Does direct mail still work?

In today’s hyper-connected world, does direct mail still work? Yes, it works, and very well. But today, direct mail seldom works alone.

Direct mail should be considered as part of an integrated strategy, with each element serving a deliberate purpose and objective for each channel. Recent mailings have shown anywhere from 40% to 70% of direct mail respondents will be driven online. That’s why true integration between offline and online components is essential. Once your direct mail has enticed prospects to go to a landing page, it’s essential that their online experience starts where the direct mail left off.

A common mistake is not having the landing page deliver something more than the mail offers your target. This “something more” can be additional information or the ease of completing a process.

Here are 10 key landing page considerations for mail to landing page integration:

1. Deliver on the objective of why the target was sent to the landing page
2. Don’t have less information than the direct mail: The minimum requirement is the same amount, but it’s optimal to include slightly more, such as FAQ
3. Don’t force someone to go back and forth between your email and landing page for the complete information they need
4. Make the transactional process or expected business outcome the focus
5. Provide users with expansion functionality so they can easily navigate and get their questions answered (FAQ)
6. Leverage PURLs (personalized URLs) to deliver a streamlined, easy, user-centric process
7. Incorporate a compartmentalized format to organize layers of information
8. Give the user an easy way to authenticate the company
9. Make it easy to navigate to the main company website
10. Ensure that the landing page is mobile-optimized, because a significant and growing amount of Internet viewing is being done from mobile devices and tablets

Here’s one final but important consideration. In general, less than 25% of respondents will act via a response device. But it’s still important to include this element in your direct mail package. That’s because the response device is a physical and subconscious reminder to respond. This is a tried-and true technique. If you aren’t using letters with response devices, test them and watch the lift.