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Direct Mail gets a bad rap. As the majority of marketing and communications has moved to online, snail mail makes even telephonic campaigns look positively revolutionary. But sometimes traditional methods still work the best. In fact,?one study found that three-quarters of people opened direct mail, while 63% read it. Compared to average email open and click-thru rates for healthcare services of?25% and 9% respectively, direct mail interaction is quite substantial. ?When used with a correctly, ?direct mail can be the most cost-effective method to get your clients to pay attention.

Here are some tips to help with Snail mail-

  • Stable address list; Make sure you have a update contact list.? Since each mailer is relatively pricey, one delivered to the wrong house is an immediate lost cost.
  • Skews younger: It might sound counterintuitive, but?recent studies have found that the 18-34 year old demographic is actually more likely to respond to direct mail than older cohorts. Experts believe that these millennials are so inundated with digital marketing messages so printed mailers stand out more for them.
  • Unreliable emails: Emailing is a lot less expensive than a traditional mail send, but you need a reliable email list. If you haven?t asked your clients for their email, you should stick to mailers at first.
  • Data data data: Much like in real estate, location is everything. In marketing, accurate data is the golden goose, regardless of the channel you use. Make it an absolute priority to continuously update your with clients? current contact information. This will pay dividends in the long run, and once it?s part of the culture, it?s easy to maintain.

And most importantly, here?s what to avoid

  • Lots and lots of text: It may seem like a good idea to provide a lot of detail about your offering, but expect people to spend only a few seconds reading a piece of mail. Even if you?re sending a letter, make sure to leave lots of white space. Dense text frightens people. If there?s more information you want to communicate, provide a call-to-action to go to a website landing page for more information.
  • Overly ?stocky? imagery: if you?re not familiar with the term stock photography, check out Buzzfeed?s ?60 completely unusable stock photos?. Sure, these are ridiculous, but the point is that if you use imagery highlights a very particular target segment, the people that don?t fit in the segment, will naturally (even if subconsciously) dismiss the piece as not for them. Also, don?t assume that people view themselves as their peers. When asked to select photography of people that they most resemble, seniors regularly select photos of people who are 10-15 years younger than their actual age.

 

So why not try an old school snail mail-out?!