The days are getting shorter and the chance that you’ll hear a “jolly” song while running errands is ever increasing. That’s right, the holiday season is approaching. According to Adweek, 95% of retailers say that their holiday campaigns are their most effective, and 65% of shoppers say they’re looking for a deal. The holidays are a time when audiences are ready to hear what marketers have to say. However, running a successful campaign that breaks through the noise is a challenge. Many marketers are evolving their campaigns by using direct mail to bring their message to life. This holiday season, bridge your offline and online tactics to create a successful omnichannel holiday campaign.

7 Reasons to Use Direct Mail For Your Holiday Campaign

While you might think of direct mail as an antiquated medium, technology and automation have brought new life to the channel. Here are some reasons why direct mail is a great option for your next holiday campaign:

1. Provides a strong ROI to marketers
   Studies find that marketers get the best results with direct mail, across all engagement types.

1. Cost efficient
   Digital channels have competitive pricing structures which can be affected by seasonality. Direct mail has consistent pricing, all year long.

1. Stronger recollection
   Because direct mail is a physical form of communication, it stands out as being more memorable and elicits a stronger response from audiences.

1. Compliments other channels
   While direct mail shows strong results on it’s own, it offers compounding results when implemented in an omnichannel campaign.

1. Faster production and delivery times
   Technological advancements have transformed direct mail, making it an increasingly responsive and timely channel.

1. Expansive reach
   All demographics resonate well with direct mail and ad blockers wont prevent your message from being received.

1. Provides a lasting impact
   The average piece of marketing mail is kept for 17 days. Having a longer self life can increase your impression and conversion rates.

7 Tips for Holiday Direct Mail

While direct mail is an extremely effective channel, it requires a focused strategy. Ensure your mail stands out from the mailbox with these tips:

1. Keep is simple and relevant
   Don’t try to fit too much on the page. Favor recognition, above all else, and drive people to take action in other channels. Increase the impact of your direct mail by tying it to customer actions.

1. Make sure to reach your audience
   Sending mail to undeliverable addresses increases your postage costs and reduces your ability to timely engage with your audience.

1. Be offer focused
   While it’s tempting to focus on the fact that the average consumer was projected to spend over $1000 last holiday season, the truth is that most shoppers are looking for a deal. Make sure your offer is enticing.

1. Reward loyal customers
   Use this holiday season to drive engagement with your regular customers. Include offers on purchases they can make for themselves and others.

1. Track and test
   Make sure that each of your direct mail campaigns have unique links, codes, etc. so that you can accurately measure the success of your campaign.

1. Show that you understand your audience
   Personalize content to match your customers’ preferences. Include relevant products and offers, and use design that reflects their style.

1. Make it festive
   If it’s the most wonderful time of the year, why are you using the same creative from earlier campaigns? Bring a seasonal flare to your holiday campaigns to show customers your more joyful side.

Use Lob for Your Holiday Direct Mail Campaign

Lob allows you to tap into the power of intelligent direct mail for your holiday campaigns. Lob integrates with your CRM, data, and marketing tools to reduce the operational impact of running a direct mail campaign, allowing you to run them in the same way as digital campaigns. Our flexible integrations allow you to leverage your own data to create mailing lists, or team up with one of our partners to create or append prospect lists. Lob makes it easy for you to scale a personalized seasonal direct mail campaign, as we generate them programmatically.

Traditional printers have long lead times and manual inputs, which slow down your timeline and have you thinking about Christmas in July. Lob has a 2 day in-the-mail SLA, allowing you to quickly create relevant holiday campaigns that scale. We intelligently route mail production across our network of global print partners, to ensure that your mail will be home in time for the holidays. Here is our suggested timeline for running a Christmas and Black Friday campaign with Lob:

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