Converting Your Direct Mail List into an Online Audience: Unlocking the Power of your mailing lists
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In today’s digitally-driven world, traditional advertising, like direct mail, needs to be optimized for an omnichannel strategy. With countless new tools for taking physical mail audiences online, your plans should be channel specific.
In this post, we’ll address three important questions when converting direct mail audiences to online marketing campaign. Additionally, we’ll cover how to choose the right partner for a digital strategy.
Who is the individual behind your direct mail list?
Creating an omnichannel approach to your direct mail audience has never been easier. However, soliciting a response through online channels is not an art, it’s a science. Potential new customers are overwhelmed by thousands of digital impressions each day.
Bringing a mailing audience to life is about understanding the people behind the household. Whether you have inhouse resources or use a third party analytics service, here’s how to maximize your marketing lists.
Enrich your mailing list with demographics, psychographic and intent data.
A quality analytics team can enrich and address with an immense amount of information at the household level. While most demographics and even behavior information can be modeled at a zip code or block group level, a quality analytics partner can provide consumer intent at a home or even device level. These are standard learnings for your current social or mobile marketing approaches, but a nuance for direct mail.
List segmentation can drive traffic and accelerate new customer growth.
Once you’ve enriched the mailing list with the best information, it’s time to pull the right audience from your list. With traditional mail, you have better control over where someone sees your advertisement, but with digital advertising it’s about when someone sees your ad. This can reshape how segment and what you say to your best customers, increasing the likelihood of a brand engagement or purchase.
Analyzing the effectiveness and response rates of traditional direct mail campaigns.
Historical information should always be brought to surface when taking offline approaches to online markets. A good analytics company will build and generate offline and online data models, helping you set targets and establish a formula for the right ads volume to achieve desired business outcomes.
How do you create a digital advertising strategy from a direct mail campaign?
Your business or brand should consider the type of experience and engagement you want to create. In our first question, we focus our attention to deriving a consumer persona from the available information we have. This step is about translating that to relevance, generating interest and driving action.
On average a desktop browser ad last 10.5 seconds, and a mobile ad last 7.87 seconds. With narrow windows to communicate your brand’s value proposition, you must communicate effectively and stand out.
Design your digital ads to stand out among a crowd.
A physical mail piece is held and present without distribution to the resident. People don’t lay out all their mail and pick what catches their eye. The look at each piece independently, giving a prospect the opportunity to digest the value proposition. In a digital world, you’re sharing that online web real estate with small businesses, large household names and everyone between. So being creative with colors, fonts and positions are essential.
Tomorrow's new customers need the message in half the time.
You are competing in a new mobile world, where apps like TikTok and YouTube are designed to shorten attention spans. Your message must resonate and deliver value to users in fractions of a second. So consider the different media forms you can use through a digital advertising strategy, such as dynamic movement and video.
It's time your digital advertising strategy get personal.
When purchasing display advertising choose your vendors wisely. If you understand understand intent level information about users at the device level, be sure your ad partner offers the technology to take advantage of that and deliver personalized ads. Since the commercialization of the digital printing press, a direct mail campaign has been able to get very personal with it’s prospects. Be sure you capture those same opportunities in your next campaign.
Who can take your mailing list, and message it through digital channels?
Digital advertising is about three major components: audience, media and access to the inventory. For a long time, buying the inventory was considered the coveted prize, and the “special” part of the process. That’s no longer the case.
Buying digital inventory requires you have access to a DSP (Demand Side Platform), where you can purchase the ad inventory as people surf the web. As the space grows, all types of parties are getting access to the DSP, and here’s what you should know.
Data companies capitalizing on digital advertising trends.
Many data providers now have access to a DSP, either directly or through a partner. If their access is third party, there might be a good reason for that, but focus less on the CPM and more on campaign performance metrics. A quality data partner will not require you use their DSP, but will allow you to export the audience and activate those audiences through another provider, such as a dedicated advertising agency.
Companies who provide direct mail services are adopting new technologies.
You current direct mail service provider may already offer the ability to activate your mailing audience through digital advertising. Ask your current mail service provider how they can assist. If they can help, dive a little deeper on the types of audiences they’re are building, IP based, cookie based or device id. Match rate and accuracy improves in that order: IP, Cookie, Device ID.
Ad agencies are the first seat at the table.
Once an ad agency reaches a certain size, it looks to acquiring a front row seat and purchase inventory directly from their own DSP. Once achieving this, they are able to offer more aggressive pricing (CPM). As in most things, attention is provided to customers with large recurring committed media spend commitments. This is true in all the examples above.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
Converting your direct mail lists to online audiences through digital advertising opens up a world of opportunities for businesses looking to expand their reach and maximize their efforts. By leveraging the power of data enrichment, segmentation, and integrated campaigns, you can create highly targeted and impactful marketing initiatives. Embrace the potential of digital advertising, and watch offline markets convert to a valuable asset in the online realm.
True omnichannel: search engine marketing, social media advertising and paid Search.
When it comes to converting your direct mail audiences to digital advertising, choosing the right partners can play a crucial role in ensuring a successful transition. Partner selection is essential as it can provide you with the expertise, tools, and resources needed to effectively maximize the impact of your digital campaigns.
First and foremost, consider partnering with businesses that have a deep understanding of your industry and the persona behind your mailing list. Look for partners who can bring valuable insights and market knowledge to the table. By aligning with professionals who comprehend your audience’s preferences, pain points, and behaviors, you can develop tailored digital strategies that resonate with them.
Deep understanding, with digital advertising examples
Next, assess the partner’s capabilities in creating a robust digital strategy. Look for partners who offer a comprehensive suite of tools and technologies to optimize your campaigns. This includes advanced targeting options, audience segmentation capabilities, and analytics tools to measure the success of your initiatives. A reliable partner will have expertise in utilizing various digital channels, including social media ads, to effectively engage with your target audience and drive conversions.
Speaking of social media ads, selecting partners who have experience in running successful campaigns on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn can be immensely beneficial. These partners should have a deep understanding of the intricacies of social media advertising, such as ad formats, audience targeting, and optimization techniques. By leveraging the power of social media platforms, you can expand your reach and engage with your target audience more effectively.
True omnichannel: search engine marketing, social media advertising and paid Search.
Lastly, consider the support and guidance the partners offer throughout the process. Look for partners who provide ongoing assistance, strategic guidance, and regular performance updates. A strong partnership is built on effective communication and collaboration, ensuring that your goals are aligned and your campaigns are continuously optimized for maximum impact.
In summary, look for businesses that understand your industry and target audience, offer a comprehensive digital strategy, have expertise in social media ads, and provide ongoing support. By making informed partner choices, you can elevate your digital campaigns, enhance your reach, and achieve optimal results for your business.
