This article originally appeared in the July/August issue of Mailing Systems Technology.

The next generation of direct mail is here. It combines traditional print marketing with online follow-up, creating a seamless multichannel experience for consumers (and exponentially improved results for your clients).

It works like this:

1. An interested prospect receives your client’s direct mail piece

2. They visit your client’s website to learn more

3. They leave the site without buying or filling out a form

4. Their browser is “cookied” with coding that tells Google to start showing them your client’s ads

5. They see your client’s ads on other websites they visit, urging them to go back to your client’s site and become a customer.

And it’s crazy effective. People who are shown follow-up ads are three times more likely to click on those ads than someone who has never interacted with that business before. And once they get back to your client’s website, those visitors are 70% more likely to convert.

Marketers who have switched from traditional direct mail to these integrated campaigns have seen their monthly new customers jump by as much as 81% and achieved returns on investment as high as 14,000%.

Imagine the results your clients would generate if they could extend their campaigns to also reach those prospects where they spend an average of 50 minutes per day…

I’m talking about Facebook!

With 1.65 billion active users, Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform. What was once a place to “poke” your friends (remember that?) and post vacation photos is where nearly half of Americans get their news today.

Check out these numbers:

· 79% of online American adults have a Facebook profile

· 62% of Americans 65 and older are on Facebook

· Users between 18 and 34 spend the most time on the site

If your clients are looking to extend their marketing message to social media (and they really should), Facebook is where they want to be.

The problem is, many marketers — especially small business owners — face technical obstacles when it comes to running a multichannel campaign. The interfaces are different for each platform, and learning them (let alone managing them) can seem an impossible task.

And for a printer, mail house, or direct mail company, offering these products to your clients means adding staff — not just a Google advertising expert, but a social media specialist, too.

Luckily, there are organizations that you can partner with who focus solely on these aspects of your campaign so you can deliver the highly effective multichannel marketing campaigns your clients demand… without complicating your existing business model.

Thumbs up to that!

Brad Kugler is the CEO of DirectMail2.0, a fully integrated marketing solution for the clients of printers/mailers that combines the proven success of direct mail with in-demand features like online advertising and automated campaign tracking. You can schedule a free demo to see how a partnership with DirectMail2.0 can boost revenue and improve your clients’ response and ROI. Visit www.dm20.com or call 800.956.4129 today!