Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog - "Why Retailers Should Add Print for Holiday Marketing"

Welcome to the Dove Direct Print and Marketing Blog. Today's post, "Why Retailers Should Add Print for Holiday Marketing," revisits how effective print marketing has become as a marketing companion for digital advertising initiatives. Digital advertising is on full blast sweeping across all industry sectors at a nano-second speed. Big data speaks to the impressive numbers digital marketing is racking up, and to that end, those numbers are staggering.

A Glimpse at Digital's Staggering Numbers

Let's start with emails. If you had a method to count one number per second, manually or otherwise, it would take 9,000 years to reach 293 billion. Why 293 billion? That's the number of emails that are sent and received in a single day! Take a second or two to grasp that. Now imagine initiating a 14-day email campaign. The overarching number of emails sent and received over 14 days is 4.1 Trillion!

For any marketing enterprise looking to cut through a 4.1 trillion email clutter universe is akin to trying to push those messages through the eye of a needle in an overwhelming ocean. That is a near-impossible task to effectively reach consumers in a timely fashion, particularly during the holiday season; even with existing customers, this type of effort becomes quite challenging. It's also important to note that brand loyalty only goes so far these days. Newer, smarter, faster, better, cheaper products are introduced every day, crowding the field exponentially.

Email marketing schemas tend to be lower-cost endeavors when compared to other digital marketing tools. Moreover, content email marketing does require engaging copy, alluring images, and competitive offers, similar to any other marketing platform. That said, in a universe of 4.1 trillion emails, even when expertly created and executed, the pool is so deep and vast, it may be impossible to have meaningful breakthroughs. Even so, the quantity and the channel may have targets feeling overwhelmed and under-appreciated.

Retail Sales Timeline

The days of retailers adhering to the traditional holiday marketing timelines are gone. Retail marketing is now on full blast during the 3rd and 4th quarters. In 2018, 50% of holiday shopping was finished by December 3, and 80% was completed by December 15. Simultaneously, retailers have to absorb free shipping costs, while receiving purchases weeks and in some cases days in advance, for customers to receive deliveries no later than December 23.

The trifecta here is that while these initial purchases are in the sales register, early incentivized customers continue to search for and demand the best deals. This timeline presents real challenges for the retail sector that competes in a promotional mode for a minimum of two months before the close of the holiday shopping season.

Personalization and Seamless Experiences

Retailers such as Ikea, Walmart, Victoria Secrets, Xfinity, and other iconic brands are creating and implementing several strategic touch-points designed to give them a competitive advantage. Among these content marketing initiatives are personalization, free shipping, optimized mobile experience, best-sellers, and other recommendation filters including trending, what's new, collaborative, interest-based algorithms, wishlist lookalikes, gift guides, triggered cross-selling messaging, cart abandonment messaging, diversified discounting, time-bound discounts, app-only discounts, tiered discounts, gifts, loyalty perks, and more. What's more important, is that this group of retailers is using direct mail marketing in their marketing mix.

Unless your organization is an iconic brand, your budget may not hold up to this scale of marketing. Even if you were to implement a scaled-down version of these touch-points, your efforts might still fall short.

Follow the Icons

Marketing 101 teaches us, when appropriate, to observe and implement successful marketing initiatives that iconic brands deploy. That's pretty straightforward as a starting point. Take, for example, Amazon.

Amazon selected direct mail marketing as a tool to reach existing customers (Bobnak, 2016). Amazon's enormous database allows it to utilize direct mail marketing with high target-ability and efficiency. Another iconic player, Google, is one of the top direct mail marketing advocates in the US. These brands realize that direct mail marketing provides a touchpoint that no other medium can. Further, the Data & Marketing Association reports that direct mail delivers 7x the response of all digital channels combined! No wonder iconic digital brands use direct mail marketing!

Automated Direct Mail Improves OmniChannel Campaigns

We've gone from multi-channel to omnichannel marketing strategies. Multi-channel is still around; however, as personalization has come of age, the omnichannel experience has evolved to deliver a more fulfilling and seamless customer experience across all channels. Insofar as direct mail marketing is able to impact online omnichannel marketing campaigns, the data is loud and clear.

• Direct mail helped improve the lift of online campaigns by 62% (The Little Book of Bigger Returns, Royal Mail Group)
• Adding a person's name and other personalized database information (including the use of full color) increases the direct mail response rate by up to 500% (Canon)
• 60% of millennials expect consistent brand experiences across channels (SDL)
• In one study, marketing campaigns that used direct mail in conjunction with at least one form of digital media, enjoyed a 118% lift in response rates when compared to only using direct mail (Merkle)
• Direct mail combined with digital ads yields a 28% higher conversion rate (Nonprofit Pro)
• Direct mail boosted ROI by 20% when it is part of an integrated campaign (The Little Book of Bigger Returns, Royal Mail Group)

As compelling as these numbers are, and they are, the deeper area of opportunity lies within the data. That means combining data sets, such as using direct mail data and digital data together.

Retailers Should Add Print for the Holidays

Given the effectiveness of direct mail marketing, particularly when trying to cut through billions of emails every day, retailers should consider investing in a direct mail marketing campaign for the holidays. From postcards to brochures to catalogs, these direct marketing pieces provide greater impact and simultaneously uplift any digital marketing effort.

The Net-Net

Direct mail backed by VDP technology provides personalized messaging that combines well with digital offerings, and thus provides brands with a two-prong strategy. It's a sure bet for marketers and brands looking to boost customer engagement, holiday sales, and a higher ROI. Thanks for reading "Why Retailers Should Add Print for Holiday Marketing."

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 4:30 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.