Feeling the pressure to perform? With more consumer brands flooding the market since the pandemic, you need to know exactly what you’re doing to launch a successful direct mail marketing campaign. 

Unfortunately, traditional tactics are no longer enough. Rising privacy regulations and fulfillment costs are making customer acquisition more expensive than ever. Amidst these changes, marketers need to rethink their growth strategies and learn to do more with less. 

Still, there is a beacon of hope. Direct mail continues to deliver. This trusty yet targeted method of reaching customers through their physical mailbox remains relevant across industries, including retail, financial services, consumer packaged goods (CPG), health, and insurance. But there’s more to the secret sauce than simply throwing together an offer, a creative mailer, and a list. 

Why You Should Never Stop Testing 

As David Ogilvy, the Father of Advertising, so famously said, “Never stop testing, and your advertising will never stop improving.” 

Would you believe that some marketers out there disagree? In fact, this is one of the most common direct mail myths we see: 

• Myth #1: Direct mail is dead. On the contrary, it’s alive and kicking. In actuality, 84 percent of marketers say a direct mail marketing campaign can yield the greatest return out of any channel. 

• Myth #2: Testing is optional. Testing is the key to knowing what works and what flops. When you guess, you only waste precious resources. 

• Myth #3: The risk isn’t worth the reward. Testing comes with risks. But it also gives you the reward of being able to optimize and prevent funds from being lost to ineffective strategies. 

• Myth #4: It’s all about the creative. A high-performing creative is born from audience data and an offer strategy. You’ll get the sharpest insights from testing a variety of lists and offers. 

• Myth #5: A/B testing is the only way. Our multivariate testing combines the best of A/B and dozens of variables for even better outcomes. You can read more about this here. 

When in doubt, test. Testing is the most effective way to bust through stagnation and gather results that serve as a compass for each new direct mail marketing campaign. 

So, You Tested. Now What? 

After testing comes optimizing your data. We’ve found that data can impact the success or failure of a direct mail marketing campaign by more than 70 percent. 

You can maximize the returns on your campaigns by: 

• Leveraging all data available instead of relying on a single data source. Before you invest advertising dollars into a direct mail marketing campaign, you need to feel confident that you collected all possible sources of data. 

• Mining offline data (like customer data or public records) for information. Demographic, behavioral, and even personality trait data can be used to create a hyper-targeted direct mail model, sending relevant messages to the right customers. 

• Using a matchcode approach to avoid gaps in your merge process. Merging customer data is key, but removing duplicates can leave gaps. A matchcode approach keeps similar entries, even if there are typos or slight differences, helping you reach a wider audience. 

• Digging deeper to find lookalike data models and personas. Don’t make the mistake many brands make of only using basic demographic data; draw from lookalike and persona data to significantly sharpen your audience segmentation and targeting capabilities. 

We use these strategies routinely for the success of our clients. When one of our established direct mail clients wanted to explore digital marketing, we suggested integrating offline data to create new targeted digital ads across various platforms, like native, display, and web video. As a result, our client achieved over two million impressions and reached 382,000 potential customers with a 42 percent cost-per-lead reduction. 

What Does It Take to Ensure Recurring Engagement? 

Even when testing and optimization are on point, marketing to new customers can be expensive. But according to Marigold’s 2024 Global Consumer Trends Index*, 63 percent of customers say they’re willing to spend more money with brands they trust. More customers are seeking out products and services based on quality and convenience, and fewer are making impulse purchases. 

The takeaway? Focus on keeping happy customers happy with a direct mail marketing campaign strategy that prioritizes engagement and retention. This approach is significantly more cost-effective than constantly chasing new customers. 

Not only can direct mail build loyalty—it can also be a powerful tool for winning back lost customers.  

For example, using an RFM analysis (Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value) can help you identify “winnable” customers and estimate the potential revenue boost. This audience can be segmented and sent personalized offers and messages—i.e., phrases like “We miss you!” and mailers highlighting past purchases. Personalization works. More than half of customers say they’re frustrated by receiving irrelevant offers.* 

Your direct mail retargeting will be even more successful in sparking reconnection when you avoid these common mistakes: 

• Leaving a CRM goldmine untapped. Your CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) is a treasure trove of data—past purchases, browsing habits, and more. Use it to personalize retargeting campaigns and boost engagement. 

• Letting time lapse. Above all, don’t let your message get lost in the shuffle. Prioritize a fast time-to-market for your retargeting mailers to capitalize on customer interest before it fades. 

• Settling for second best. While standard mail saves a buck, the quicker delivery of first-class mail makes a smarter choice for time-sensitive retargeting campaigns. 

• Missing a great opportunity. Where privacy regulations can impede digital retargeting, sending a direct mail marketing campaign with a QR code can connect customers to your brand online. 

Testing, optimizing, and driving recurring engagement are the pillars of a high-converting direct mail campaign. If you need support in any of these areas—whether due to lack of information or internal resources—a data-driven direct marketing agency using multivariate testing can be your trusted guide.  

Want to Send a Winning Direct Mail Marketing Campaign? 

To accomplish your campaign goals, align with those who have experience. If you want to gain access to 50 years of industry expertise that directs high-converting campaign strategies, reach out to FM Engage.