17 Best Direct Mail Examples You Must Use This Year
Though online marketing is crucial for small-scale businesses and large corporations, direct mail examples offer high value to firms. It is still a cost-efficient and profitable way to reach customers, boost acquisition, and establish brand loyalty.
Also, it helps firms retain customers. Being a versatile channel, it has a high ROI and allows businesses to target relevant prospects. They can also track direct mail to check performance and measure results.
Direct mail has low competition and higher returns. Below, we discuss the top direct mail advertising examples to help you initiate your campaigns!
What Does Direct Mail Marketing Mean and Why Use It in 2024?
Direct mail is when you send physical messages through postal mail, like ads or letters, to people. The goal is to introduce your business to potential customers and turn them into buyers. It works well for B2C and DTC marketing and has advantages over digital methods.
Here are the reasons you must add direct mailer examples to your bucket list:
- You can target specific people with direct mail. Many firms buy or rent mailing lists from brokers or agencies. However, you can use automated direct mail services, like PostGrid, to build them from scratch and ensure accuracy.Though many organizations send Every Door Direct Mail (EEDM) via the USPS to target specific localities and ZIP codes, using personalized direct mail examples is better.
- Direct mail gives a good return on investment (ROI). The median ROI is 29%.You can track results by creating unique contact info for each mail campaign. If you want people to visit your website, make a special webpage or use UTM tags in your mail. To make it easier, add QR codes or short links. If you want calls, use a unique phone number. This way, when people visit the webpage or call, you know they got your postcard or letter.
- Direct mail doesn’t end up in the spam folder like emails might. It always goes to the mailbox, so the owner sees it with their other mail.Unlike emails, you don’t need permission (opt-in) to use direct mailer examples for business promotions. Sending promotional emails legally requires permission, but there’s no nationwide rule against sending direct mail ads in the U.S.
- Direct mail is rare. Since fewer marketers use it, it becomes exciting when it appears in someone’s mailbox. Primarily the brand’s offer. But what if the person doesn’t need it right away? Will the mail sit there and be forgotten? Even if they don’t need it now, they still see your logo, the brand name, and what you do.So, when the time comes that they need something you offer, they might remember your direct mail examples, visit your website, and make a purchase. Without your mail, they wouldn’t even know about you. But after they learned about you, the opportunity for a sale appeared — that’s brand awareness in action.
Highlight Your Brand’s Benefits Under the Marketing Campaign
Many companies benefit from this strategy. They can use a small postcard or letter to print large icons of their brand’s advantages.
Instead of boring people with complex features and using jargon, you can keep it simple and tell prospective customers how the company’s products are beneficial.
It is among the best direct mailer examples to get results promptly. Businesses can attract more qualified leads when they are upfront about how they are different and what benefits customers can expect.
Since most products and services from different brands offer similar features, highlighting the advantages is essential to boost your marketing plan!
Involve Customers By Sending Checklists for Mail Advertising
Checklists are always engaging and interactive. People like to maintain them and see the results. Hence, you can include them with your direct mail marketing examples to see better outcomes.
Checklists are an excellent involvement tool. You can print them on postcards or flyers, motivating people to save them for many more days than they would normally.
For example, a financial services company can send a postcard with the top ten things to arrange for before applying for a property loan. Also, an education institute can send checklists listing how students can get into the top universities across Canada.
Leverage Broad and Appealing Imagery as One of Your Best Practices
Images are among the top direct mail examples to grab your audience’s attention. They must be relevant and appealing to clients, making them complete the CTA and engaging with your brand.
You can use relevant imagery that describes your product or service. Otherwise, use pictures of humans using or benefitting from it. These images demonstrate how people can expect to use the items.
Also, images help you set your brand apart from others. People might use these pictures to tickle their memory and remember your products for months and years.
Hence, use the best direct mail postcard examples to include images that are consistent with your branding and can boost brand recognition.
Use Catchy Headlines With Questions
Your headline should appear on the top instead of between paragraphs. Also, headings asking a crucial question are more impactful than the simpler ones.
Since they make people think about the answer, they pay more attention to these headlines. Also, they set the stage for the rest of your sales pitch.
You can use these direct mail examples for all printed mailers, like postcards, letters, newsletters, and flyers.
Create questions highlighting a need or pain point and help people seek a solution.
Also, printing such headlines as standalone messages is an excellent way to keep your mailers simple and make a better impression. You need not answer the question or elaborate on everything. However, please tell readers what they can do to get the solution.
Use New Direct Mail Ideas and Welcome New Customers
You can leverage direct mailer examples to send welcome messages to onboard new clients. Send them a heartfelt note to express your gratitude for choosing your business.
This initial message sets the tone for your customer-company relationship. It dictates how people perceive your organization and whether they make more purchases or switch to competitors’ products.
Also, you can send these welcome letters as introductory messages, with a list of to-do’s and how-to’s. It would be great for customers to have some paper tips to quickly get answers instead of searching for them online.
These direct mail advertising examples allow you to send the ideal messages at the correct time to ensure long-term connections and repeat business.
Birthday and Anniversary Coupon Discounts
Providing discounts or promo codes for a customer’s birthday or anniversary is an effective strategy to nurture brand loyalty and stay memorable. It could be a straightforward postcard or a distinct printed item in a catalogue, brochure, or similar mail.
The timing is crucial for this promotion when using direct mail advertising examples and campaigns. It’s ideal for your postcard to reach the recipient on their special day or as close to it as feasible, primarily if you set a time limit for claiming the discount.
Interactive Best Direct Mail Items
Interactive mail encourages recipients to engage with it physically and use all five senses. It prompts action by capturing the reader’s attention and helping them remember your brand for a long time.
Some examples of interactive direct mailer examples include:
- Ring sizer (suitable for companies selling jewelry)
- AR prints (images or text that move or appear in 3D when viewed through a smartphone’s camera)
- Free product samples or testers (such as perfumed paper slips or shampoo testers)
- Scratch-off (used for coupons)
- Giant stickers (featuring coupons or checklists to buy something)
- 3D glasses or a magnifying glass (accompanied by a postcard or brochure with hidden information revealed by the glasses or magnifying glass)
- Lumpy mail (mailers filled with objects to create a bulging effect)
Free Product Samples
Offering free product samples is an effective marketing strategy that introduces potential customers to a business. It provides several benefits for companies and their clients:
- Individuals can experience products from the comfort of their homes.
- These direct mail advertising examples are cost-effective, especially when utilizing bulk rates for mailing services.
- Additionally, businesses can gain valuable feedback from their target audience.
- Product samples eliminate the cost barrier, allowing people to try the product before making a purchase decision.
Include a Straightforward CTA (Call to Action)
Businesses must outline what they want prospects or customers to do after getting the mail item. The best direct mail advertising examples have an upfront CTA that is simple to understand and complete. Also, marketers must use a visible area to discuss their products and help readers redeem discounts.
Offer an Exclusive, Short-Period Promotion
Whether it’s a week-long 50% discount, free shipping, or exclusive benefits for new customers- time-limited promotions can sway an undecided lead and boost your sales.
Short-term direct mail marketing examples generate a feeling of urgency, tapping into the fear of missing out on something valuable or trendy. Frequently occurring during the holiday season- digital marketing channels heavily promote these promotions.
When you combine them with direct mail, these limited-time offers can be a compelling incentive to convert a prospect into a purchasing customer.
Always Use Variable Data Printing and Personalize Items
Variable Data Printing (VDP) enables you to personalize various elements in your direct mail, including customer names, addresses, ages, and genders. It also lets you add graphics and images for each print piece, all while facilitating bulk printing. Some print and mail services, such as PostGrid, provide VDP options for direct mailer examples, making the personalization process straightforward.
Give Recipients Something to Keep
Providing items like a pad of sticky notes, fridge magnets with calendars, or other practical items increases the likelihood of them being kept rather than discarded. They improve your sent item’s memorability using branded elements. Here are some examples:
Businesses can use unique examples of direct mail, like envelopes and shapes, to generate curiosity among target prospects. The visual and tactile experience dictates whether they open the mailers while sifting them. Thus, the firm includes different objects within the envelopes to captivate readers’ interest.
Targeted Lists
A successful direct mail campaign involves using a targeted list to reduce the number of pieces you send to unqualified recipients. Collaborating with the local post office, a salon owner can select a specific geographic area where her customers reside, optimizing her budget for individuals outside her service area.
List brokers assist in creating a list based on customer demographics like age, gender, income level, or parental status. If you possess customer addresses, convert them into your direct mailing list.
Organized Messaging
The most successful examples of direct mail feature a well-organized message. When your target audience receives and opens your piece, they should instantly perceive a benefit.
Businesses must avoid overwhelming their materials with excessive information, burying the primary message in a dense block of text. They must use a concise letter with a brochure or sales sheet.
Please ensure your phone number and website address are visible on each side of the included pieces. If you’re limited to mailing a postcard, refrain from attempting to close the sale on the compact card. Instead, entice recipients with an appealing benefit that sparks their interest to call you or visit your website for more details.
Promote Your Business By Testing Your Mailers
Another impactful application of direct mail postcard examples involves conducting tests on a mailing or multiple mailings before launching the campaign. To optimize the effectiveness of your direct mail initiative, experiment with various envelopes, messages, graphics, and offers.
Invite Repeat Buyers to Join a Loyalty Program
Loyalty programs are a fundamental marketing component and rank among the most successful ideas for business mailers focused on customer retention. For instance, you have a specific set of customers consistently making purchases from your brand over several months. Implementing a loyalty program can transform those months of patronage into years. The concept is straightforward: customers appreciate it when the brands they adore reciprocate that love.
Inviting your top customers to an exclusive loyalty club through direct mail is one of the most effective methods. Loyalty program invitations stand out as excellent direct mail concepts, offering your invitation some prestige you cannot get with an email or SMS invitation. The best direct mail marketing examples make customers feel more valued, ultimately nurturing loyalty.
Include PURLs or QR Codes in Creative Direct Mail Advertising Items
A notable advantage of direct mail marketing examples is their ability to be a launchpad for guiding customers towards a specific action, like visiting your website. The most effective approach involves incorporating QR codes or brief, traceable URLs in your direct mail campaign, directing customers to your website, store, or a designated landing page.
Wix, a website builder, provides a complimentary QR code tool, enabling you to generate QR code images for free. Businesses can follow the instructions to link the QR code to the desired page and then download the code for use in your direct mail and other marketing materials.
Top Direct Mail Marketing Examples
Below are some of the best direct mail advertising examples or campaigns for your reference:
Amazon Rewards
Amazon usually does things online, so getting mail from them was unexpected. But that’s why it worked so well.
They had a campaign about their Amazon Rewards Visa card. Instead of just asking people to get the card, they displayed extra benefits to those who already had it. The mail had pamphlets with more perks and info about the Amazon Rewards Program.
World Water Day, Belgium
In Belgium, World Water Day they got creative with unique direct mail marketing examples to make people think about the importance of water. They sent out a broad postcard that showed its message only when you put it underwater. This unique approach got people talking online and made more folks aware of the cause.
Hello Fresh Mailer Campaign
This new campaign from Hello Fresh is both simple and stylish, boldly highlighting the advantages of their meal kits without using pushy language or excessive text. Featuring a customer-focused solution in the headline and presenting three clear benefits to scan, they made it simple for recipients to understand—even if they hadn’t planned to read it.
KitKat Chunky
Nestlé® introduced the best direct mail marketing examples a few years back that marketers praise for their cleverness. They sent out mailers designed like the typically missed delivery notices left by mail carriers when a package can’t be delivered.
Instead of saying the delivery couldn’t happen, every direct mail piece said you could not post the KitKat thick parcel because it was “too chunky for your letterbox.” People who received these notices could exchange them at local newsstands for a free KitKat Chunky chocolate bar.
IKEA Sweet Dreams Catalogue
In 2019, IKEA in Bulgaria launched the “IKEA Sweet Dreams Catalogue” campaign. This direct mail initiative aimed to promote the brand’s new catalogue, focusing on the theme of “good sleep at home.” Specifically tailored for new mothers, the campaign aimed to offer a creative and interactive experience.
These direct mailer examples involved producing a limited edition of the catalogue, which they shipped as direct mail to chosen mommy influencers. Upon opening, the catalogue played a lullaby song, creating a soothing environment for the baby to fall asleep while the mother explored the new IKEA “good sleep” inspirational ideas.
Seed Pot
The “Seed Pot” initiative was a Samsung-crafted direct mail campaign. It cleverly tapped into the nostalgic activity of growing a bean sprout, a familiar experience for many from their elementary school days. The direct mailer featured a mini pot shaped like a fridge containing a small planted bean.
The company encouraged recipients to nurture the beans like fresh produce. Successfully caring for it would result in the bean sprouting unveiling Samsung as the preferred fridge brand, with the actual plant displaying the brand name. The laser sketching made these direct mail examples effective- inscribing the brand name on the growing bean sprout.
Estée Lauder’s Free Gifting Postcards
Postcards for Estée Lauder’s Free Gift at Macy’s stand out with their eye-catching design. The inclusion of the word “Free” is particularly attention-grabbing.
Transforming a basic card into potent direct mail postcard examples, the compelling design and the “spend money to save money” call to action make it impactful.
Grand Opening (Mix&Match Burgers)
Using striking images of food is a reliable way to attract more customers to your restaurant. As people often check their mailboxes when they return home from work, this is often the time when they’re deciding what to have for dinner. It’s a prime opportunity for restaurants and cafes to capture their attention.
Conclusion
You can use the best direct mail marketing examples to create campaigns and get results. However, you require a solid mechanism to work with and execute mailings.
Firms can use these examples to connect with prospects that might convert into paying customers and refer their brand to others.
They can use PostGrid’s direct mail API to send printed promotional materials and get a high response rate. We help you design, print, and distribute mailers at reasonable rates with many high-tech features.
Get a demo to learn more about how we help you use the best direct mail examples!
