Go beyond direct mail

Direct mail advertising is a form of marketing where physical literature or promotional materials are sent to prospective customers through the post. In a world that is increasingly dominated by digital marketing and emails, direct mail marketing is one of the most effective ways to engage people and achieve a positive response.

Used as part of a multifaceted marketing strategy, direct marketing services can go a long way to increase brand awareness, promote products, services and offers, encourage feedback, and inspire audiences to take action.

Different types of direct mail include:

• Letters
• Postcards
• Brochures
• Catalogues
• Magazines
• Tabbed mailings
• Parcels and bespoke items

As inboxes become increasingly inundated with marketing emails, a physical postcard, brochure or magazine can often better resonate with audiences that have become exhausted with digital media.

Here are some key direct mail statistics to keep in mind:

• On average, direct mail delivers a £14 return on investment for every £1 spent
• The average UK customers spends close to £600 as a result of direct mail advertising
• Consumer-focused direct mail generates nearly £27 billion worth of business each year
• 60% of consumer-focused direct mail is opened, while 40% is read
• Business managers open 82% of the direct mail marketing they receive
• 56% of consumers have made a purchase after receiving a piece of direct mail

Source: DMIS Response Rates Survey

These figures illustrate the benefits of direct mail marketing, how it can garner a strong response from potential customers, and why it stands out amongst the abundance of email marketing campaigns. Simply put, people today enjoy receiving personalised mail, particularly when it offers something of real value.

According to research by the Data & Marketing Association (DMA), the direct mail marketing success rate averages out at approximately 9%. Comparing the difference between direct mail and email marketing, the widely accepted average response rate for cold emails is between 1% and 5%.

This demonstrates that with the right direct mail-piece, targeted towards an appropriate audience, these campaigns can be very successful in attracting attention, raising awareness and getting people to act.

Yes. As part of our end-to-end direct mail solution, we provide a dedicated printing service. This includes 6 powerful in-house digital printers, capable of printing thousands of postcards, letters, flyers and more, with personalisation elements as and where required.

If you’re working to a tight deadline, we will work with you to discuss your options and make it happen.

We also work with lithographic print partners for brochures, die-cut items, large volume work and for any projects where litho printing could provide cost efficiencies.

The types of direct mail printing we can offer include:

• Postcards
• Leaflets and flyers
• Colour brochures
• Promotional cards
• Catalogues
• Magazines
• Bespoke packaging

The cost of our DM360 Direct Mail service is based on a range of factors:

• Whether you require an end-to-end solution, a single service, or something in-between
• How soon you need your campaign to be printed, fulfilled and delivered
• How many items you need to produce and deliver as part of your campaign
• Format and speed of delivery services

Each campaign is bespoke and a dedicated account manager will work through every element to provide you with an accurate direct mail quote. We are always upfront when it comes to costs, so there is never any confusion or misinterpretation.

Across every campaign, we promise to minimise our direct mail prices wherever possible to help customers maximise their ROI. Whether this is advising on the most practical way to format and design your mail-pieces, or selecting the most cost-effective approach to print, fulfilment and postage, our focus is ensuring your campaigns are produced and delivered as efficiently as possible.

Although we do not design direct mail campaigns on your behalf, we can offer a design advisory service. This is dedicated to guaranteeing that the design you have proposed is practically possible, and whether any subtle changes can lead to substantial savings in the overall cost of your campaigns.

For example, if mail-pieces are even a couple of grams or millimetres larger than certain thresholds, this can greatly increase the cost of printing and posting these items. By working in collaboration with you, we can identify ways to bring the size of your items down without compromising on your messaging, so you save across the rest of your campaign’s journey.

Yes. As part of our complete direct mail marketing service, we can compile direct mailing lists on your behalf. Through our data sourcing and management service, we gather customer data from trusted sources, including Experian Data, to ensure that your campaigns are relevant, targeted and 100% GDPR compliant.