4 Creative Examples of Direct Mail Campaigns

If you believe what “they” say, we are all living in a digital world, where the only ways to communicate your brand’s message must involve a smartphone, internet connection with lots and lots of social media.

While digital methods can be very effective – they are by no means the only methods. To believe so would be restricting your own potential for your brand exposure – and, of course, all important enquiries and sales.

Why would you do that to yourself?!

While it is very true that certain platforms come in and out of vogue – no platform is dead. Be it direct mail print advertising, email marketing or even the trusty old telephone.

What we forget is that it isn’t the platform that’s the problem – but how your brand message is deployed on that platform that really counts.

Bad experiences tend to get remembered and then linked to certain channels. So if you have had a few unsuccessful campaigns in print, for example, it doesn’t mean that that channel is over for you. Not at all. It merely means you need to examine its use and then optimise going forward.

Of course, here at Birch HQ we are big fans of printed advertising. We do regular direct mail campaigns for ourselves and our clients and are proud of the results that we get.

If you’re considering such a campaign, don’t constrain your ideas to traditional methods. Although they can still work – there are plenty of very creative and innovative ways to get your message across.

Below are 4 of our favourite examples:

Video Books

We love a video book campaign here at Birch – and so do our clients!

They are simple but highly effective tools to bring your brand to life in an offline sense while still embracing modern marketing methods and content.

Video books look like actual books. You can print your logo and strapline on the front. Then when the prospect opens the book, they are greeted with a video integrated into the book!

Check out this image below to see what we mean:

 

Pretty spiffy, eh?

Notice how you can have several videos ready to be played. This means that not only can you give an overview of your brand’s value proposition but also delve into more depth for specific products and/or service.

As with all of these examples, crucially, they are memorable. So when you follow up they will be fresh in your prospect’s mind – a perfect way to start a productive conversation.

A final note on video books; they make wonderful training resources. The video books can show demonstrations, best practice and deliver knowledge without the cost of the trainer being there. Yet another reason why they are one of our favourite tools and why you should be considering them!

Web Keys

“What’s that?” I hear you say…

Web keys. Simple but brilliantly effective method of getting your prospect from offline to online.

They are basically a USB type device that plugs into the port on your prospects computer, that is hard coded with a single URL.

They provide a very safe and secure method of taking your audience to a specific page or website without clicks or human intervention. Easy peasy!

What makes web keys so powerful is the engaging way in which they function! You have the knowledge that the web key will take your customers to your website and prevent them finding your competitors’ websites due to the human instinct to search the internet for options.

Do you see the possibilities here!? You could have a new product launch – or special discounted offer, present a new website… the possibilities are many.

Plus web keys are one of the more affordable innovative ways to do direct mail. Well worth considering for the future!

 

Augmented Reality

This really is the ultimate in blending traditional and hi-tec marketing methods. While the outlay can be fairly high, the return on investment on such campaigns can be blistering.

Check out this example from Jaguar to see how it works:

Augmented reality is the art of combining digital moving images with real life – effectively blending the real world with a created one. If you have children and have ever been on any of the Gruffalo trails around the UK, you’ll know what we mean! Whereas virtual reality replaces the real world with a computer generated one – augmented reality is a blend of the two.

Imagine the possibilities with your brand, product and service. You could really bring it to life in a surprising manner right in front of your ideal customers’ eyes!

While getting such a campaign can take a lot of work up front, what you can generate on the back end is usually more than worthwhile. It’s worth carefully considering the potential of this approach as you plan campaigns moving forwards.

A Handwritten Note

Eh? A handwritten note? Like actually written by hand, on real paper with an actual pen?

Why, yes!

But why are these an innovative way to do direct mail?

Let me ask you a question:

When was the last time you were the recipient of a handwritten note?

Exactly.

It’s a human touch. It’s personal. It’s not something mass produced and bashed out. It’s a surprise and a very effective one at that.

But what about scale? You have 10 000 people to mail out to – you can’t write 10 000 individual messages, can you?

I don’t think that you need to. It’s all about context – so why not use them to follow up at a particular point in your sales cadence rather than leading with them?

Use them thoughtfully and creatively and you will be stunned at the response.

So – there you have it. Some of our favourite ways to catch the attention of those who matter most to you by using direct mail.

Take a moment and consider which of these would work best for your brand and why.

If you have any questions or comments about this blog, get social and tweet us @BirchPrint

…or feel free to send us a handwritten note 😉