Pairing Direct Mail Marketing with Social Media

Although social media has been dominating the marketing landscape for the past decade, direct mail marketing is making a comeback.

With over 70% of marketers using social media as an effective tool in today’s world, it’s a wonder that businesses would even consider using direct mail campaigns. However, it all makes sense when you consider the numbers.

According to a study from Mimeo’s Kodak Report, print marketing (direct mail) requires 21% less cognitive effort to process than digital media.

To create a successful marketing strategy, you must form a connection between your social media and direct mail initiatives. The best way is to craft an omnichannel approach that creates a unified message across all platforms to show your customers consistent brand messaging.

Here are some things to consider to ensure this connection is made between social media and direct mail:

Differentiate your brand

To help your brand stand out, take a look at those who are listening to your messaging. One advantage of social media is your ability to get insights into your audience engagement.

Use those insights to find out the following:

• What would your audience engage with?
• What social posts have the best engagement?
• How can you transform your social content into effective direct mail?

Once you have these answers, take a look at what your competitors are publishing online and what services they’re offering. Combine these findings with your research to determine your target audience and how you can differentiate your brand from the competition.

Coordinate departments

Discuss your findings with your Sales and Customer Service departments for feedback. From here, you can determine the best messaging approach for your social media and direct mail marketing strategies.

Getting buy-in across departments will help the messaging of your new strategy. Sales will want to acquire customers by having your direct mail stand out (perhaps by including a useful customer gift with informative content attached). 

On the other hand, Customer Service may push for postcards that include your excellent customer experience in the messaging, thus leading to retention amongst your current customers.

Whatever is decided, be sure it can satisfy the included departments. By having all on the same page, your business will maintain a uniform approach that will ensure a congruous experience for customers.

Brainstorm Ideas

Start brainstorming ideas that can be used for your direct mail marketing.

Consider unique direct mail options such as:

• 3D objects (ex: sample of your product, branded merchandise)
• Gift card mailers (ex: cards with personal promo codes for the next order) 
• Vibrant images (ex: eye-catching photography of your product in action)

While brainstorming, think of concepts that will complement each social channel best. For example, Michelob Ultra decided to take a new approach to their social media-direct mail connection in 2019 through Father’s Day cards.

After launching a Father’s Day campaign on Instagram using #ULTRADad, Michelob Ultra converted all tagged posts into Father’s Day cards and sent them to customers with a code that could be used to order Michelob Ultra for delivery. 

By understanding Instagram’s strength to share images, Michelob Ultra paired this social media initiative with a tangible direct mail asset. Placing these images in the hands of their audience allowed Michelob Ultra to extend its reach from the digital world into the real world.

The key to this tactic is not to overthink your content. Whatever you decide to use from your brainstorming session, be sure it can be easily communicated through social media and direct mail.

Uniform Distribution

You’ve taken the time to choose your idea and write your copy to inspire readers to take action with your brand. Once developed, uniformly distribute this content onto your social media channels and through your direct mailing lists.

Make sure to guarantee consistency by including the same language, logo, and call-to-action (CTA) on each asset and social media post. This consistency will show your audience that what they see online matches what they receive in the mail.

Furthermore, this integration of social media with direct mail will allow you to connect with more customers that desire trust in a brand.

In terms of distribution, with an old-school printer direct mail can take one to two weeks for delivery. Be mindful of the time it will take for your mail to reach your audience and instead choose an online, on demand printer like Mimeo to get your print campaign delivered fast. Mimeo can print newsletters, postcards, and more and deliver them to up to 500 addresses at once time, as soon as tomorrow morning.

Direct mail has emerged as a perfect partner for social media, especially when it comes to marketing. Putting informative content in customer inboxes AND mailboxes gives them an extra opportunity to entangle themselves online and at home.

By achieving this connection between social media and direct mail marketing, you reap the benefit of an improved strategy that reaches more customers than ever before.

Need help creating dynamic print? See how Mimeo can help get your assets where they need to go.