How to Measure Success with Direct Mail
Measuring success with direct mail campaigns can be a bit cumbersome when compared to the accessibility of reliable metrics associated with digital marketing and advertising. Fortunately, there are methods to evaluate the success of direct mail with implementation of QR codes, discount codes, and PURLs.
When developing a direct mail campaign, it is wise to look at direct mail as a piece of a puzzle. In today’s advertising and marketing landscape, brands and organizations see success with robust omnichannel (cross media) marketing campaigns that include utilizing direct mail.
Challenges of Analyzing Direct Mail Campaigns
Marketers do face challenges by demonstrating the ROI of direct mail because direct mail, when executed successfully, is linked to other channels like website traffic and e-mail campaigns. In many instances, the influence and impact of direct mail campaigns is often unnoticed and underreported.
Compared to a digital ad—which can provide reliable metrics throughout a customer’s journey with your brand online—traditional direct mail can’t provide immediate data.
For example, a customer’s journey with brand often takes the following route:
- Receipt of a mail piece
- A search engine query to learn more about your brand, product, or services
- A visit to your website
- A digital ad that retargets the customer the next time they’re browsing the web or social media
- A digital/in-store purchase or e-mail signup
Although this is a conventional customer journey, the marketer typically doesn’t encounter concrete data that can attribute the initiation of this journey to direct mail. Instances like this are why success with direct mail are underreported.
Integrate Digital with Direct Mail for Better Metrics
Fortunately, targeted and personalized direct mail can help marketers evaluate the metrics they need to evaluate their advertising efforts. The main point of focus with direct mail is to draw recipients to your website with compelling CTAs that offer incentives like free shipping or product discounts for website visits.
Implementing QR codes and PURLs are especially beneficial for tracking response rates with your direct mail campaigns. Once a recipient visits your website by using a PURL or scanning a QR code, your website analytics can then keep track of your potential customer with the reliable metrics you use digitally.
Other technology that can help attribute success with direct mail campaigns:
- Form fills and landing pages connected to CRM platforms
- Digital ads and e-mails after consumers engage with your brand online or make a purchase
Benefits of Integrated Direct Mail
Using integrated direct mail as a cog in a larger marketing ecosystem can lead to valuable data for future engagement, audience segmentation, and isolating weak points in the customer journey. All these metrics are useful for fine tuning future brand messaging and improving conversion rates.
Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company based in New Orleans. We offer cross media marketing, direct mail, campaign automation, and database services to businesses and organizations throughout the United States. Call us today at (504) 486-8646 to launch your next integrated direct mail campaign.
