2021 is just around the corner, and while 2020 has been challenging, there is anticipation for better days ahead. Direct mail is poised to be the perfect vehicle for today’s climate, as it is perhaps the most effective at both deepening existing customer relationships and forging new customer relationships. Direct mail has been a marketing staple for decades for many reasons, including the fact that it’s tangibility instantly creates a more personal connection with recipients. This trait alone makes it uniquely qualified for maintaining a sense of connection with consumers. When done correctly, direct mail marketing creates greater visibility, boasts better response rates, and builds brand loyalty. With that in mind, these are the direct mail trends you need to succeed in 2021.

Do you know what your business needs to succeed in 2021?

Ensure your direct mail campaigns succeed in 2021 through technology integration, tactile integration, and targeting effectively.

Technology Integration

Pairing technology with digital mail is proving to be an exceptional tool for generating higher response rates, increasing audience engagements, and allowing marketers to be more creative. With the scan of a smartphone, a QR code can transport a potential customer to your website, video content, or directly to your online store. QR codes are convenient for businesses and customers, immediately delivering more information on demand. Of course, QR codes aren’t the only way to integrate technology into direct mail. Businesses can also optimize their campaigns through:

• Personalized URLs
• Augmented Reality
• IP Targeting
• Location Targeting
• SMS Codes

In this way, businesses can use the higher response rates of direct mail and combine them with the ease of online connections. Integrating direct mail with digital marketing even makes tracking leads much simpler. When paired, direct mail and digital marketing campaigns can complement each other to boost customer retention, cross-sell or up-sell, and help with retargeting.

Tactile Integration

Tangible pieces, like direct mail, can increase connection and response rates, and businesses have an opportunity to be even more creative with the type of direct mail they send, really working to engage all of a customer’s senses.

Direct mail is already more engaging due to its physical presence, connecting and creating a powerful connection that other types of marketing can’t match. That connection can be heightened when businesses add in the use of specialty inks, specialty papers, or other interactive elements.

Specialty inks can change the feel of your direct marketing piece. Businesses might choose inks that:

• change color in variation with temperature
• change color with UV light exposure
• contain metallic materials that change appearance when viewed from different angles
• change appearance when exposed to water or liquids

Specialty papers most frequently include paper treated with scents, but can also include sound or edible components. Depending on the product, businesses might choose paper infused with the scent of apple pie, flowers, fresh bread, or leather. Some specialty papers incorporate a sound chip, and others can incorporate pieces that are edible such as rice paper or tea.

Engaging a customer’s senses with your direct mail efforts will help your marketing to succeed in 2021. A third way to do this with direct mail is through interactive elements that your recipient can physically manipulate, such as:

• 3-dimensional
• pop-ups
• moving parts
• infinite folding

These interactive elements engage the customer with interactive effects, providing an element of fascination while promoting an offer.

Targeting Effectively

Personalization will be one of the keys to getting the most out of your direct mail campaign. Gone are the days of sending direct mail indiscriminately to a mass audience. Now, a successful direct mail marketing campaign should begin by effectively choosing a target audience. Personalization is more than simply putting your recipient’s name on the letter. Personalization includes taking into consideration their location, including unique offers, and even creating personalized URLs. Customers respond when they feel like you’re communicating with them one on one, and personalizing your mailings gives you that opportunity. Personalization helps establish a stronger bond between you and your customer.

After spending so much time making sure your direct mail offer is poised to succeed, don’t forget that what’s on the outside counts, too. Succeed in 2021 by setting your brand apart from other items that land in your customer’s mailbox. At Letter Jacket Envelopes, we are deeply passionate about envelopes, which is why we know everything there is to know about the customization of high-quality paper envelopes. Our envelopes and selection tools make it easy to control how you are presented and make what’s on the outside of your envelope just as impressive as what’s on the inside. Chat with an ordering specialist or visit our website to learn more.

Key Takeaways

• Ensure your direct mail campaigns succeed in 2021 through technology integration, tactile integration, and targeting effectively.
• Succeed in 2021 by setting your brand apart from other items that land in your customer’s mailbox.
• Direct mail marketing creates greater visibility, boasts better response rates, and builds brand loyalty.
• At Letter Jacket Envelopes, our envelopes and selection tools make it easy to control how you are presented and make what’s on the outside of your envelope just as impressive as what’s on the inside.