Direct Mail
Retailers such as Ann Taylor and J.Crew have refashioned their direct mail brochures as "style guides." Besides magazine-type content like interviews with celebrities, these print pieces include fashion tips and trend reports. Here's a quick look at two examples that recently popped up in the mail — specifically, how they deliver a rich experience to readers while at the same time keeping direct mail very relevant.
Retailers and deal sites have already started their annual game of Leak-the-Black-Friday-ad. But it's starting to look like stores' fights to keep the ads off deal sites may be as much about posturing as they are about confidentiality. More than 30 retailers' ads have already been released -- somehow -- to deal sites this holiday season. By Tuesday, sites had already gotten copies of ads for deals starting the day after Thanksgiving for Sports Authority, RadioShack and Kmart.
During July and August, the U.S. Postal Service is offering an up-front 2 percent discount on Standard Mail and First-Class Mail letters, flats and cards (presort and automation) that include a two-dimensional barcode or print/mobile technology that can be read or scanned by a mobile device. When scanned, the technology must activate a link directly to either a mobile-optimized web page that allows the mail recipient to purchase a product or service or to a mobile-optimized and customized web page uniquely tailored to the mail recipient and accessible by a personalized URL.
Direct mail is an integral part of any holiday marketing campaign. As a channel, print delivers a uniquely engaging and tangible experience. It's a quietly insistent communication that integrates well into any campaign and even affords some holiday fun. What follows are four direct mail concepts retailers can leverage to drive relevant offers, increase store traffic and build customer loyalty during the holidays:
In financial trouble that has it on the brink of default, the U.S. Postal Service is making an aggressive appeal to catalogers and other advertisers to ramp up their mailings. The theory is that their revenue can make up for steep declines in first-class consumer and business mail that has migrated online.
Who's not talking about QR codes in direct marketing? But are you still not convinced that QR codes are a growing trend in the mailstream? Or that they only work for certain verticals?
Every retailer understands that direct mail can't do it all. Any campaign needs the other channels to work together, to some extent — and ideally on the same page. While the closely coordinated direct mail and email campaigns are both popular and successful today, perhaps the most effective demonstration of the offline-online marriage are personalized URL (PURL) campaigns.
Predictive analytics can allow you to best find who you should be contacting, what should you be offering, when to make the offer and how to make the offer for optimum results.
Using a multi-store e-commerce strategy can significantly increase customer acquisition, loyalty and conversion rates. Leading online retailers are currently benefiting from an effective multi-store ecommerce strategy, now is the time to learn how.