Having a well-developed strategy is crucial to the success of any direct mail program. No single campaign should be treated or organized as the sole determinant of direct mail success. It should be part of a larger, long-term plan that is developed with the marketing end goals in mind. Such a plan leverages direct marketing strategy, creative, data and analytics as well-coordinated elements of a flexible, nimble process designed to achieve growth objectives.
Successful direct mail is an iterative process that requires testing, learning and time. Nahan dramatically shortens this timeframe by providing all the components for success. We apply a proven approach, which is:
Client and Marketing Assessment
Nahan reviews past campaigns and performance. What types of offers, creative and messaging worked and what didn’t? What were the results? What opportunities can we identify? If a client’s customer and past campaign files are available, we can analyze them to identify and recommend incremental improvements. We assess the competitive landscape and provide insights into what competitors are doing, what they may be testing and how our clients can take advantage.
Data Strategy
Nahan identifies prospect data that we think most appropriate for the client we are working with. There are hundreds of data sources available, and so we draw on our knowledge of what has been proven to work for the industry. We will frequently bring new data suggestions and ideas to long-time mailers.
Given the costs of data, production and postage, the application of predictive analytics and modeling is crucial to help us narrow the larger list of prospects to those ranked most likely to respond. In many cases, creating a segmentation of prospects and/or customers enables us to send specific, personalized creative and messaging by prospect or customer segment, further enhancing results. We find that even when clients are already leveraging a predictive model, we find that we can typically build upon what has been done to provide even stronger results.
Test Planning
We don’t regard testing as a one-time occurrence, but rather a regular, ongoing process that maintains and improves response and return on marketing investment. A properly designed direct mail test plan is intended, while working within a budget, to achieve client growth goals. A/B and multivariate testing enable us to test messaging, offer, design, format and frequency. Testing of different data sources and/or predictive model groups also allow us to achieve even better results.
Omnichannel Approach
Depending on the circumstances, we may make recommendations for improvement across other marketing channels. We have found that integrated cross-channel direct mail/digital marketing programs that leverage the original targeted direct mail audience often perform best. We can bridge the “digital divide” and reach prospects and customers via multiple channels and devices at the same time, which greatly increases incremental results over a direct mail-only campaign.
For example, our cross-channel Direct Mail and Catalog Companion product can effectively target your prospects and customers on their phones, and when recipients click, we can retarget across more devices and channels. It doesn’t rely on increasingly restricted 3rd party cookies and IP address, but rather Device ID, which is not personally identifiable information (PII). Learn more about it here.
Creative Development
Last but never least, is creative development. We take what we have learned through market, customer and past performance analysis to design highly responsive creative. Best practice messaging, design and the format are created, including the offer, strong supporting benefits, frequent calls to action and the unique selling proposition. Our direct mail creative team draws on its collective expertise and average of 20 years+ experience to deliver winning creative.
Strategy is Key for Long-Term Success
Strategy is crucial to present a long-term, successful vision and plan, and then ensure that it is followed to a successful outcome. It must also be flexible and nimble to pivot and adjust to continual market, product, client and service changes.
If you want to learn more about how we approach direct mail strategy and how it can help your business grow, get in touch with us today!