5 Problems With Direct Mails and How to Overcome

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Top 5 Direct Mail Problems You Must Tackle to Launch More Profitable Campaigns

Running a profitable marketing campaign is never easy, even with the most advanced tools at your disposal. Digital marketing employs all sorts of software solutions to simplify campaigns. But what happens when dealing with an offline campaign like direct mail?

We agree that no business can succeed if you give up at first sight of a challenge. But, direct mail offers a baffling 5.3% response rate. And this response rate is significantly greater than most digital marketing channels.

Overcrowding, platform exploitation, and non-consideration of customer preferences are the primary reasons digital marketing strategies become ineffective! An average customer has 1,602 unread emails in their inbox, and you may wonder how many of those are from your company. Ten? Fifty? Half a thousand?

Hence, it all comes down to using a platform where you can offer a personal touch and treat your customers like an individual and not a number on your sales board. And direct mail is one of the best channels to ensure it!  

However, you probably think direct mail is too hard to implement or impossible to get right. But here we are going to try and convince you otherwise.

Our client had a similar epiphany when they decided to try our direct mail campaigns. They found this hard as the company was new to direct mail marketing and constantly ran into roadblocks with minimal results to show for their effort. At this point, the client decided to call in the big guns and bring in PostGrid as a direct mail expert.

Below, we discuss our clients’ most critical problems while launching direct mail campaigns and how to overcome them!

5 Direct Mail Issues and What You Can Do

Lailah Gifty Akita once said- “There is always a solution to every challenging situation.”

It is undeniable that direct mail is one of the best channels to defeat the competition and win customers. Hence, it is worth solving any problems you face in exchange for fantastic results. 

Here are five concerning challenges our client faced with direct mail before seeking PostGrid’s help in optimizing it.

Slow Data Transfer and Low Artwork Quality

Our client initially used an FTP for transferring their content to the printer. However, it is only practical when you want to send files in small volumes. Imagine sending dozens of small files to your printing vendors. They would have to process each file individually, which can create unnecessary delays—making it impossible to conduct a triggered mailing campaign. 

For instance, imagine if you want to send a welcome letter to your new clients immediately after you close a deal. You need a quick process that lets you prepare your draft the same day and get the prints at least within two days. Sadly, that’s rarely possible while employing FTP. 

Additionally, it took forever for our client’s old printer to notice that there is an error with the files. Since FTP does not support automatic error responses, the vendor needs to review all the data manually to confirm they can proceed with the printing process. 

On top of it, FTP imposes many security and compliance issues. It makes complying with HIPAA, PIPEDA, and other similar laws very difficult. After all, they are prone to data breaches, even if you use password-protected FTP. 

In such cases, your printer must have the necessary measures to encrypt your data securely and avoid a breach during the transfer. Ensure that they use updated and safe APIs or SFTP to protect your files and keep them confidential.

Difficulty in Implement Variable Data Printing

According to a study, 80% of customers prefer buying from companies providing personalized experiences. Thus, it is not surprising that personalizing direct mail also bags excellent results—by helping you offer relevant solutions to customers. 

You can drive responses and sales by sending custom marketing messages unique to every recipient!

But is employing variable data printing an easy task? 

We wish the answer could be yes, but it is not… 

The waiting time for our client to get a confirmation from their old printer for variables and set up printing plates was two weeks! As a result, changing the print requirements takes forever and is complicated, even the simplest tasks. At this point, our client realized executing a triggered campaign like this is hardly practical.

Moreover, our client could not send transactional mail without personalization because every item has to be unique. You cannot print the same invoice for every customer or send the same account statement to everyone. Transactional mailing needs flawless variable data printing capabilities—quick and efficient.  

So, what can you do if you face a similar situation? You can try inquiring how your printer can split up different mail items and what is their response time. Agreeing on an SLA should be your first step to ensure speedy turnaround times. 

Also, your marketing team should have the resources to conduct A/B testing for experimentation and data analysis. Thus, you require modern solutions that offer variable data printing as a built-in feature, like PostGrid. 

Using an Outdated Database

The next roadblock that you will likely face has nothing to do with the production stage. Once you deal with the production issues, you must face the following crucial question: who are those mailers for?

Should you ship marketing letters to your cold prospects? Or is it a good idea to purchase a custom mailing list and send your items to every person on it? Our clients asked the same questions themselves before beginning their direct mail campaign. Unfortunately for them, they did not have all the answers back then.

“Organizations that employ impeccable marketing segmentation attract 10% higher profits than those that don’t.” – Qualtricks

It is also worth noting that poor data quality can cost companies between $9.7 million and $14.2 million yearly. However, maintaining a top-notch customer database is no easy task without the right tools. Here are some common challenges you will likely face with your customer database.

• It is hard to maintain an accurate and helpful customer base. 
• It is not always wise to buy a list because most agencies sell outdated lists or those having errors. There is no way to guarantee data accuracy before you launch a campaign. 
• Even updated lists can get old until the time you plan your campaign, put the aspects together, and send the mailers. It can take even more time for the items to reach the audience. 
• You require a real-time data analysis and segmentation mechanism to verify your mailing lists immediately before the campaign. 

You may realize these problems long before implementing your campaign if you are lucky enough. On the other hand, our client learned this lesson the hard way. Businesses new to direct mail often struggle to sort their database or update it. 

But the sad part is that most organizations don’t even realize a simple solution exists. Our client was struggling to maintain an accurate address database. And we were able to help them out with this problem. 

With a simple address verification API, we were able to ensure the validity of the client’s address database within seconds. As a result, our client can now easily segment their customer address data. Furthermore, they can now employ advanced capabilities like geocoding for running more effective campaigns using PostGrid.

Lack of Visibility and Commitment

When you evaluate a print and mail vendor, you must discuss a timeline. It can be frustrating not to know when your recipients will receive the mailers. For instance, our client typically sends thousands of mailers every month. In their case, individually tracking mail is impractical as it can take a ridiculous amount of time.

Additionally, a lack of visibility can create chaos and confusion, impacting campaigns and hurting your overall reputation. For example, consider what happened to our client when they tried to implement a multi-channel marketing campaign. 

Our client wanted to conduct a multi-channel campaign using direct mail, email, and social media. Their email and social media artwork were ready to go. In other words, their team was all set for the digital side of the campaign. 

But, for the multi-channel marketing campaign to work, their direct mail campaign had to keep up with their digital campaigns. Our client had to know the exact delivery date or get a ballpark idea at least (which may differ by a day or two). But, their vendor could not possibly give an accurate delivery window. All you could do was take a guess and wait. 

These things make direct mailing seem ineffective! However, in reality, you only need a reliable direct mail service provider like PostGrid to set things right… We help our clients attach Intelligent Mail Barcodes (IMBs) to their marketing items, which makes tracking possible. 

On top of that, our dedicated SLAs let you decide when you want to send out your items and conduct other campaigns and follow-ups accordingly! You can sign into your PostGrid account whenever you want and see the campaign status on your dashboard—eliminating the problem. 

Worrying About Cost Savings

As a marketing channel, direct mail has a reputation for being sluggish and draining a hole in your pockets. But is that still the case? If like our client, you try to use an in-house direct mail process, direct mail is indeed expensive.

You may think you can reduce costs by using low-quality paper or sending your items via Standard Mail. However, it can take you further away from your objectives by creating an unpleasant impression of your brand. 

Think about it this way- What if you get a flimsy or half-torn letter in your mailbox? Is it worth your time to read it, or would you toss it away? Placing yourself in your customer’s shoes can help you make a list of their expectations and deliver accordingly. 

The last thing they want to receive is a low-grade marketing item trying to sell them something desperately. In other words, the quality of your printed marketing materials speaks for itself. Can you imagine big brands like Mercedes or IKEA using flimsy paper for their catalog?

Thus, you must use elegant-looking, top-notch quality materials to showcase your brand in a good light. Your campaigns must let you establish personal bonds and generate high-value leads based on relevance. 

As you can imagine, several of our clients come to us seeking help in optimizing their direct mail expenses. Luckily for them, PostGrid’s direct mail API allows you to send such impactful mailers at low rates!

Yes, you don’t need to resort to using cheap packaging materials or printing in low resolution to afford to launch a mailing campaign. Our automated solutions help you produce, print, and ship eye-catching and appealing items at industry-best rates!

We also let you benefit from other cost-cutting ways, like presorting your items, bulk mailing, commingling, etc.

Use PostGrid to Eliminate Direct Mail Problems and Get Higher Responses

Remember the client we mentioned earlier? Our direct mail automation and address verification solutions are now responsible for ensuring an accurate direct mail marketing process for their organization.  

And the results?

Our API integrations help our clients save up to 75% of costs and increase mailing efficiency by 5%. Sound a little too good to be true? Well, let us explain how we can accomplish this for your business.

With PostGrid, you pay all-inclusive prices, meaning you no longer need to pay different vendors for separate jobs. By outsourcing to a single printing vendor, we help you get the lowest rates without compromising the quality!

Plus, you can connect with Quickbooks, Salesforce, Hubspot, etc., to mail directly from your CRM. Our Zapier integration lets you reach prospective customers via access to 1,600+ apps. Also, PostGrid enables you to build targeted mailing lists from scratch. Hence, you don’t pay anything extra for exposure to new markets. 

The icing on the cake is that your staff can take a break! They don’t need to stuff and lick envelopes, assemble your mailpieces, or carry them to the Post Office. Our solutions involve zero manual labor—simply make some selections and place an order while PostGrid does everything on your behalf!

Talk to sales now, or email us at sales@postgrid.com to level up your direct mailing journey and get more customers than ever!

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