Posted by Brian Berg Google+
During 2010, marketers burst into the world of social network marketing; creating Facebook profiles, podcasts, and “Tweeting” about every subject imaginable. This move to the social web made many marketers question if traditional direct mail marketing was dead. With many significant advantages over the social web, such as easy tracking and measurability and pinpoint accurate targeting, direct mail marketing is expected to remain strong through 2011. Trends in direct mail marketing show the increasing use of more concentrated targeting options in 2011.
For many years direct mail marketing has relied on traditional demographic selections such as age, income, marital status, and so forth to narrow down their list to a highly targeted audience. Over the past few years mailing list compliers have begun to add highly targeted selections such as purchase information, interests, and lifestyle information to their databases.
Expect marketers in 2011 to take advantage of all these new selections to hold extremely targeted and successful direct mail campaigns. More and more companies are also using data enhancement in 2011. Businesses may be working with a responsive in-house mailing list, but are always looking for methods to improve their ROI. Using data enhancement services, businesses can append important demographic information such as age, gender, and income to their existing database allowing for more segmented and targeted campaigns.
Also, expect to see more and more businesses using email and cell phone append services in 2011 to enhance their existing databases. Another trend that has emerged at the end of 2010 and we can expect to see more of in 2011 is businesses marketing to outlying geographical areas in an attempt to create new business. Many local businesses market only to their town and ignore outlying communities.
Looking beyond your local market has been a growing trend since the downfall of the economy with businesses reaching out to consumers in these outlying areas. Direct mail marketing is projected to remain the most responsive and effective way to market your business through 2011. Direct mail marketing campaigns should be paired with other cross channel efforts such as social networking or email marketing for the best ROI for your business.
For example, if your business is holding a postcard campaign, also integrate in a social network campaign. This will allow your customers to easily contact you, buy from you, and become an advocate of your brand.