Direct Mail Benefits: Develop More Meaningful Relationships with Consumers 

As part of our third post for “Direct Mail Appreciation Month”, we would like to discuss the nostalgic power direct mail has on consumers across various demographics. Unlike social media, paid search, and e-mail marketing, direct mail is tangible. Delivered right to a recipient’s mailbox, direct mail evokes the sense of touch—making it feel more personal and more trustworthy. If you’re looking to grab your customers’ attention, direct mail is a powerful tool you should consider. The following are some insights on direct mail benefits you need to know.  

Direct Mail Benefits You Need to Know About 

How Direct Mail Affects Consumers 

Direct mail has a powerful effect on customers. Receiving physical mail is a positive experience for most people—especially after COVID-19. As online shopping has become more commonplace in the wake of the pandemic, more consumer goods than ever are delivered to a person’s home. Receiving packages on a regular basis has made “checking the mail” a lot more fun. Since consumers have a positive psychological association with mail, direct mail has become more well-received than it has in the past.  

Receiving mail of any kind is a nostalgic experience, too. In a world where most communication is digital, receiving a mail piece reminds us of the past. Rapid technological advancement has profoundly changed the lives of billions of people so tapping into nostalgic feelings of life before the Digital Age can have a positive and comforting effect on your customers.  

Lastly, it is important to note that direct mail evokes the senses in ways that digital communication cannot. Direct mail is real. You can touch it. You can smell it. A digital ad is just mere bits of copy and graphics that you see. Evoking all the senses has a powerful effect on people and can make a lasting impression on customers that leads to more meaningful relationships with your brand. 

Direct Mail Commands Attention from Customers 

Ad blockers and spam filters have become more sophisticated in recent years. Consumers have also developed cognitive tools for filtering out ads and corporate messaging from their consciousness. This all means that digital ads and e-mail marketing campaigns could be easily overlooked by your target audience. Then, of course, there is the problem of oversaturation. Brands have taken to prolific digital advertising and marketing because it is cheap and easy. All this clutter, however, has created unintended negative effects on generating sales and brand recognition. Fortunately, direct mail is a great tool for grabbing consumers’ attention in a more thoughtful and personal way. A well-designed direct mail campaign makes a lasting impression on customers—especially when campaigns are personalized and offer purchasing incentives.  

The printing pros at Pel Hughes can help you leverage direct mail benefits to your advantage. We offer custom graphic design, campaign automation, personalization, and so much more to businesses in various industries, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations. Give our friendly experts a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more or request a quote.  

Direct Mail Helps Brands Thrive in 2023 

In a time of uncertainty and information overload, direct mail helps brands maintain a competitive edge in a tough business climate. Adding direct mail to your advertising repertoire fosters deeper connections with consumers, especially when direct mail is personalized. In fact, over 84% of consumers believe that being treated as an individual by a brand is just as important as the quality of their goods or services. Fortunately, direct mail helps consumers feel appreciated and acknowledged—emotions that go a long way in our modern business climate.  

3 Ways that Direct Mail Helps Businesses & Organizations 

#1 Develop an Offline Experience 

Although the digital world is prominent in the life of consumers, offline experiences with a brand still matter. Even if you don’t operate a brick and mortar establishment, your brand or organization can benefit from the in-the-flesh connection that direct mail delivers. Direct mail helps brands by providing a tactile, trustworthy form of contact with consumers. Modern technology like variable data printing, QR codes, and PURLs (personalized URLs) make it possible to seamlessly merge the print and digital worlds without sacrificing a personalized experience.  

#2 Boost Trust & Brand Recognition 

According to research from the USPS, direct mail is viewed as one of the most trustworthy forms of advertising. This notion is true across multiple generations and demographics, too. Even millennials and Gen Z enjoy receiving direct mail—especially mail pieces that offer purchasing incentives with discount codes and coupons. Direct mail is also an effective form of reaching out to students and donors in the education and non-profit sectors.  

When it comes to brand recognition, nothing compares to direct mail. Researchers have found that seeing and touching printed materials activates long term memory in a way that digital advertising cannot replicate. This research makes a compelling case for direct mail’s ability to tap into consumer consciousness.  

#3 Reach Out to Inactive Consumers 

Reaching out to inactive consumers is more cost-effective than soliciting new business. Direct mail helps re-engage with inactive consumers and clients in a thoughtful, productive manner. When a formerly active customer no longer visits your website, makes purchases, or clicks through e-mails, sending an incentivizing piece of direct mail is an effective way to re-establish contact.  

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that pairs the latest innovative technology with client-forward service. In addition to direct mail, we offer database services, graphic design, campaign automation, and cross media marketing. Call our experts at (504) 486-8646 to request a quote for your next project.  

Direct Mail Trends to Watch in 2023 

For the month of August, the printing pros at Pel Hughes would like to focus on a specific topic: why direct mail is awesome and how it can help our clients in diverse industries. Our team sees the power of direct mail on a daily basis for an array of entities including for-profit businesses, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and political campaigns. For our first post, we’d like to discuss key direct mail trends to be aware of in 2023.  

2023 Direct Mail Trends to Watch 

It’s important to be mindful of direct mail trends and emerging technology to maintain a competitive edge in today’s shaky business climate. Following are trends to watch in 2023 and beyond.  

Data Analytics are More Widely Used 

The days of impersonal mass mailings are over. In 2023, more marketers rely on data analytics to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and segment their audiences for personalized brand messaging. New technology makes it possible to make important correlations between datasets to develop more powerful messaging for specific demographics. Fortunately, the pros at Pel Hughes stay on the cutting edge of technology and can help you make the most of data analytics with our database services, campaign automation software, and client portals for easy ordering.   

Personalization Continues to Reign Supreme 

Did you know that 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a brand that provides a personalized experience? It’s true. Personalization matters to modern consumers. Pel Hughes offers an array of tools to help your organization develop personalized direct mail campaigns including variable data printing, direct mail retargeting, personalized links, and so much more.  

Cross Media Marketing  

Cross media (omnichannel) marketing is the future of direct mail. Direct mail can drive in-person recipients to your digital channels with QR codes and personalized URLs. New technology like direct mail retargeting makes it possible to reach out to your digital consumers’ postal boxes with just a few mouse clicks. Establishing a digital connection with your client base is key for collecting helpful data in the future. Digital interactions such as social media engagement, a user’s activity on your website, and click-throughs in e-mail marketing campaigns provide useful data that can be used to strengthen future direct mail campaigns and improve your personalization efforts.  

USPS Promotions Incentivize Sensory-Forward Mailers & Advanced Technology 

In 2023, expect to see your competition use emerging technology with an emphasis on sensory-forward campaigns. The USPS is providing significant discounts to marketers who use technology such as direct mail retargeting, advanced printing techniques, and mailers that evoke a sensory-forward experience. In a word, direct mail will be far more sophisticated than it has been in years past; and that’s a good thing! Sophisticated direct mail tends to result in higher ROIs, brand recognition, and engagement.   

Pel Hughes is a one-stop solution for modern and effective direct mail campaigns. Give our helpful team a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more about our services.  

Direct Mail for Real Estate Marketing 

Real estate is a competitive business. Using direct mail for real estate marketing is an effective method for inching past the competition. When executed correctly, direct mail can have a compelling effect on building a loyal base of clients and increasing sales. The printing pros at Pel Hughes offer expert assistance with direct mail campaigns from start to finish. The following are helpful insights on deploying direct mail for real estate marketing.  

Why Real Estate Agents/Brokers Should Use Direct Mail 

According to the USPS, direct mail is seen as one of the most trustworthy forms of advertising—even across younger generations like Millennials and Zoomers. Direct mail sees significantly higher sales conversions than paid search, social media ads, and e-mail marketing, too.  

Consider the following facts and statistics to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of direct mail on younger folks: 

  • Over 40% of people in the US look forward to receiving mail 
  • About 65% of millennials pay close attention to direct mail pieces 
  • Millennials make up over 1/3 of the country’s homebuyers 
  • Zoomers and Millennials are more likely than Boomers to contact a business or make a purchase after receiving direct mail 

3 Direct Mail for Real Estate Marketing Secrets 

Engage in Cross Media Marketing with Direct Mail 

When it comes to real estate, it’s important to merge conventional advertising with digital. Fortunately, there are ways to drive traffic to your digital properties with personalized links (PURLs) and QR codes. Links and QR codes can be easily printed on direct mail so that you can seamlessly connect potential clients to your social media channels, sign up for e-mail newsletters, or view property listings on your website. Cross media marketing is a powerful approach that can help real estate agents and brokers reach more buyers and sellers. 

Use Reliable Mailing Lists & Target Specific Demographics 

Not all mailing lists are created equal and sending direct mail to every household in a neighborhood can be costly and non-productive. The pros at Pel Hughes strongly encourage real estate agents to send targeted campaigns from up-to-date mailing lists. You can segment your audience by demographic and tailor your messaging to their needs. You can also opt to only send direct mail to specific demographics such as household size or income level.  

Solicit the Help of Professionals for Your Design & Copy 

Poorly executed direct mail can wind up in someone’s trash bin (at best) or make you look unprofessional or incompetent (at worst). Producing effective direct mail is an art form and there are abundant options to consider. Working with professionals is the best way to ensure that your direct mail campaigns reflect your dedication and professionalism as a real estate agent or broker. We recommend working with knowledgeable printers, a graphic designer, and a proofreader to ensure that your copy is grammatically correct. Fortunately, Pel Hughes can do all the above and more.  

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that offers cross media marketing, graphic design, campaign automation, direct mail, and database services. Give our friendly experts a call at (504) 486-8646 to discuss your direct mail for real estate project.  

Political Postcards Make for Great Voter Outreach 

Reaching voters can be tough—particularly because local and federal elections in the United States often have low voter turnout. Today’s political candidates need robust campaigns that merge digital outreach with print and in-person canvassing. One great method for reaching voters is through political postcards. A form of direct mail, political postcards can help get your message to people in your district across numerous generational and demographic groups. Pel Hughes is a leading direct mail provider that serves businesses, non-profit organizations, and political candidates.  

Do political postcards actually work? 

According to a study from Harvard University, political postcards are quite powerful tools when it comes to voter outreach. Researchers at Harvard University worked with the State of Pennsylvania to help increase voter registration. Harvard researchers found that a “single postcard sent by state election officials several weeks before the election can produce meaningful increases in both registration and turnout.”  

Candidates can enjoy similar results from direct mail when their political postcards are well-designed, have compelling copy, and provide helpful resources like hours and locations of polling places. During big elections, voters can feel overwhelmed by television, radio, and digital political ads. Many voters are also becoming increasingly distrusting of aggressive political advertising. Fortunately, political postcards are a great method for cutting through the noise and mudslinging.  

One way to make your political postcards even more effective is to send targeted direct mail. Using consumer and voter databases, you can segment your audience by specific demographics. Your political postcards can have different messaging tailored to the demographic receiving it. For example, voters over 55 can receive postcards that outline your stance on issues like social security and Medicare while younger voters can receive postcards on proposed solutions to issues related to economic opportunity or environmental concerns.  

Political postcards can also be used to merge your digital presence with your print and in-person outreach. Embedding personalized links (PURLs) and QR codes onto your direct mail makes it easy for recipients to visit your official campaign website, watch speeches, or follow your campaign’s social media accounts.  

How Pel Hughes Can Help 

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that has decades of experience working with political campaigns. We offer an array of tools and resources to help your campaign create compelling postcards. Following are just a few of our helpful services: 

Pel Hughes pairs state-of-the-art technology with world-class client service. Give our friendly experts a call at (504) 486-8646 to discuss your next political direct mail campaign.   

USPS Retargeting Promotion for 2023 

The USPS Retargeting Promotion commences September 1st and ends November 30th. Eligible campaigns can receive a significant 5% discount on postage. There are several requirements’ marketers must follow to be eligible for the USPS Retargeting promotion. Direct mail retargeting is an effective method for increasing sales, enhancing your customers’ digital experience, and maintaining thoughtful contact with clientele. Following are some helpful facts about this USPS promotion. 

What is Direct Mail Retargeting? 

Direct mail retargeting is a form of cross media marketing that reengages a customer from an online interaction through direct mail. Actions online that demonstrate an intent to purchase, for example, such as abandoning a shopping cart or signing up for promotional deals are great opportunities to follow up with customers in real life. Advanced software can automatically detect a customer’s interest in your business and prepare a targeted mail piece within minutes. Retargeting can offer incentives to purchase with promotional codes and discounts, too. Direct mail retargeting is a thoughtful way to make doing business with your brand that much easier.  

USPS Retargeting Promotion Requirements 

The USPS Retargeting promotion of a 5% discount involves some eligibility requirements. To get a full understanding of a marketer’s requirements, we recommend downloading the official USPS Retargeting PDF by clicking here. Below are some helpful highlights of this promotion’s requirements.  

Eligible & Ineligible Mail Pieces 

First-class postcards of the following sizes are eligible for the USPS Retargeting promotion: 4.25 x 6” single piece and Pre-Sort First Class postcards along with 6×9” Pre-Sort postcards.  

Ineligible mail pieces include periodicals, bound printed matter, media mail, First-Class letters and flats, USPS Marketing Mail letters and flats, Non-Profit USPS Marketing Mail letters and flats.  

Intelligent Mail Barcodes 

Marketers must use USPS Intelligent Mail barcodes that contain either STID 498 or 499.  

The process for participating in the USPS Retargeting promotion involves four steps. The first step is to receive pre-approval for your targeting process from the USPS. Then, registering for the promotion upon approval. Marketers will then prepare electronic postage statements that are sent to the USPS. Lastly, mailers can be sent between September 1st and November 30th. 

How Pel Hughes Can Help  

The direct mail experts at Pel Hughes are happy to help our clients enjoy USPS promotions whenever possible. Our team can help you employ direct mail retargeting software with your campaigns, design direct mail pieces, and print your direct mail campaigns. We offer a suite of tools to assist our clients including cross media marketing, graphic design, campaign automation, and database services. Give our friendly experts a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more.  

Direct Mail for Political Campaigns  

Have you considered using direct mail for political campaigns? From local to federal elections, the stakes are high. A good political campaign needs a robust outreach strategy that includes in-person events like townhalls along with digital and print marketing. While it’s important to have active social media channels, a well-written website, and video content, younger political strategists tend to overlook direct mail. 

Benefits of Direct Mail for Political Campaigns 

There’s endless reasons why direct mail works well for political campaigns. Following are just a few benefits of adding direct mail to your political outreach strategy.  

#1 Direct Mail Reaches Voters 

Direct mail is a powerful tool for political campaigns—especially when you consider that in-person canvassing is becoming more difficult. In many neighborhoods, hitting the pavement and going door-to-door to speak with voters yields lackluster results. The truth is that many people aren’t home as often as they were in the past. If they are home, they tend to avoid answering the door to people they don’t know. Since going door-to-door isn’t always the wisest strategy, it’s important to remember that reaching people’s mailboxes can be the next best thing to striking up a conversation with them.  

#2 Most Demographics Trust Direct Mail 

In the private sector, marketers know that direct mail resonates with consumers across many demographics. Gen Z and Millennials trust direct mail as much as Gen X, Baby Boomer, and Silent Generation folks.  

#3 Direct Mail Complements Digital Campaigning 

Direct mail is a great tool for driving local traffic to your website, Facebook page, YouTube Channel, and more. Simply embedding personalized URLs and QR codes onto your direct mail can make following you on a digital medium a breeze. Using tools like QR codes can also help you track whether your mail campaigns are resonating with voters.  

Best Practices to use for Political Direct Mail 

Poorly executed direct mail could tank your political aspirations. Properly designed mailers, however, can have a big effect on locals. Direct mail is a great opportunity to cut through divisive rhetoric and political mudslinging with straightforward information that presents tangible solutions to widespread problems. Following are some helpful tips for effective political mailers. 

#1 Avoid Long-Winded Copy 

Stick to problems and solutions. Lay out the benefits of voting for your candidate with bulleted lists. You can also direct voters to landing pages and social media accounts for more in-depth analyses of political or philosophical issues.  

#2 Supply Accurate Voting Information 

Voting information such as polling locations, voter registration deadlines, and dates can be very helpful to your recipients. People live hectic, busy lives so making the voting process easier could mean the difference between winning and losing.  

#3 Consider CTAs Beyond Voting 

While earning the votes of locals is important, gaining momentum in your campaign also involves soliciting volunteers and donors. Your call to action can include information on how locals can get involved in your campaign through canvassing, phone banking, or by making donations. 

#4 Consult with Direct Mail Experts 

Producing an effective direct mail campaign takes quite a lot of work. From graphic design to copywriting and paper selection, it’s important to consult with professionals to ensure you get the most out of your campaign.  

The printing pros at Pel Hughes can help produce effective direct mail for political campaigns. We offer an array of direct mail services to ensure that your campaigns resonate with voters. Give our friendly experts a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more.  

 

Jumbo Postcards are Ideal for Direct Mail Campaigns 

When it comes to eye-catching direct mail, bigger is better. Jumbo postcards measure 6 x 11 inches and make for memorable direct mail campaigns. Ideal for dental and medical practices, retailers, restaurants, and service-based businesses, jumbo postcards offer plenty of space for stunning designs, high resolution photos, and copy to sell your goods or services to consumers.  

If you’re looking to take your direct mail to the next level, the printing pros at Pel Hughes can help. As experts in direct mail, we offer a suite of services including graphic design, campaign automation, advanced printing techniques, and more to ensure that your campaigns resonate with consumers.  

Benefits of Jumbo Postcards 

#1 More Space 

Smaller postcards can leave a lot to be desired because space is limited. More space means that you can provide more copy, graphics, and photos to win over potential customers and clients. A jumbo postcard, for example, can feature menus and multiple photos along with helpful information like e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and social media handles. There is plenty of room for QR codes, too to help track the effectiveness of your campaigns and route direct mail recipients to your website, social profiles, and digital sign-up forms.  

Abundant space is especially beneficial to specific industries. For instance, a dental practice can benefit from jumbo postcards because these mailers are large enough to display before and after photos of cosmetic treatments. Retailers that sell jewelry or apparel benefit, too because they can showcase multiple products in photographs.  

#2 Attention-Grabbing 

Jumbo postcards are great for grabbing attention. Since these mailers measure 6 x 11 inches, they are sure to stand out in mailboxes. Let’s say two cafes in a neighborhood send out direct mail campaigns. One uses jumbo postcards and the other chooses a standard size. The café with the jumbo postcard can incorporate professional photos of popular dishes along with a scaled-down menu of their lunch specials. Due to limited space, the café using a standard-sized postcard can only include a fraction of the information used by their competition on a jumbo mailer. Based on this scenario, the campaign using the jumbo postcard will likely enjoy a much better response rate from consumers than the café that selected the standard size. A properly designed jumbo postcard stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons.  

#3 Affordable 

In addition to high response rates and more design space, jumbo postcards are more affordable than other types of direct mail like catalogues and brochures. This is because they are cheaper to produce than direct mail pieces that require binding or folding. In many cases, a jumbo postcard can accomplish as much as a brochure or catalogue can with a lot less materials and labor.  

If jumbo postcards pique your interest for your next direct mail campaign, we encourage you to call our friendly experts at (504) 486-8646. The pros at Pel Hughes serve businesses and organizations throughout the United States.  

How to Use QR Codes with Direct Mail 

Using QR codes with direct mail offers unique advantages for marketers. While QR codes have ebbed and flowed in popularity over the years, recent trends indicate that marketing with QR codes is here to stay. This is likely because QR codes make for a robust cross media marketing strategy, provide reliable metrics on response rates, and help integrate print marketing efforts with digital ones. In addition to being beneficial to retail and service-based businesses, QR codes are great additions to mail pieces for educational institutions, non-profit organizations, legal practices, and healthcare clinics, too. 

QR Codes Explained 

QR stands for “quick response”. This code contains intricate pixels that can store far more information than a conventional barcode. QR codes are scannable with camera applications on smartphones and tablets. When printed on direct mail pieces, QR codes can be used to direct recipients to digital channels like personalized landing pages, social media accounts, videos, and websites. It can also direct recipients to e-mail sign-up forms and personalized shopping carts.  

What makes QR codes so beneficial is the fact that they can provide real-time metrics on the response to your direct mail campaigns. QR software allows for marketers to monitor how many QR codes were scanned by a campaign’s recipients, whether those recipients took action by making a purchase or signing up for an e-mail list, and when/where a QR scan took place. These metrics can help strengthen future campaigns by analyzing what types of messaging produced the best response rates and sales conversions in the past.  

Tips for Using QR Codes with Direct Mail 

Using QR codes correctly can yield great results. If you’re new to using QR codes on direct mail campaigns, we have compiled some helpful tips.  

  • QR codes should be placed on mailers in areas that do not distract from the overall aesthetic and design. A great place for a QR code on direct mail is the backside near the call to action. 
  • A QR code should be an appropriate size. Not too big but not so small it is unnoticeable.  
  • Adding a border around a QR code or using arrows with copy that says “Scan Me” is very helpful for spurning consumer action.  
  • Consider offering an incentive with a QR code scan. For instance, “enjoy 10% off your purchase by scanning this code” or “booking a free consultation is just a scan away” can help generate consumer action.  

Add a QR Code to Your Next Direct Mail Campaign 

Pel Hughes is a full-service printing company that provides comprehensive direct mail services to businesses and organizations in a variety of industries. If you would like to implement QR codes on your next direct mail campaign, give our friendly experts a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more. We provide a host of services including graphic design, cross media marketing, campaign automation, and database services.  

Zip Code Targeting with Direct Mail 

The days of sending out enormous direct mail campaigns to every residential address in a city are long gone. Not only is this direct mail tactic ineffective, but it is also costly. Today, helpful tools allow for zip code targeting on your direct mail campaigns where mailers are only sent to residents who fall into specific demographic categories. Zip code targeting with direct mail saves money and time while ensuring that your campaigns are received by those most likely to be interested in your business or organization.  

Who benefits from zip code targeting? 

For-profit operations in a variety of industries benefit from zip code targeting including those in healthcare, dentistry, legal practices, retail stores, restaurants, and service-based businesses like house cleaning, accounting, and home maintenance.  

Zip code targeting isn’t just for businesses and corporations. Higher education and vocational institutions enjoy excellent results by targeting specific demographics within a zip code. Non-profit organizations also benefit from zip code targeting—especially when it comes to fundraising campaigns and the announcement of community events.  

What kinds of demographics can I target with direct mail? 

Using tools like EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail from the USPS), you can filter residents within a zip code by data like household size, household income, and age. Other consumer databases offer even more information including whether children are present within a household. 

Here are some helpful examples of how targeting these demographic categories can help improve the response rates on your campaigns.  

Age: Knowing the general age groups within a household can help you determine which recipients to mail campaigns to. For example, services and businesses catering to seniors should target households with members 55 years and older. Age groups also help marketers personalize their messaging. Statistically speaking, people over the age of 35 have more purchasing power. This means that luxury goods are likely to be more well-received by this age group than by households with people in their early 20s or more advanced years.  

Household Size: A household’s size can reveal a lot to marketers. In most cases, houses with several residents often tend to be budget-conscious consumers or multigenerational families. Businesses catering to consumers on tight budgets can benefit from targeting larger household sizes.  

Income Level: Knowing the income range of direct mail recipients can go a long way with developing your mailing lists and brand messaging. For instance, let’s say you run a day spa that offers pampering services like full-body massages and facials. Targeting households with very low-income levels is likely going to result in less-than-ideal response rates. Your ideal demographic would likely be people with middle class incomes, people with spouses, and/or those over the age of 30.  

Presence of Children: Whether a household has children is critical information for businesses that operate in healthcare and dentistry as well as retail and service-based businesses that provide clothing, haircuts, tutoring, extracurricular activities, and more to children. The presence of children is also helpful for businesses and organizations that offer support to busy parents such as convenience-based services like housekeeping, dry cleaning, and general home maintenance.  

Zip code targeting with direct mail can make a world of difference in the success of your campaigns. Analyzing consumer demographics in your area can also improve your business or organization’s messaging. The pros at Pel Hughes work with businesses, organizations, and higher education institutions throughout the United States. We offer full-service printing, graphic design, campaign automation, and database services to ensure that your direct mail campaigns are as successful as possible. Give our experts a call at (504) 486-8646 to learn more.