Direct mail is a successful advertising tool when you use it properly. Simply mailing out advertising materials to everyone in a specific area will more than likely result in the ads being tossed in the trash. The best practice for retargeted direct mail is to find a way to use online searches to focus on prospective clients in a different way.
The Best Process for Direct Mail Retargeting
Enhanced data optimization uses a person’s search history to narrow down specific search queries that can be used for direct mail advertising or fundraising purposes. The key is to go through a website’s analytics to identify unique IP addresses that appear over and over again in one specific area.
Once these IP addresses are identified, the next step is to identify the email address associated with that location. Another quick search will lead you to the physical street address associated with the email address. With the physical mailing address in hand, you can begin to retarget your direct mailing straight to the home of the person who made the initial internet search.
The Numbers for Dynamic Retargeting
The key is narrowing down the numbers. A website has hundreds, maybe thousands of hits an hour. So, how do you figure out which visitors are valuable enough to pursue with a direct mail retargeting campaign? The key is finding the ones that you can match back to a physical address.
Through the use of analytics and data enhancements, you will be able to match about half of the unique visitors back to a physical address. Once you have the physical address, the next step is sending a postcard or other type of promotional material that will remind them of their past online searches.
The Timing Must Be Right
With digital marketing tools, an individual will start receiving advertisements that match many of their recent searches. Using the best practices for retargeted direct mail, your timing will be a little more reasonable.
In most cases, your direct mail marketing tools will reach your new target audience in approximately 14 or 15 days after their initial search. This may seem like a long period of time, but if a person is really interested in what you are offering, your direct mail advertisement will keep their interest alive.
Keeping Your Clients’ Focused
With any advertising campaign, either digital or direct mail, you need to keep your clients’ attention. Direct mail campaigns are usually sent in batches. If you pull the analytic information every 10 to 14 days and then mail your promotional materials in batches, you will be able to keep their attention on the object of their search.
Receiving continual reminders, each one significantly different will be effective especially if the person is still visiting your website. The more they visit and the more you interact with them through direct mail campaigns, the more likely they will be to commit to a purchase and become a paying customer.
- About 50 percent of the traffic to a website can be traced back to a physical address.
- Direct mail campaigns can be effective if targeted correctly.
- Each mailing must include different materials offering the same information.
- Timing is everything!
When it comes to following leads, there are best practices to follow with any type of marketing campaign. In terms of the best practices for retargeted direct mail, Ballantine offers you the most effective forms of advertisements you can rely on to provide the best possible results. With the advanced technology at our disposal, we can make your direct marketing tools profitable, giving you a better than average return on your investment.
I'm the Director of Digital Services and Partner at Ballantine, a family-owned and operated direct mail & digital marketing company based in New Jersey. and started in 1966 by my great uncle!
