combining direct mail with digital channels. 

It’s not only digital channels that can improve direct mail conversion rates. Direct mail reinforces commercial signage, which makes it a powerful way to market businesses in local markets. Consistency across all channels is what matters, so that everywhere your customer looks, the message is the same. Automation can build customer trust effortlessly. Direct mail can be triggered after a customer’s first purchase, a visit to your company’s website, or even be a nudge to bring shoppers back to abandoned online shopping carts with added incentives to complete the purchase. Studies have shown that by adding just one extra marketing channel to your direct mail campaign, according to industry research, you stand to boost your company’s revenue by close to 40%.

Direct mail offers significant benefits by reaching into the households of your prospective and loyal customers where it can stand out and grab their attention on a personal level. Targeting audiences with segmented behavior and demographic data analysis increases direct mail’s effectiveness, and its impact can be further greatened when deployed as part of a multichannel marketing campaign. Innovative and intuitive channel marketing platforms give businesses of all sizes scalable solutions to boost direct mail conversion rates.

Contact a Marketing.com direct mail marketing expert today to learn more about Dot™, our comprehensive, technology-centered, people-powered platform that seamlessly connects the dots across all your marketing channels.