Direct Mail Analysis

Analyzing direct mail campaigns are a quintessential part of many major industries, including insurance, healthcare, and more. The high ROI and response rate of direct mail push industries to employ offline direct mail campaigns even in this digital age.

Direct mail once used to be one of the most difficult metrics to measure. However, this has changed significantly over the past few years alone. Today, you can run an advanced direct mail campaign using nothing but your CRM and an advanced API like PostGrid.

Advanced direct mail tools like PostGrid are easily integrated into your online system. You can pretty much access every data that your analytic tool is capable of accessing. So the more data you can access through your analytical tools, the more direct mail data you get access to.

That being said, the tool can only get as good as its user, no matter how advanced it is. As a marketer, you need to know what data is important to your campaign and how you can use it in the most efficient ways possible. Knowing where to look can speed up your entire process and ultimately lead to faster results.

This article takes you through the process of direct mail analysis and how it can be effectively implemented. Here, we will take a look at the major aspects of direct mail analysis that deserve your attention. Furthermore, it will help you understand how each analytic factor can be used to your advantage.

Direct Mail Response Rate

The easiest direct mail analysis data that you can use for determining the effectiveness of a direct mail campaign is the response rate. To determine the response rate of your direct mail campaigns, you need to track your postal mails accurately.

So, the first thing you need to do is ensure that your direct mail is trackable. There are several ways you can track your direct mails, including modern methods and traditional ones. However, you should always go for the new and advanced direct mail tracking methods if given a choice.

QR Codes

QR codes are possibly the best way to track your direct mail. This is primarily due to the fact that they are highly convenient and personalizable. All the recipient has to do is scan the QR code, and they will be immediately taken to your website or landing page.

Scanning a QR code is significantly faster than having to type in a lengthy URL. No matter how short you can make the URL, the QR code will always have the upper hand when it comes to providing a better user experience.

Furthermore, the QR codes on a direct mail take up little to no space. This makes QR codes an ideal choice when it comes to smaller mailpieces like postcards. Apart from this, you can use solutions like PostGrid for printing QR codes on your direct mail and even automate the process.

PURLs

Another way you can optimize the response rate of your direct mail campaigns is by using PURLs or personalized URLs. Although the PURLs are not as convenient as QR codes, PURLs have their own unique advantages.

For starters, the PURLs typically have the name of the recipient on the URL, and the same is printed on the direct mail. Seeing their name printed on a URL makes the recipient feel special and it is likely to pique their interest.

This will result in the recipient making the desired action which is to navigate to the URL you provided.

 Also Read: What Is PURL Marketing?

Coupon Codes

QR codes and PURLs are a great way to track your direct mail campaign’s response rate. However, a coupon code can be used to determine the actual number of people who made a purchase decision. That being said, the coupon codes work best when coupled with QR codes or PURLs.

This means that a user can easily redeem the coupon code through your website easily without worrying about anything else. It can further help to boost the response and conversion rates of your direct mail campaign.

Interest-Based Prospects Classification & Targeting

Classifying your prospects provides you with an important data point. Such classifications can be made based on the target’s interest in a particular product/service you are selling. There are plenty of people who visit your website through the QR code or PURL you provide in the direct mail but do not make a purchase once they are there.

To do this you’d first need to determine how many of your target audience completed the first step on the conversion funnel. This first step is usually the target audience navigating to your website or landing page. You can then analyze whether a significant number of prospects showed interest but failed to get converted.

If the direct mail campaign created more interest and less conversion, then we could assume that the direct mail worked, but something else didn’t. In this case, it is likely that your website or landing page didn’t meet the user’s expectations.

Similarly, if the direct mail recipient receives the direct mail but doesn’t respond to it, then the problem lies in the direct mail. Tools like PostGrid give you superior direct mail analysis, which enables you to access valuable information.

You can examine the volume of direct mail you have sent against the response rate. You can also determine which of the prospects received and responded to the direct mail. The closer you examine your data against each other, the more insights you will get.

Marketers, who are new to direct mail generally use their successful email campaign offers for their print mail as well. This is the easiest and the most convenient way of creating your first direct mail campaign. However, it might not necessarily be effective.

Direct mail is different from email marketing in many ways. Things that may work for the latter might not work the same way for the former. The copy and design of your direct mail are entirely different from the copy and design you use in email.

The ideal approach you can take for direct mail copy and design is to try and be more socially engaging. You need to carefully analyze your design placements and test for elements that easily catch user attention. You can either test the design placement of your direct mail with AI or by conducting a simple survey outside your company.

The direct mail copy and design should grab the attention of the reader with the right amount of eye-catching content. Ideally, the reader should pause while going through his/her mail and set it aside instead of putting it in the bin.

Postcard marketing campaigns are the most effective and popular direct mail campaigns. Direct mail campaigns have a space limit as compared to lengthy landing pages. Thus, your content needs to be concise and to the point.

Track Font Characteristics, CTA, And Image Placement

Keeping short and concise content as a rule of thumb when it comes to direct mail campaigns. The next thing you can consider is the font and CTA characteristics. You can track the finer details of the mailer, such as font characteristics like font size and color.

Some fonts are more appealing to the eye than others. Using certain fonts can even help you establish trust with the target audience. Image placement is also an important consideration in direct mail. You should not cram images and content into one corner. You must spread them in a way that the white space is evenly distributed.

Use direct mail campaign analysis to track the best performing direct mail campaigns and check which font you’ve used in it. Similarly, you can also get a broad idea about the right CTA length, image placement, and even white space for your mailer.

Timing can be crucial for the success of your direct mail campaign. For example, the holidays see a high increase in mail volume. It might be hard to get your direct mail noticed during times when the mail volume is high.

The timing of the direct mail campaign may vary depending on what industry your business belongs to. For example, the decoration business gets their sales up during the holidays. So, they can start a direct mail campaign just before the holiday season starts to get the best result.

You can use direct mail analysis to access the record of past campaigns carried out across the year. You can then identify patterns and figure out the ideal time for carrying a direct mail campaign.

The direct mail list is an integral part of direct mail analysis. Creating a direct mail list that contains high potential leads or prospects improves the chance of your campaign succeeding. Similarly, using a low-quality direct mail list is likely to end up in unsuccessful campaigns.

No matter how good your campaign or offer is, pitching an offer won’t mean anything if it is not to the right audience. A quality direct mail list would mean that the product or service you are pitching is relevant to the target audience.

So, you must start by first analyzing the target audience and ensure that your offering is relevant to them. Then, you can again make use of direct mail analysis data to determine whether a prospect is suited for a campaign or not.

Verify Address Data

Once you have finalized your target audience, you can then go for verifying their address data. This is also crucial for the success of your direct mail campaign as it can affect direct mail deliverability. You can make use of advanced address verification tools like PostGrid to accomplish this.

With PostGrid, you can easily verify addresses in bulk with nothing but a simple CSV file. All you have to do is push your address database in a CSV format through PostGrid’s system. The system will then verify and standardize your addresses.

Verification and standardization of addresses enable your direct mails to be easily sorted by the USPS. This leads to shorter delivery times and accurate deliveries. As a result, your direct mail campaign will get optimized for maximum deliverability and minimum return rates.

 Also Read: How to Use an Address Verification API?

Track Behavioral And Demographic Data

You can study the behavioral and demographic data obtained through direct mail analysis. This will allow you to understand your audience better and then target them with the right offer. You can further refine your targets based on new data.

The behavioral and demographic data are quintessential in identifying patterns based on factors like geographical area. For example, you can examine the response rate of your direct mail in a specific area and determine the local trends. You can then come up with the relevant campaigns based on this data.