Direct mail has always been and continues to be an extremely effective form of marketing. Even in today's growing world of technology and the increase in use of online marketing techniques, these traditional forms of marketing still remain beneficial.
While you continue to execute your direct mail campaigns, understand that you have the opportunity to gain increased exposure through online marketing techniques and use this to your advantage. Social media is one of these online marketing opportunities that you can easily incorporate into your strategy. Social media and direct mail can work together, and utilizing these marketing tactics in conjunction can show a big return for your company.
So, how do you integrate direct mail with social media? Here are five ways to make it happen.
Put the Social Media Badge on Your Direct Mailer
Alright, this one is probably the easiest and most obvious of the bunch. If you've invested the time in creating and managing social media profiles for your company, you need to make sure that people know about them. Sure, some might find out about them via links that you've added to your corporate website or through their own searches, but you need to make sure everyone knows. To ensure this happens, try adding the badge of social media icons to your direct mail pieces. Simply seeing the Facebook or Twitter logo on your postcard may help your target audience become aware that the company is sharing information via those channels too.
Post Links to Your Landing Page on Social Media Sites
Let's say that you've created a landing page that is filled with compelling information and a form that contains the perfect amount of questions. Will people only get to that page if they receive a direct mailer that contains a personalized URL?
Give this a try - in addition to the personalized landing pages, create versions that will be available to the general public. Then, post links to the general version of the landing page on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media sites that your audience uses.
Throughout the campaign, measure how people are getting to your page. Is it through the PURL on the direct mailer? Or through Twitter or Facebook? These types of reports may help you to better invest your resources in future campaigns when it comes to segments of your audience.
Make the Mailer Interactive with a QR Code
Companies of all sizes and varieties are creating videos with their Flip cameras and smart phones and uploading them to YouTube. Those videos can certainly help spread a company's message and increase their SEO efforts.
In addition, online videos can also be repurposed to make a direct mail piece interactive. Simple create a QR code that points directly to the YouTube video or to a mobile-optimized site that provides a link to the video. Place the QR code on the direct mailer with a call-to-action, and then watch how your growing mobile audience responds.
Enable Landing Page Visitors to Easily Share the Link with Others
This might be the one idea where you can truly start to see the growth in the overall success of your campaigns. When someone visits your landing page, make it easy for them to share a link to your content on their social media sites. This could be through a simple "Tweet This" button for Twitter, a "Like" button for Facebook, or some other type of social media plugin.
If your content is truly helpful and you make it easy for people to share it, your audience will grow with the help of others.
Drive People to Your Social Media Sites from the Thank You Page
Let's say that someone responds to the call-to-action on your direct mailer, types in their PURL, and fills out your response form - what do you do then? Do you simply say, "Thank You?" Well, you could do that and follow up with them later; or, you could try to further the engagement that moment.
Try integrating your social media profiles into your Thank You page. This could mean putting ions that link to your social media pages. It could also mean embedding a YouTube video onto the page as well. Since the person has already shown interest in your company, perhaps they'd be more than willing to take a few minutes and learn a bit more about who you are and what you can do for them.
About John Foley, Jr.
John Foley, Jr. is the CEO of interlinkONE and Grow Socially. John and his team help companies get on a strong path to marketing success. Their approach includes various software solutions, consulting, and strategic online marketing plans designed to help companies grow their business. Through the custom creation of detailed and personalized plans, interlinkONE and Grow Socially allow companies to further develop their online marketing and social efforts to truly help their business thrive. Learn more about John at JohnFoleyJr.com, and his companies at www.interlinkONE.com and www.GrowSocially.com.
While you continue to execute your direct mail campaigns, understand that you have the opportunity to gain increased exposure through online marketing techniques and use this to your advantage. Social media is one of these online marketing opportunities that you can easily incorporate into your strategy. Social media and direct mail can work together, and utilizing these marketing tactics in conjunction can show a big return for your company.
So, how do you integrate direct mail with social media? Here are five ways to make it happen.
Put the Social Media Badge on Your Direct Mailer
Alright, this one is probably the easiest and most obvious of the bunch. If you've invested the time in creating and managing social media profiles for your company, you need to make sure that people know about them. Sure, some might find out about them via links that you've added to your corporate website or through their own searches, but you need to make sure everyone knows. To ensure this happens, try adding the badge of social media icons to your direct mail pieces. Simply seeing the Facebook or Twitter logo on your postcard may help your target audience become aware that the company is sharing information via those channels too.
Post Links to Your Landing Page on Social Media Sites
Let's say that you've created a landing page that is filled with compelling information and a form that contains the perfect amount of questions. Will people only get to that page if they receive a direct mailer that contains a personalized URL?
Give this a try - in addition to the personalized landing pages, create versions that will be available to the general public. Then, post links to the general version of the landing page on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social media sites that your audience uses.
Throughout the campaign, measure how people are getting to your page. Is it through the PURL on the direct mailer? Or through Twitter or Facebook? These types of reports may help you to better invest your resources in future campaigns when it comes to segments of your audience.
Make the Mailer Interactive with a QR Code
Companies of all sizes and varieties are creating videos with their Flip cameras and smart phones and uploading them to YouTube. Those videos can certainly help spread a company's message and increase their SEO efforts.
In addition, online videos can also be repurposed to make a direct mail piece interactive. Simple create a QR code that points directly to the YouTube video or to a mobile-optimized site that provides a link to the video. Place the QR code on the direct mailer with a call-to-action, and then watch how your growing mobile audience responds.
Enable Landing Page Visitors to Easily Share the Link with Others
This might be the one idea where you can truly start to see the growth in the overall success of your campaigns. When someone visits your landing page, make it easy for them to share a link to your content on their social media sites. This could be through a simple "Tweet This" button for Twitter, a "Like" button for Facebook, or some other type of social media plugin.
If your content is truly helpful and you make it easy for people to share it, your audience will grow with the help of others.
Drive People to Your Social Media Sites from the Thank You Page
Let's say that someone responds to the call-to-action on your direct mailer, types in their PURL, and fills out your response form - what do you do then? Do you simply say, "Thank You?" Well, you could do that and follow up with them later; or, you could try to further the engagement that moment.
Try integrating your social media profiles into your Thank You page. This could mean putting ions that link to your social media pages. It could also mean embedding a YouTube video onto the page as well. Since the person has already shown interest in your company, perhaps they'd be more than willing to take a few minutes and learn a bit more about who you are and what you can do for them.
About John Foley, Jr.
John Foley, Jr. is the CEO of interlinkONE and Grow Socially. John and his team help companies get on a strong path to marketing success. Their approach includes various software solutions, consulting, and strategic online marketing plans designed to help companies grow their business. Through the custom creation of detailed and personalized plans, interlinkONE and Grow Socially allow companies to further develop their online marketing and social efforts to truly help their business thrive. Learn more about John at JohnFoleyJr.com, and his companies at www.interlinkONE.com and www.GrowSocially.com.
