There’s no doubt that a direct mail campaign can extend the shelf life of your marketing messages. This may lead you to wondering about how long a direct mail piece continues to resonate with an audience once it’s been sent. But there are numerous variables that can have an impact on the answer to that question. To develop a better understanding of the lifecycle of a direct mail campaign, continue reading below.
Why Understanding the Lifespan of Your Direct Mail Campaign Matters
- So You Don’t Overwhelm Your Audience
One of the worst mistakes you could make when it comes to your direct mail campaign is sending too many mailers out one after another. Giving your audience enough time to truly absorb your message is essential to getting your money’s worth. Programs like Direct Mail Manager, which tracks the arrival of your direct mail are essential for mapping out a direct mail cadence that works.
- To Create A Better Omnichannel Marketing Strategy
An omnichannel marketing strategy could be the difference between exceeding your marketing goals or falling short of them. Understanding the lifecycle of your direct mail campaign is essential for creating an offline marketing strategy that resonates with your audience. That’s because with the proper cadence, you can use direct mail to share digital content and messaging that your offline audience may find useful.
- Because it Could Generate More Engagement From Your Audience
The goal of any direct mail campaign is to get a response. When you have an understanding of how long it takes for recipients to respond once your mailer hits their mailbox, you can craft future campaign cadences based on this knowledge. This allows you to optimize your outreach so you can send your direct mail at the best possible time for receiving a response. Without this insight, you may be more likely to send direct mail before a recipient is ready to respond.
Ultimately, there are numerous benefits that come with understanding the lifespan of a direct mail campaign. Taking that into consideration, your direct mail campaign’s lifecycle will vary depending on where recipients are within their buying journey. To help determine the lifecycle of your next direct mail campaign, consider the insights below.
Using Direct Mail Campaigns to Build Awareness
Let’s say for instance that you’re sending direct mail to an audience of non-buyers that have shown interest in your brand in the past. Since they’re only somewhat familiar with your brand, they may not be ready to commit to making a purchase right away. In this scenario, sending one direct mail campaign over 6 months may not yield much by way of results. To properly use direct mail for building awareness, you may want to consider executing multiple campaigns over this time frame.
Doing so will accomplish multiple goals along the way to getting leads to convert into customers. First is that it will provide you with brand recognition that will put your brand and products on par with household names the audience is already familiar with. Additionally, sending multiple mailers over a brief period of time will reinforce the value of your brand’s products or services. For leads in the awareness stage of the sales funnel, expect for the life cycle of your campaign to be shorter than it is for leads who are further down the funnel.
Consideration Stage Direct Mail Campaigns
You’ll need to communicate with members of your audience that are familiar with your brand enough to consider using your brand’s products or services a bit differently. Let’s say for instance you’re heading marketing operations for an HVAC company, and you want to set up a direct mail campaign for all your leads who have requested quotes. The best way to get them to take advantage of your quote is to send a direct mail piece referencing it out to recipients after a set amount of time passes. Then, if they still haven’t responded you may consider waiting about a week or two before sending another reminder.
This creates urgency for recipients who have requested quotes to use it, before it expires. Additionally, this approach provides immediate feedback as to why the quote wasn’t used. Maybe a competitor provided a better quote, or the recipient figured out how to fix the issue themselves. Understanding that the lifecycle of a consideration stage mailer is shorter than an awareness stage mailer is essential to achieving the results you’re hoping for.
Post-Purchase Direct Mail Campaigns
A post purchase direct mail campaign is vital for converting one-time buyers into lifelong customers. That’s one of the reasons why a post purchase direct mailer has a longer life cycle than other types of direct mail campaigns. For instance, if you send a thank you postcard to a new customer after their first purchase with a discount code that can be used on a future purchase they may not use it for weeks, or even months after they received it. But it will still accomplish the goal of building goodwill with a new customer, potentially enough for them to tell a friend about your brand or services.
And you don’t have to offer a discount to develop goodwill with new customers either. Sending direct mail that asks for customers to offer feedback on their experience can also be a great way to reach out to new customers to continue developing a relationship with them. Whether you’d like to thank new customers by sending them a small discount, ask for their feedback or wish them a happy birthday, holiday or anniversary, a post-purchase direct mail campaign has the longest lifecycle. That’s because your audience will always be happy to know that you’re grateful for their patronage.
Start Your Next Campaign With Direct Mail Manager
Now that you understand the lifecycle of a direct mail campaign, you’re probably eager to get started on your next mailer. You can begin your next direct mail campaign today by signing up for a free account and uploading your first list. From there, you’ll be well on your way to sending direct mail campaigns to the right recipients at the perfect time. Don’t hesitate to begin using automation to begin taking your marketing strategy to the next level. To start your journey with Direct Mail Manager, register for a free account and sign up for a complimentary demo with one of our friendly, knowledgeable direct mail experts.