The vast majority of direct mail campaigns are built to be hard sales pitches. That leaves an opportunity for direct mail that focuses on reaching people in a different stage of the buyer journey. So pump the brakes on the sales pitch and check out this strategy that repurposes your content for direct mail use.

Today we’ll look at combining your existing content strategy with a direct mail campaign. And then integrating that with your holistic digital marketing efforts. It’s a lofty goal but hopefully, I can give a glimpse into the potential power of direct mail. When it is used intelligently and in tandem with other marketing channels, you’ll be surprised at the results.

The Direct Mail Advantage

I’ve written about the advantages of direct mail here before (see here and here), but a few are worth repeating here.

The world of marketing and advertising has been dominated by the digital side for the last decade. In the wake of this digital revolution, there is an opportunity for businesses willing to use more traditional channels.

By going back to the days of direct mail, you can get physical, tangible messaging in the hands of your potential customers. While people are becoming more ad-blind to digital efforts, getting something in their hands is a great way to increase brand awareness.

Direct Mail Opportunity

Direct mail gets results. But there is still room for improvement in the world of direct mail marketing and advertising. The vast majority of mailers are hard-sell pitches or special offers. Something that makes sense (direct mail has a relatively high cost and you want conversions) but it’s not the only use.

Today we’ll look at a strategy that is especially effective for B2B and higher ticket sales: using repurposed content to reach potential customers through direct mail.

Repurposed Content

Your business probably already has written content of one form or another (web, blog, ebooks, etc.). And for this strategy, that content will be repurposed into a direct mail piece. Generally, this will be your most popular content – because you only get one shot to make an impression with direct mail.

But the keyword here is repurposed. You shouldn’t print out your best blog post and start mailing it to potential customers. Take a dive into your most popular content and see what it has in common. What questions does it answer? What pain points does it address?

Next, figure out how you want to present that content. It could be anything from an introductory letter to a multipage brochure – whatever fits your brand and message. It might seem counterintuitive, but by sending a larger amount of information you are more likely to catch your recipients’ attention. Everybody knows what to expect from a direct mail postcard, but a four-page brochure will make customers stop to investigate.

Direct Mail Best Practices

As you are working to marry your popular content to direct mail design, keep in mind the usual direct mail best practices. The most primary: have a clear call to action. Even if your goal is to educate, what is the next step you want the recipient to take? Visit your website? Call for an appointment? Sign up for your newsletter?

Whatever your goal, make sure you tell people what you want them to do. There is nothing worse than hitting a content home run but having no CTA to capitalize on that momentum.

Second, make sure you have a good list – especially because content-heavy mailers come at a premium price (design, printing, postage). Make sure that your direct mail is getting to the right people by maintaining a laser-focus on your target audience.

Also, consider personalizing your mailer to ensure that you get the attention of your potential customers. Personalized direct mail always performs better and when you’re selling big-ticket items a single conversion is a big deal. Dig more into direct mail best practices here.

Going Digital

The collaboration between digital and direct mail doesn’t stop at content repurposing. Once you have made contact through direct mail, you can return to some digital remarketing techniques to drive your message home.

Depending on the quality of your mailing list (but if you listened to my advice above, it’s a high-quality list), you can use that information to launch a remarketing campaign. Digital remarketing are the ads that follow you across the internet – from display to social media ads.

By combining your direct mail targets with your digital advertising, you can get several ‘touches’ before ever picking up a phone.

Direct Mail Services

Building a successful direct mail campaign takes more than blindly mailing postcards to everyone in town. By combining your existing content marketing with direct mail and digital remarketing, you can start converting customers and growing your business.

That’s why Fusion Group USA is a full-service marketing and advertising agency. We can help you with content creation, list acquisition, design and print, mailing, and digital remarketing. Contact us today to learn more about how we can build a holistic strategy for your business.