When you start working on any activity, task, or project, you have an end goal in mind. For example, while building a direct marketing campaign, you have a goal to acquire more clients. Therefore, you plan your channel, target audience, artwork, and more before the campaign execution.
In order to measure the success of the direct mail campaign, you should be able to track the key indicators of the campaign. It offers valuable insight into what did and didn’t work within the campaign and is invaluable for future marketing strategies.
According to per U.S. Postal Service (USPS), more than eighty percent of small business owners say print marketing brings clients to their locations. They have concluded because of the direct mail’s ability to track and measure results for the campaign.
Direct mail is one of the easiest marketing strategies to track. When companies spend millions of dollars on television advertisements, they cannot ascertain if they brought clients to websites or stores. They can check their website traffic analytics to see if there was an increase in visitors during the time advertisements run. But it is impossible to know that the ad was the driving force behind them.
Furthermore, direct mail can also help you check out which variable encouraged the recipient as long as you have rightly positioned the tracking element.
So, how to track your direct mail campaign?
This can be done by adding identifying tracking information to each direct mail piece, which includes:
Trackable Unique URL
Using a unique trackable URL for the DM campaign offers a real-time view of traffic going to your website. You will be able to see how many recipients have visited the landing page from the traffic analytics of your website. Besides, you can use two different URLs and landing pages to check which could persuade customers more successfully.
URL provides apprehension into the top-of-funnel activity. The URL should be short as long as one may be hard to type and get lost in the creative. Besides, using words such as an offer or save in the URL help to emphasize the intent of promotion. Be as clear as possible with the URL’s landing page to convince people that the offer can only be used at a particular location.
Trackable Phone Number
Some companies use inbound calling as a crucial part of the marketing funnel. While creating your direct mail, whether a letter package or a postcard, creating your direct mail provides a dedicated phone number. Since the phone number is campaign-specific, it can help understand the response and is trackable by the call center. You can track your conversions via that specific number. Besides, the phone number offers additional information to the call center reps as they will get to know from which DM campaign the caller is coming from.
Moreover, you can choose a local number to target the local clients. You can activate the phone number when you expect the mailer to reach their address.
Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMDb)
There is a tool by the U.S. Postal Service that is used to sort and monitor outbound postcards and letters to give you an idea of the ‘in-home window. It consists of a tracking code of 20-digits containing serial numbers and identifiers, an 11-digit routine code, and the recipient’s zip code. It makes sure that USPS can identify the mail.
You can track how many responses are via your postage account when they are on the way back. For instance, when political surveys are posted with response cards, teams of the candidate can trace the number of replies they will receive as they are passed through the USPS system.
The biggest benefit of IMDb is the knowledge of ‘in-home window. It helps you use the tracking information to prepare yourself for the response from the customer.
Some businesses are using response cards and reply envelopes without an IMDb. Design distributors add a unique barcode with their inkjet printer for mailing panels to enable their performance instantly. You can track your direct mail online the moment it processes by the mail carriers.
QR Codes
Adding a QR code makes it simple for your clients to reach the unique landing page. A QR code is a barcode that smartphones can read to the mailer. The receiver can scan their camera, and they are directed to the specific landing page. You can use your site’s traffic analytics to see how many recipients have visited or acted on the page.
Customize your QR Code’s shape to make it look unique and stand out. Think about it as an experience. Your users need to get more from black & white code than simply searching your website. Besides, clearly call out the benefits of scanning that QR code on the direct mail piece. By doing this, they will know what to expect while they open up their phone camera. It will increase the likelihood of user scanning and thus enhancing response.
Coupon Codes
Design your mail piece with an offer having a unique code for your customer that can be redeemed online, via phone, or in-store. You can offer a coupon that is specific to the marketing campaign. The coupon shouldn’t be lower than what is easily found on the website, as this will lower the potential response from the campaign and create a poor user experience. It is important to offer a feeling of value to the customer while using direct marketing tactics.
Also, you can add multiple codes to one mailer. Then, you can check which receives the greatest response.
To Wrap Up
Direct mail can be an effective marketing tool unless you know how well they are performing and how futile your efforts could be. Using the above methods, you can track your campaign’s success, helping you devise more impactful strategies in the future.