In our tech-centric, mobile dependent lives, there may be some folks who believe direct mail is an old school, outdated way to reach existing and potential customers. Those folks would be mistaken.

Last year, U.S. companies sent out a staggering 80-billion pieces of direct mail—up 1.2 percent from a year earlier—and are projected to spend $190 million on direct mail advertising by 2016. Even more impressive is the fact that over three-quarters of the households that receive direct mail advertising take the time to read it.
The key to having a successful direct mail campaign, says Alison Hall, Director of Client Services for direct mail solutions at Pitney Bowes, is making sure the creative piece works in concert with the actual production of the campaign. “A beautifully designed card that costs too much to mail, or goes to an outdated mailing list, will limit the effectiveness of the advertising and reduce a company’s ROI,” she says.

Hall will be discussing the ways companies can maximize their direct mail campaigns at this year’s National Postal Forum, taking place in Washington, D.C. March 16 through March 19. The annual event, sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, attracts as many as 4,000 attendees from all over the country representing companies across a wide variety of industries.

According to Hall, companies are often limited in their view of how to get the best return from their direct mail campaigns. Her presentation will guide organizations through the steps required to create the most effective designs and utilize the smartest production methods. For instance, certain religious, philanthropic, and educational organizations can apply for authorization to mail at the less expensive nonprofit standard mail rate, thereby reducing mailing costs.

Part of the challenge in maximizing direct mail efficiencies is keeping on top of the changes coming from the U.S. Postal Service. For instance, the Postal Service began discussing the full-service Intelligent Mail program back in 2006 before introducing it into the mailstream in 2009, says Hall. It’s a technology that allows customers to track direct mail and gain a lot of data about their mailings. “Right now many companies are under the impression that it takes three weeks for direct mail to get delivered so why bother,” she notes. “The fact is that the technology available today allows mailings to be tracked and targeted for more predictable and consistent delivery.”

Full-service Intelligent Mail allows a customer to see when the USPS received their direct mail pieces and enables a customer to predict the delivery of that mail. “For instance, if a retail store knows people are going to get delivery of a coupon on Friday, they can add staff for the next day because customers are likely to come in on that Saturday to redeem the coupon,” Hall says. “The USPS offers this technology today but there remain companies who aren’t taking advantage of it. It gives a company more data that often their advertising agency doesn’t even know is available to them.”

Industry research proves that direct mail is also one of the best forms of advertising from a return on investment standpoint. “An email can be deleted, but a piece of mail that comes in your mailbox can be read and then reread,” Hall points out. “Our society is certainly trending toward electronic communication. But direct mail is a valuable tool when used as part of a targeted and planned advertising campaign. I want people to understand it’s not an either/or proposition. When electronic and print are used together, both are very effective.”

While email and mobile marketing are certainly important aspects of the advertising landscape, Hall’s presentation will emphasize the critical role that direct mail can still play. “One of the most popular pieces in direct mail campaigns right now is a printed piece that comes with a scan code or bar code that allows you to use your mobile phone to scan the code to visit a company’s website or catalogue,” she explains. “That technology is becoming increasingly popular because what we’ve done is taken a direct mail piece, or a catalogue, and added technology to it in order to have a fully integrated marketing campaign.”

In the midst of creating eye-catching, innovative direct mail campaigns, marketers must also keep in mind the production side of direct mail campaigns. Often, an advertising agency will create a beautiful mailing but not take into account the postal requirements to mail it at the lowest cost, she says. “If the agency had made the piece maybe a quarter-inch shorter it could be mailed for 30 cents rather than 80 cents,” Hall explains. Or the marketing team doesn’t utilize software that will take their address list and make sure the information they have is up-to-date and accurate. “When companies don’t take the time to do these simple, basic things, they wind up with trays of undeliverable mail and that impacts the return they’re getting on a direct mail campaign.”

You can hear more about how your company can benefit from an integrated direct mail campaign and achieve a better return on your investment by attending Hall’s presentation at this year’s National Postal Forum.

Please join Alison Hall to learn more on Sunday, May 16 at 10:15 a.m. ET in the Chesapeake D room at National Postal Forum!