Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog - "5 Ways Print Drives Holiday Sales"

Welcome to the Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog. Today's post, "5 Ways Print Drives Holiday Sales," offers several print marketing tactics that will boost brand recognition, lift visibility, and more importantly, increase ROI during the critical make-or-break holiday season. You may also want to read our previous post, "Why Retailers Should Add Print for Holiday Marketing," that recaps direct mail marketing's viability for both traditional and digital marketing with supporting data.

Last year, according to Google, 26% of shoppers began Christmas shopping research before Halloween. That number represents a target-rich environment of people looking to make early holiday purchasing decisions. With the delivery of more than 293 billion emails daily, marketers and advertisers face a massive challenge in being able to cut through. Print's direct mail can cut through the clutter while pushing recipients to any online destination.

The Time is Now

Now is the time to create or revisit database files, cleanse them, and create niche files for variable data/digital printing (VDP) projects. These files will be used to create and personalize your messages and can reflect geographic locations, purchase levels, interest, or any other criteria that you choose. Further, according to Yahoo, 40% of annual sales occur during the last two months of the year, so all planning and prep work should take place, well before Halloween.

(1) Print Signage

In the real world, print signage boost sales. According to Brandon Gaille, "Signs attract up to 50% of all business customers." Further, Research from the US Small Business Administration reports that a two-year study of 165 small independent businesses discovered that half of all new customers are drawn to the merchant because of exterior signage.

Most businesses already have an outdoor sign; however, if that sign has been there for an extended period, it would be a good idea to switch that sign for a larger one that speaks to holiday shoppers and offerings. A move to increase signage size can increase revenue by 7.7%.

Indoor signage also plays a significant role by attracting, informing, and directing customers once inside the premises. Ketchum conducted a study that revealed, "68% of customers admit to having made purchases of products or services after a sign caught their eye." Therefore, indoor signage is essential to pushing sales once customers are inside the store.

Further, the size of indoor signs can be small to whatever size your budget can afford. However, presentation is everything. To that end, it is critical to not fall into the cheap-sign mentality, as pointed out in the Ketchum study that stated, "52 percent of people interviewed said they are less willing to shop at a store with a poorly made sign, especially one with misspellings." Therefore, contact a high-quality commercial printer and ensure that your content is correct and on-point.

(2) Direct Holiday Mail

For starters, Ami Direct Marketing recently reported that consumers spend on average, 25 minutes with their mail daily. Millennials and upscale consumers spend an average of 30 minutes perusing catalogs. Time opening direct mail is by far more focused than time spent on emails, social media, or blogs. That said, any print collateral that is informative, from a glossy catalog to a small booklet, can impact consumers and help to boost digital destinations and sales.

(3) Holiday Specials and Menus

Restaurants tend to take in more business during the holiday season. You may have already noticed that Instagram posts are ballooning with holiday food offerings, especially about treats, special holiday coffees, and of course anything to do with pumpkins and pumpkin spices. Restaurants and other food outlets can take advantage of the holiday season by creating holiday-themed menus, even if its just a few items. The key is to make it unique for the season.

(4) Flyers

You might think that flyers take a backseat to the digital world. However, according to DMA research, 48% of consumers visited the advertised destination, requested additional information, or purchased a product after receiving a leaflet or flyer at their door or mailbox. Flyers distributed through direct mail continues to represent one of the most effective marketing tools with an excellent response rate.

If you are going to use flyers, ensure that your collateral communicates something special for the holidays, such as discounts, redeemable coupons, or a loyalty incentive. It is also important to keep in mind that flyers advertising special discounts are 50% more likely to be kept for at least a week or the duration of the offering.

(5) Transpromo Specials

Transactional documents, such as invoices, warranty programs, loyalty programs, or any affinity communications, are a popular way to share new product offerings or friendly reminders for cross-selling and up-selling. Further, most people welcome these special notices during the holiday season. Transpromo is short for the term transpromotional, which is commonly associated with using the marketing real estate of a transactional document to share additional information. For example, car buyers, who are still paying off their vehicle, may receive a current bill that also contains one or more transpromo offers. The automobile transpromo might include a white-label or branded credit card offer, an insurance offer, or any other offer the sender deems appropriate.

Consumers that receive direct mail transactional documents are captive audiences and will spend time reading those communications. Using the document real estate (white space) for special holiday promotions is a useful tool for gaining consumers attention during the busy holiday season.

The Net-Net

During this holiday season, marketers and brands can cut through the clutter and improve year-end results. Savvy marketers and brands already embrace print to help drive better ROI and sales during that critical make or break timeframe. Does your marketing initiative include an accompanying print strategy? If not, the time is now as holiday deadlines loom, with 26% of consumers already in holiday research mode. Thanks for reading "5 Ways Print Drives Holiday Sales."

Let's have a conversation about direct mail marketing strategies, printing, transactional documents, variable digital printing, brand equity and unified marketing collateral during our next Open House. We invite you to join us on Thursday, August 29, 2019, for an hour or two, anytime between 10:30 am to 3:30 pm. Let us show you how to improve your document processes to optimize your workflow, reduce your costs, and maximize your organization's printing, letter shop, and mailing capabilities. Dove Direct has an official USPS certified bureau located within our offices that will save you time and money. Moreover, if you bring us your files, we will create a demo file for you. For more information, call Carla Eubanks at 404-629-0122 or email Carla at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Dove Direct, your Atlanta based print and mail solutions provider offers organizations end-to-end data, printing, and mailing solutions: Data Management, Variable Digital Printing, LetterShop and Fulfillment, Fully Automated MLOCR Presort Bureau, Marketing and Production Management Support and Secure Data Life Cycle Management.

If you don't want to wait for the Open House, you can reach Dove Direct today by calling 404-629-0122 or use the contact form for Dove Direct.​