It’s easy to assume your direct mail campaigns are generating responses when you notice an increase in sales or leads.
However, your direct mail campaigns can be more or less effective than you see on the surface level. This is why established marketers spend their time setting up comprehensive tracking methods that accurately measure their direct mail response.
The Lasting Importance of Direct Mail
Despite the fact that digital marketing is one of the UK’s biggest growth industries, traditional methods of marketing such as direct mail still have its benefits.
Essentially, organisations and industries are turning to digital marketing because of the ability to analyse marketing campaigns efficiently.
However, direct mail marketing is also efficient in improving customer response rates and clientele volume due to its personalisation and customers’ ability to open and read it at their own convenience, instead of being bombarded with an online advertisement at any given moment.
Tracking Direct Mail Response
The best way to measure your organisation’s direct mail success is to have a clear goal. Once you have defined your goal, measurable metrics are made to be more effective in determining the success of your direct mail campaign.
One of the best measurable metrics is the response rate. Here are seven ways to track your direct mail response rate efficiently:
1. QR Codes
Adding a QR code in your direct mail piece is a great way to integrate traditional methods of marketing with digital. Smartphone users can swiftly scan the code with their cameras and retrieve the information they want, thus increasing the response rate.
Using QR codes that take customers to a unique landing page is an intelligent way to track the number of visitors and therefore collect website analytics to be analysed i.e. the response rate.
2. Promotional Codes and Coupons
You can insert a promotional code or coupon inside your direct mail piece to track performance. Customers can purchase a product or service from your organisation with coupons in store or online with promotional codes.
Promotional codes and coupons must be unique for each direct mail campaign so you can attribute each interaction and track the number of times they’ve been used.
3. Personalised URLs
Creating a personalised URL (PURL) for every recipient on your mailing list allows them to respond to your direct mail digitally by accessing your website, which allows you to track your direct mails’ return on investment (ROI) on an individual case by case basis.
Tracking customers’ interactions with customised links can also offer you more insight into their interests and what is and isn’t engaging content. This allows you to fine-tune your marketing strategies.
Each PURL should be unique and trackable, just like any other point of contact included in your direct mail piece so performance can be tracked efficiently.
4. Trackable phone number
Trackable phone numbers allow you to be aware of how many calls to the organisation are exclusively initiated from a direct mail campaign, thus tracking the response rate instantly.
By providing a campaign-specific number on your direct mail piece, customers can contact you easily and you can find out what direct mail piece they’re responding to well. This allows you to push forward more similar content and strategies with your direct mail campaigns.
5. Time isolation technique
If you are not actively running any other marketing campaigns, a simple way of tracking your direct mail response rate is by measuring your KPIs before and after running the direct mail campaign.
Despite this being an easy option, it is not highly accurate and appropriate.
6. Asking Customers
If you find it difficult to carry out the above or they’re not available to you, a simple way to measure your direct mail response rate is to ask customers how they found out about your organisation’s offer.
However, this wouldn’t necessarily lead back to your direct mail campaign and doesn’t give accurate results due to the fact that customers can become aware of your offers through multiple channels. Additionally, this method is mainly based on trust and a large sample size.
Despite the obvious limitations, this method could be sufficient depending on your needs. This is usually successful if you’re targeting a small portion of customers and will have direct conversations with each of them.
7. Previous Results
Learning from previous results is a reflective way to measure your direct mail response rate.
You can do this by going through your previous direct mail campaigns, revising what worked on who and what they purchased from you, and adding all the information into a data file. This helps you provide more personalised direct mail campaigns in the future and improve your direct mail response rate.
Interested in Learning More?
Apex Direct Mail can guide you throughout your campaign. We are a long-established company with over 20 years of experience delivering highly successful direct mail marketing campaigns for our clients across the UK.
If you are interested in learning more about our direct mail marketing packages, feel free to contact us for any enquiries or call us at 01252 333500.