Direct mail is an advertising tool that allows your brand to reach people offline through printed mailers, swag, or other physical items. Digital marketing has become so oversaturated that consumers are experiencing information overload, resulting in decreased engagement and analysis paralysis. Direct mail provides an opportunity to connect with consumers in a more memorable, tangible way.
Need to Skim? Key Takeaways:
- Direct mail is an impactful brand awareness strategy for reaching prospective customers and attracting positive attention to your products or service.
- While brand awareness direct mail focuses on building recognition, lead generation direct mail focuses on acquiring repeat customers.
- Going beyond basic mailers with gifts, giveaways, or branded keepsakes is a great way to set yourself apart from the competition.
Table of Contents
Direct Mail Examples for Building Awareness
By targeting people who have not made a purchase or interacted with your brand, direct mail serves as an impactful brand awareness strategy. Top-of-funnel, brand awareness direct mail should break through the noise, attract attention, and build trust through a tangible experience.
Handwritten Notes Introducing Your Brand
A handwritten note is a great way to introduce your brand to prospects. This level of personalization and attention to detail is more likely to motivate new customers to engage with the rest of your marketing efforts, such as social media or email campaigns.
Small Custom Gifts for Event Attendees
Sending custom gifts for attendees before or after an event like a conference, webinar, or fundraiser reinforces a positive brand image and connection with your brand. Products tied to the event theme or useful branded gear are great gift options that leave an impression. Imprint Engine is a trusted partner to thousands of global enterprises for creating gifts that are on trend, on budget, and on brand. Read more about why we’re a leading promotional product vendor.
Free Sample & Trial Giveaways
Free samples and trial giveaways as direct mail marketing generate buzz about your brand and the products or services you provide, making it easier for new customers to decide to make a purchase. Like a test drive, samples give a preview of what customers are signing up for. Here are some examples of this strategy: A pet products subscription box company offering prospects a complimentary monthly gift box, a cosmetics company sending prospects sample packets of this month’s best-selling fragrances and skincare, or a streaming service sending gift cards for a free month.
The key to an effective giveaway is having a comprehensive brand experience strategy. Read about how to build your brand experience strategy.
Direct Mail Examples for Lead Generation
Direct mail is a targeted and tangible approach to lead generation to provoke interest in a product or service. While brand awareness direct mail focuses on building recognition for your brand image, lead generation direct mail focuses on acquiring repeat customers. There should be a clear call to action that encourages prospects and customers to get in touch or make a purchase.
Postcards With a Keepsake Item + QR Code
Postcards paired with a small keepsake like a branded magnet or pen do a great job of educating prospects and providing them with a useful product that will continuously advertise your brand. Include a QR code for easy access to special offers or landing pages and when choosing your branded keepsake, opt for high quality products that won’t end up in the trash. We’re happy to help source or produce useful promotional keepsakes that make most sense for your brand!
Branded Gifts for Target Customers
Branded gifts as direct mail marketing tools serve as a memorable tipping point that turns prospects into loyal customers. Unique and tangible gifts tell your targeted customers a little bit about your brand story while engaging them with a thoughtful brand touchpoint. Like any direct mail, branded gifts should include a clear (and clever) call to action to get the ball rolling.
Branded Chocolates & Food Gifts
Our senses play a huge role in how we perceive things, and that includes branding! Branded chocolates or other food gifts quite literally sweeten the deal when converting customers. Speaking of puns, make sure you take the opportunity to share a clever and relevant call to action that ties your edible gift to your overall campaign.
Direct Mail Examples We’ve Done for Great Brands
We’ve gotten to create memorable and effective direct mail campaigns for some really cool brands over the years. Here are just a few recent campaigns we’ve executed for clients who offer both B2B and B2C business in the food delivery space.
UberEats
We’ve gotten to work with UberEats on a number of direct mail campaigns with various goals. Last year, we helped them celebrate the Lunar New Year with new customers by designing, creating, and sending stunning mailers with promo codes.
UberEats
We have also created and deployed countless versions of mailers to boost sign-ups from both customers and restaurants.
UberEats
Each of the designs featured a discount or promotion with a unique redeemable QR code.
Postmates
Like UberEats, we helped Postmates leverage direct mail to increase customer sign-ups. Their vibrant mailers advertised basic platform information, offered discounts, and featured redeemable QR codes for easy discount applications.
Like What You See? Drop Us a Line
Ready to make direct mail part of your overall marketing strategy? We’re experts in creating cohesive brand experiences and we’d love to help build yours.
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