Part two of three
Direct mail is an effective form or marketing when done correctly. It’s more important than ever for print and marketing providers to take advantage of the latest tools to step up their direct mail game.
Modern direct mail is being transformed by two primary types of technologies—digital marketing platforms and direct mail-specific technologies, according to Ray Van Iterson, director, brand mail, marketing, U.S. Postal Service.
“Marketing technology enhances all marketing channels, both direct and digital, by improving audience selection, message personalization, omni-channel coordination, and performance measurement,” offers Van Iterson
He explains that tools such as customer data platforms help companies identify the best prospects across channels and customize communications accordingly, while marketing automation platforms allow marketers to dispatch direct mail and digital messages at opportune moments, often triggered by specific consumer actions like website visits or abandoned shopping carts. Analytical tools further enable marketers to gauge the effectiveness of their campaigns across different channels. For instance, direct mail that incorporates personalized quick response (QR) codes provides marketers with precise data on who scans the codes and visits their websites.
“Direct mail-specific technologies complement this infrastructure by making the process of sending physical mail as streamlined as sending a digital message,” says Van Iterson.
He explains that small- and medium-sized businesses often utilize stand-alone, end-to-end tools, whereas larger enterprises might prefer applications that integrate seamlessly with existing marketing technology platforms. These technologies facilitate sophisticated targeting, drawing from customer data platforms, lookalike audiences, or curated lists. Creative aspects can be managed using templates, integrated campaigns with consistent messaging and visuals across channels, or even through generative artificial intelligence (AI) that respects intellectual property rights. Campaign efficacy is measurable through tactics such as tracking engagements with vanity URLs or personalized QR codes, or by matching purchase lists with mailing recipients.
Hardware
Digital printing has revolutionized direct mail by facilitating high-speed, on-demand printing that is both cost-effective and efficient. “This technology allows for rapid production adjustments based on real-time marketing data and feedback, minimizing waste and inventory costs. Moreover, digital printing ensures high-quality output that can be tailored for small or large batches, making it ideal for both niche targeting and broad campaigns,” says Julie Brannen, director of regional sales and sustainable Solutions, Monadnock Paper Mills, Inc.
As a subset of digital print, inkjet is another consideration. “Lots of great applications for color, personalization and addressing all types of mail/parcels,” says Murphy.
“New technology plays a pivotal role in supporting businesses to thrive in this wave of change. Businesses are demanding that their technology help them cut costs while also having a greater uptime to ensure that short-run jobs can be done as and when businesses need them. At the forefront of this new technology is inkjet technology, which helps businesses not only match the demands of their customers but exceed them. Inkjet offers users a more affordable cost per print, especially for shorter jobs, meaning businesses can now offer more personalized jobs for a more affordable price without compromising on quality,” shares Fred Morrone, senior manager, product marketing, Kyocera.
“New, faster, and more efficient color inkjet technology that can print exceptional output on untreated media, and digital UV-cured embellishment that adds depth and texture to creative mailers that are scaled down to be more affordable and easier to operate, allow mailers to add more profitable services to their portfolio and remain competitive with the largest operations,” says William Longua, senior director, Digital Print Group, Quadient.
Automation is the most important factor on the finishing side, and automation in finishing can range from semi-automated machines that can perform job changeovers with limited operator intervention to fully automated end-to-end solutions with integrated digital workflows and automated guided vehicle robots transporting finished pieces to the inserter. “Anything that can help direct mail producers move more jobs through the shop per day while keeping costs low,” suggests Mark Hunt, director of strategic alliances, Standard Finishing Systems.
Workflow Tools
“These are exciting times where the convergence of technologies has finally arrived for small- to medium-size mailers to provide the kind of services that used to be available only from large providers, such as personalization, digital embellishment, integrated workflows, and unique delivery methods. It doesn’t require millions of dollars in investment anymore,” notes Longua.
Morgan DiGiorgio, SVP sales and marketing, DirectMail2.0, notes an increase in QR codes, direct mail retargeting, and leveraging digital channel integration to layer omni-channel campaigns on top of mail to lift the response. “By combining direct mail with digital marketing efforts, businesses can create a more cohesive and omni-channel marketing strategy that reaches customers across multiple touch points to lift direct mail response rates.”
Additionally, there is sophisticated attribution technology to show the response to the mail, which is so important for an offline channel that historically has been challenging to track, says DiGiorgio.
One of the biggest opportunities for direct mail providers today and into the future is personalization. “With the abundance of data available, direct mail providers can leverage this information to create highly personalized and targeted mail pieces that resonate with individual recipients. This can lead to higher response rates, increased engagement, and ultimately, better return on investment for the businesses that use direct mail as part of their marketing strategy. An up-and-coming strategy to harness this is the use of technology to identify website visitors and retarget them with direct mail personalized to their web activity,” says DiGiorgio.
Brannen adds that variable data/personalization technology is essential for personalization at scale, allowing businesses to customize each piece of mail to the recipient’s preferences and behaviors, which significantly enhances the relevance and effectiveness of direct mail campaigns. “VDP is particularly powerful for one-to-one marketing and customer relationship management strategies, as it helps create a more personal connection with customers, potentially increasing loyalty, and response rates.”
Holistic Solution
Modern technologies that support direct mail enable the integration of print with digital campaign management including measurable results and analytics to improve key performance indicators such as response rates on the fly, says Billy Stojanovski, global production portfolio marketing manager, Xerox.
Most organizations have their variable data publishing, mail merge technologies, and digital companion messaging in place, but Scott Eganhouse, VP, business development, TEC Mailing Solutions LLC, says the challenge has always been the data processing and mail preparation that continues to plague organizations from their dream of lights out automation. “Modern cloud-based API mailing platforms are imperative to the manufacturer demands of quicker turnarounds and dynamic outputs for both postal and third-party co-mingle providers. AI will definitely have a place at the table.”
Direct mail is a component of a total direct marketing campaign. “The new era of direct mail is direct marketing and that includes all forms of communication—email, social media, web—both paid advertising and web-to-order, and physical mail. Multiple studies have shown that combining multiple channels results in the highest return. Depending on the industry and target, a ‘digital pre-heat’ or ‘digital reminder’ happening before or after a physical piece is delivered can increase performance by up to 200 percent. Postal tools like Intelligent Mail and Informed Delivery give the marketer incredible insights about exactly when a piece is in-home, and they can use that data to drive the digital aspects of the campaign to achieve that level of performance,” says Marc Johnson, senior global market development manager, HP PageWide.
“There are many ways that astute marketers are enhancing mailpieces to excite and delight the end recipients,” comments Lein. He says this includes interactive mailpieces, tactile substrates, and even leveraging emerging technology such as embedded Near Field Communication chips and communicating with voice assisted devices. “When enabled with these new technologies, mailpieces come alive and create a multisensory experience that digital marketing alone cannot touch. And while many people may have ten, 50, or even 100s of unread emails in their inbox, they likely don’t have mail piling up in their mailbox. When a person touches a direct mailpiece, it touches them back and that creates the beginning of a journey of opportunity for direct marketers.”
AI and AR
We’d be remiss if we don’t bring up AI and machine learning. “It’s going to touch every aspect of our lives in the coming years. But more importantly, how will it change the landscape of direct mail? I believe there is huge opportunity here, not just with direct mail but any marketing in general,” asks Brad Kugler, CEO/co-founder of DirectMail2.0.
That being said, direct mail is more important in the effect it will have, mainly because direct mail has had direct attribution and correlation issues until recently. “For most of the history of direct mail, it was not an exact science to know if someone engaged or converted because of mail. You can get an idea but it’s not like it is in digital where you can follow the journey of the prospect from the message to the conversion,” he adds.
Now with the advent of computer vision of images/creative and the marrying of omni-channel marketing, QR codes, tracking pixels, and phone numbers, this can be achieved. “Combine this with the large datasets of campaigns and results and you can very soon with great accuracy predict the response rate of campaigns. In fact, we are building such a model based on our six years of direct mail omni-channel campaigns. We expect a public beta by late summer or early fall. Stay tuned as it is the only one of its kind in the works to my knowledge,” says Kugler.
Another up-and-coming technology, Augmented Reality (AR) can transform traditional direct mail into an interactive experience by overlaying digital information on physical mail pieces. “For example, a direct mail flyer for a new product could include an AR trigger that, when scanned by a smartphone, launches a 3D model of the product or a video demonstration. This integration of digital content enhances the user experience and can lead to higher engagement rates,” says Brannen.
New Technologies and Trends
The benefits of digital print are imperative to the success of direct mail. A variety of tools enable print and marketers to better target and track high-value direct mails.
Jul2024, DPS Magazine
