In the modern day, there are almost endless ways that you can reach customers through marketing. There are digital methods like emails and the internet, yet also more old-school approaches like flyers and billboards. So, how do you keep track of everything and accurately categorize marketing messages? Chances are you need some marketing mailer examples.
Marketing mail is a total umbrella term; there are tons of different types. You could send physical letters, emails, SMS messages, or post flyers. Don’t get lost in all the options, though. You can better organize your marketing strategies by splitting them into understandable categories.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to categorize marketing messages once and for all. There are some key terms to learn, like direct mailer strategies specifically referring to physical mail. We’ll also weigh up physical versus digital mail, rounding things up with ways to improve your existing campaigns.
Are you ready to deepen your understanding of the technical details behind marketing efforts? In less than ten minutes, you’ll be a pro. Let’s get started!
What Is a Marketing Mailer?
A marketing mailer is a message intended to promote a business to the recipient. It involves anything containing a call to action (CTA) or strategic content. It’s a way of reaching out to potential customers to prompt a desirable action, like a purchase.
There are many formats this message can take. These are just a few of the ways you can contact customers using marketing mailers:
- Physical posts like flyers and letters
- Emails
- Text messages via SMS
- Social media DMs
Physical messages require initial designing, printing, and distribution. While this is often seen as old school, it has the benefit of enabling things like gift card distribution. You can also minimize the chance of wasted resources by focusing on subscribed or registered recipients.
If you do opt to email customers, you need to build an initial subscriber list. Email list builder tools can help, but you’ll likely have to screen them for data protection compliance — consent is vital.
You aren’t legally let off the hook with other forms of marketing through technology, either. There’s a long list of ways you need to stay compliant with SMS marketing, too.
In short, learning about different marketing messages is just the beginning. Each format has its own legalities, restrictions, and launch requirements, whether for finding a home or email address.
In essence, a marketing mailer is just any type of promotional content sent to a recipient for business purposes. However, the differentiations show how much nuance there is.
3 Examples of Direct Mail Marketing
As we mentioned earlier, direct mail marketing involves sending physical messages to a recipient. This is much rarer in modern-day marketing, where quicker methods like SMS or email are all the rage.
We’ll dive into three examples of direct mail marketing in just a second. However, first, let’s just highlight the benefit of sending physical mail.
For one, it is much more personal, which can mean more effective rapport-building. Often, it’s more engaging and has a higher chance of a customer opening it too. Estimates say that businesses send 60 billion spam emails a day. The vast majority of those never even make it to the primary inbox.
With that in mind, you can see why posting something through a letterbox seems more effective. Are you ready for some direct mail marketing examples? You can steal these as direct mail ideas or use them to solidify your understanding of this different marketing strategy.
1. A Catalog
One of the best direct mail marketing examples is the humble catalog. Who remembers circling their dream Christmas or birthday presents in a toy catalog? Truly one of the most old-school ideas, this direct mail piece is perfect for driving action.
Depending on your business demographic, your target customer might actually prefer to order through a catalog rather than online. Keep your audience in mind; older generations, in particular, sway towards this approach.
2. Letters
Letters are personal, which is a fantastic starting point when building rapport. It’s amazing what you can achieve simply by personally addressing someone. In fact, many charities and activist groups still utilize this strategy to accrue emotional investment.
Knowing your target audience is vital for this approach to work. You need to understand what makes people tick and what they most care about. An excellent way to do this is by creating a database of contacts who genuinely care about your business. We’ll cover this more in our conclusion.
3. Dimensional Mail
For all those who claim that physical mail is dead, dimensional mail proves them wrong. This new direct mail design strategy is a trend that marketers found to drive engagement levels even further. It’s a strangely psychological addition to these direct mail examples.
Rather than sending flat mail, savvy marketers began to send packages. That is, more multi-dimensional objects to catch the recipient’s attention and excitement.
You could send anything within dimensional mail, from small promotional gifts to a catalog. The thing is, the simple act of receiving a more interesting piece of mail is enough to stir up an initial investment. It’s a smart way to increase the success of direct mail.
Physical Versus Digital Mail
Physical versus digital mail is one of the biggest debates in modern-day marketing. So, which one should you pick? Here’s our breakdown.
Physical
Physical mail includes marketing messages in the format of letters, catalogs, and other similar products. It is the more traditional form of marketing, but does it hold up by modern standards? Here’s some food for thought.
The pros include:
- A tangible product can create more rapport and perceived value
- Can be more likely to be opened
- Are easily traced
The cons are:
- Often more expensive to send
- It can create excessive waste
- Longer timeline between sending and receiving
Digital
Digital mail includes messaging formats like emails, texts, and social media. Here’s a rundown of the rough pros and cons.
The pros are:
- A digital message is often cheaper to send
- Digitally contacting customers is quicker
- It’s easier to redirect recipients through links
The cons are:
- It can be easy to land yourself in spam
- Open rates aren’t as good
In summary, the best direct mail campaign is interwoven with digital methods. Just because you opt for a direct mailer doesn’t mean you need to ditch digital mail and vice versa.
3 Ways to Improve Your Mail Marketing
One of the best marketing practices is to constantly evaluate and improve your approach. Yet, with so much to consider, how do you improve your mail marketing across the board?
The best way forward is to address the core of your marketing strategy. By stripping it back to the basics, you can ensure high-quality output.
These are three simple ways to instantly level up your mail game, no matter whether you choose physical or digital.
1. Refine Your Target Audience
Audience targeting is the alpha and omega of all marketing. The more you can refine who you’re targeting, the better your chance of connecting with them.
Strip it back. Look at your target’s ages, interests, gender, geographical location, and salary — really build ideal customer profiles.
Remember to analyze your existing audience or customer base, too. Who is engaging with your products and services right now? What do they want to see, read, and hear?
2. Set Goals
Setting goals is incredibly important, not only for direction but for accountability. We all know that email marketing goals are the backbone of any successful email campaign. That rule goes across the board.
Goals are also crucial to a SMART approach (an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound). Taking a more planned and precise approach is vital for success.
3. Stronger CTA
A CTA is the equivalent of marketing POS. It is the point where customers commit, like following a link to your website, clicking subscribe, or registering for something.
However, that comes with a huge caveat. If the CTA is weak, there’s not enough motivation for the customer to complete the task.
Investing in a strong CTA is a great way to improve your response rates and click-through rates. A CTA glow-up can benefit all marketing mail.
FAQ
Don’t go anywhere just yet. When approaching marketing mailers, it’s important to consolidate your understanding. Here’s a quick rundown of some common FAQ.
What are good examples of B2C direct mail marketing?
Business-to-consumer marketing is all about building rapport and promoting long-term connections. Given this, physical mail can be highly valuable.
Some good examples of direct mail marketing in B2C are catalogs, promotional letters, and gift cards or coupons. Anything that promotes further action or engagement is perfect.
What are the differences between physical and digital mail marketing?
The primary difference is that physical marketing involves actual, tangible products, whereas digital takes place totally online.
Because of this, the timelines are also different, with digital mail a lot quicker, given that it doesn’t incorporate shipping.
How much should I budget for marketing mailer strategies?
Typically, the only major cost for digital marketing mailer strategies is the cost of software. Depending on how many messages you’re sending, this starts at around $20 a month and rises to the mid-hundreds.
Physical marketing can cost more, varying massively depending on the product and incorporating a postage fee.
Beambox: Beyond These Marketing Mailer Examples
Are you ready to go beyond learning the different marketing mailer categories? Well, to do so, you might need to take a step back.
The key to guaranteeing success in your marketing starts right at the beginning. You need to collect the right contact details; otherwise, you could be directing your efforts at the totally wrong people.
Whether you wish to collect home or email addresses, you need a data collection method. And that’s where WiFi comes in.
Anyone with a physical business location can attach a captive portal to their existing guest WiFi. This system temporarily blocks guests from the internet and redirects them to a webpage form.
You customize this form to request the details of your choice, and they comply. Voila — you’ve got contacts. And, the best part? You’re collecting details from people who are already aware of your business, heightening your chance for success.
At Beambox, we’re here to help. Our all-in-one WiFi marketing software provides a fully customizable portal for you to instantly collect vital contact details.
Start your Beambox free trial today so you can go beyond these marketing mailer examples!
