Direct Mail or eMail?
You’d Be Surprised …
“Direct mail is too expensive,” you say. Well, fine. Use something cheaper that does not work nearly as well.
I can’t sugar coat this: Simply stated, nonprofits are not wired for success, and they do not understand how business, money and marketing work. Read the seven “dirty” words nonprofits do not want to hear.
This is not bad or good.
It is just the way it is. However to realize this fact is, in itself, powerful, because it gives you ammunition to lean on people who do.
I am not your perfect money master, but to learn more about money, I read books on money, learn how to earn it, and I have a line open to a number of very humble, wealthy people who are there to help — which they do! (There really is a “science” behind money. Some call it an art.)
And you have a line open to someone who is there to help you with marketing: me. I’m telling you that direct mail is alive, well, and very effective.Start by downloading this infographic (above) on direct mail.
Even Giant Google Is Now Using Direct Mail.
That’s right, Google, the e-marketing giant, uses direct mail marketing. Why? Because the tech behemoth knows better than anyone that it works. They know exactly how many searches are performed on their platform; how many electronic ads people see; how much revenue those ads generate; how much time people spend viewing their sites and using their products.
Ironic. Isn’t It?
In short, they know that we’re surrounded on all sides by electronic marketing, and they know that in order to get their message through, they need to change things up — and that’s where the U.S. Postal Service comes in. You see, even though there’s still plenty of junk mail that gets tossed, people are more likely to look at a physical piece of mail than they are an unsolicited email or an online ad.
What’s more, the U.S. Postal Service’s Office of the Inspector General published a report called Enhancing the Value of Mail: The Human Response. I’ll spare you the minutiae and cut to the chase: Their research shows people spend more time viewing physical ads than digital ones because direct mail marketing produces a stronger emotional response in viewers, meaning:
People remember your marketing content better when it’s physical.
Forget the flashy content. Can the click-bait ads. Escape those email campaigns. Stick with physical advertising like direct mail, because it’s been proven to leave a longer-lasting impression on your target audience.
Everything Old is New Again
Still not convinced? Need more data? Check out these stats:
- Direct mail’s response rate is 750% more than email
- 70% of consumers feel more valued with direct mail
- 93% of people 25-34 have responded to direct mail, and 88% respond within 6 months.
I’ve been pushing postcards — direct mail — for years, and have been laughed at by other vendors who’ve said digital is king. As it turns out, I was right — and now we have the data to prove it. I just did not have all of the letters of the alphabet after my last name.
That just leaves one question: What are you going to do with it?
Categories: Planned Giving Marketing, Direct Mail and Planned Giving, Marketing Planned Giving
