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Five Tips to Improve Your Direct Marketing Results

November 3, 2021
By James Gussie

Direct marketing is a key channel for small and medium-sized businesses to promote their products or services. In order to improve your direct marketing results, here are five tips that every marketer should consider:

Direct marketing is a type of advertising that uses personal contact to sell products or services. Direct marketers use different techniques to reach their target audience, including email campaigns, phone calls, and print ads.

Using postal mail for client outreach has virtually become an antique as the world becomes more digital. In reality, many small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) are adopting targeted direct mailings to communicate with clients in addition to their digital initiatives. As a result of the growing momentum, digital mailrooms are becoming more common in offices and businesses around the nation.

The astute company leader must abandon old-school thinking that positions mailroom employees at the bottom of the organizational ladder. The digital mailroom is no longer only a technique to reduce paper; it is now the information technology service’s key center.

Digital mailrooms are frequently defined by a centralized operation that maintains a company’s information and papers, according to Enterprise Content Management Connection. It may also transform all incoming physical mail to digital format before sending it electronically to the appropriate employees. For many SMBs, the process is still growing, and guidelines for proper workflow are still being developed.

This technique of distribution may boost productivity while lowering mail handling and printing expenses. Let’s take a look at how a digital mailroom may help you achieve your marketing objectives.

Table of Contents

Using both digital and direct marketing

A tangible promotional document, such as postcards that double as direct mail coupons, is addressed to a pre-determined database of mailing addresses in most direct mail marketing campaigns.

For many small businesses, combining a direct mail marketing piece with a digital marketing campaign is a terrific 1-2 marketing punch. Before you start, figure out who your target audience is and how you’ll assess the campaign’s effectiveness. To assist execute the campaign, several digital mailrooms employ unique instruments including Pitney Bowes small business machines and postage meters.

Using QR Codes to Make Life Easier

Related digital activities, such as adding QR codes, are made possible by digital mail rooms. If you’re not acquainted with QR codes, they’re a square barcode that can be scanned with a smartphone and may guide a user to a particular website or provide hundreds of bits of data. When you include a QR code on your voucher, the receiver may scan it and information will be uploaded to your email database or social media account. This is a quick and easy approach to turn your paper coupon into a digital database.

The Key to Success is Coding

The key to proper delivery of postal items for SMBs is label and message coding. Users may scan and convert a document into a digital file using optical character recognition (OCR) technology. When a document gets digitized, it becomes a linked document that is integrated into a broader transaction system.

Invoices are linked to items or services, legal correspondences are related to activities, and all papers are linked to a receiver and an originator in this digital mailroom phase. In a mailroom, successful digitization integrates papers into a wider office operation. This increases efficiency and minimizes the chance of missing an actionable item.

Billing is costly.

In early 2013, the cost of a single stamp increased to $.46. Envelopes, ink, and paper are all expensive, and mailing expenditures are a big part of a company’s budget. Some SMBs are cutting expenses by handling their invoicing system using cloud apps such as Paypal and other online payment systems. Email invoices are issued, and payment deadlines are reduced. The receiver of digital invoicing is able to pay instantly without having to write a physical check.

More Advice on Mailing

Here are a few pointers and recommended practices for digital mail room managers:

Make a mailing schedule. A little forethought might help you save money on postage charges. For example, if you give yourself enough time, you may send using standard-class rates rather than being compelled to mail first-class. This may help you save a lot of money in the long run.

Service fees should be avoided. Managers of digital mailrooms will have to double-check pre-sorted bulk shipments to ensure that the components meet USPS size limits. Otherwise, your organization may be subjected to additional fees.

Your mailing list should be updated. Make sure your mailing lists are up to date; sending to outdated and invalid addresses is a waste of money. The USPS provides a free, one-time service that replaces incorrect, standardized addresses on a mailing list of up to 50,000 people.

Direct marketing is a form of advertising that uses personal contact and personal relationships to create business opportunities. Direct marketers use direct mail, email, telephone calls, and social media to reach their audiences. Direct marketers also use “roles of direct marketing” to help them achieve their goals.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How can direct marketing be improved?

A: Direct marketing can be improved by using more stimuli to entice the buyer.

What are the 5 methods of direct marketing?

A: The 5 methods of direct marketing are email, advertising by phone or chat, using social media like Instagram and Facebook, posting flyers around your neighborhood/city, and selling cold calls.

What can be done to improve direct marketing image?

A: You can use your best judgment in making sure that you are not using any illegal content. It is also recommended to make the image look more professional, and try adding text if possible.