How I raised myself from a failure to a lethal Direct Mail Ninja – Part II

“You are cruising along, and then technology changes, you have to adapt.” ~ Marc Andreessen

In the first part of this series, I discussed some crucial elements of a great direct mail copy. It’s your copy that interacts with the potential lead, however, how that copy is delivered to your audience is an entirely different subject.

I would be happy to believe that sending out a direct mail with a well-crafted copy is enough for the job, but it isn’t! The way information is delivered to people has undergone a gigantic change in the past couple of years. In fact, Bill Gates has a perfect quote to describe the importance of the Internet in the current business landscape.

“If your business is not on the internet, then your business will be out of business.”

So, how can we leverage technology to our advantage?

By carefully embedding it in your direct mail piece.

Let’s find out how technology can put you a step ahead of your competition.

3 Technological Elements that can double your direct mail response rates

Quick Response (QR) Code

Did you ever wonder why people put barcodes on their business cards? It’s to offer the recipient all the necessary information in his hand. All he/she needs to do is to scan it and he/she will be redirected to a custom web page.

By putting a QR code on your direct mailer, you’re connecting your potential customers to your digital content. It’s best to create a custom landing page, redirecting your customers to the promotional offer you mentioned in the direct mail copy.

Getting a QR code is quite easy. There are several websites that can generate a QR code for your business free of cost.

Personalized URLs or PURLs

Did you try Googling yourself? Actually, most of us have done that at one point in our life. It feels good.

How about leveraging personalization in your direct mail campaign?

Well, I already do that in my direct mail piece. What’s new?

It’s the fact that you are taking personalization to a whole new level with personalized URLs, often called PURLs.

For an instance, if you’re sending a mail to David Weber, a PURL will look like ‘http://davidweber.yoursite.com.’

Who wouldn’t want to open a website customized for them?

In addition to offering a personalized experience, you get real-time tracking of PURLs, allowing you to offer custom offers to your customers. You receive activity log of your customer, which is quite useful for follow-ups.

Research has shown that using PURLs boosted response rates to 18.7% versus 2% response rate for generic mails.

Variable Data Printing (VDP)

Variable data printing works pretty much like magic. In concept, it means printing direct mail pieces with custom information such as names, messages, and even images. Unlike printing 10,000 copies with the same message, you can print 10,000 copies in the same allotted time with different information.

How is it helpful?

It’s more suited for a follow-up email or highly-focused lists. Let’s consider an example: if you have three different lists for foreclosures, short sales, and absentee owners, you can print custom mail pieces for each of these lists, changing every single detail as per your strategy. These copies resonate with your target audience, boosting your response rates manifolds.

As a marketer, I’ve learned that making the most out of emerging technologies puts you one step ahead of your competition. In the current cut-throat environment, one step is all you need to land a deal.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change” ~ Charles Darwin