Why Direct Mail Automation Needs To Be Part of Your Marketing Tech Stack

You use a variety of marketing channels to acquire, convert, and retain customers. If automated direct mail isn't part of your marketing tech stack. You could be missing out. According to the 2022 State of Direct Mail:

• About 50% of marketers use a software/tech platform to execute campaigns
• 42% work with in-house teams who write/design campaigns
• One-third or less use an agency for various parts of the strategy/design/execution of direct mail campaigns

In the past, direct mail lagged behind its digital counterparts because it used a lot of manual, time-consuming workflows, plus personalization, customization, and attribution were clunky and costly. But all that changed with automated direct mail making it the perfect complement to digital channels and an essential part of your marketing tech stack to enable powerful and productive omnichannel campaigns.

When you use automated direct mail alongside your digital channels an incredible thing happens...the effectiveness of all the channels improves. When digital and direct mail is combined, marketers see:

• 40% conversion rates
• 68% increased website visits
• 63% increased response rates
• 60% increased ROI
• 53% increased leads

The most powerful stat of all is that 67% of marketers say direct mail has the highest ROI of any channel they use and only 5% use direct mail as a stand-alone tactic.

Integrating direct mail in your marketing tech stack

In order to take advantage of the benefits that direct mail has to offer, it’s important to ensure that your direct mail campaigns are well-coordinated with your other channels. This can be done by integrating for direct mail automation in your marketing tech stack. When your direct mail platform integrates with your marketing automation and CRM platforms you create a symbiotic relationship between them that can fuel powerful omnichannel campaigns.

By integrating direct mail with your other marketing channels, you can improve the effectiveness of your marketing strategy and track what does well together. For example, if you’re running a campaign that targets customers who have previously made a purchase from you, you can follow up with a direct mail piece that includes a coupon or promo code.

Direct mail also helps you provide a seamless experience (from online to in-person touchpoints), which is essential for creating powerful and memorable customer interactions.

Tracking your direct mail conversion rates is a great way to make sure your marketing efforts pay off. Direct mail can be hyper-targeted, thanks to data from your CRM that indicate customer behaviors such as recent purchases or interactions. You can trigger mailpieces to be sent based on consumer behaviors like cart abandonment, last purchase date, birthday, renewal date, and many other triggers. Making your mailpieces more personal is a no-brainer to increase response rates.

When you personalize your direct mailpieces response rates go up:

• 79% of consumers are only likely to engage with a brand’s offer if that offer has been personalized to reflect previous interactions that the consumer has had with the brand
• Consumers are 40% more likely to view items recommended based on information they have shared with a brand
• 71% of consumers, on average, feel frustrated when a shopping experience is impersonal
• 36% of consumers believe that brands should offer more personalization in their marketing

Automation speeds up the process and gets mail in the hands of your target audience faster. You can create your direct mail piece once and then have it sent out to a list of recipients automatically. This means you can spend more time on creating content that will resonate with your customers and less time on logistics and execution.

Benefits of adding direct mail to your marketing tech stack

1. It often has a higher ROI than other channels and increases the effectiveness of other channels when used in tandem. Lob experience shows that making the direct mail workflow more operationally efficient can reduce costs by up to 85% and increase ROI making the channel the most effective in an enterprise marketers tech stack.

2. It's much more efficient than using a manual, legacy direct mail workflow. When direct mail is automated, marketers can produce direct mail 150% faster. On average, project timelines are reduced by two-thirds, from six weeks to two weeks or even days.

3. You can trigger direct mail making it much more targeted and relevant for your audience enabling you to mail less and get better response rates.

4. Your engagement and direct mail conversion rates are often higher because of personalization & customization. Today, over 50% of marketers are personalizing both type of direct mail sent (letters v. postcards, etc.) and the text/copy in the direct mailpieces

5. Automated direct mail platforms provide tracking and analytics so you can see what's happening with your campaign in real-time (e.g., when it was sent out, when it was delivered, conversion rates, etc.)

See how direct mail automation works

Want to learn more about putting your direct mail campaigns on autopilot while still having full control? Schedule a demo to see how you can automate your direct mail and start reaping the rewards.

Don't send it. Lob it.