Michael Plummer, Jr. is President/CEO/CTO of Our Town America, the nation's premier New Mover Marketing franchise.
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A new multichannel marketing option offered by the United States Postal Service is helping small businesses bridge the gap between print and digital marketing to generate results.
Informed Delivery provides an integrated marketing approach to meet current consumer demand by allowing people to see their mail before it’s delivered to their mailbox. Customers who sign up for the free service receive a scanned image of the exterior of the direct mailer via email, online dashboard or mobile app. This allows businesses to get the benefit of physical mail and a digital experience at the same time.
And it’s not just about a simple, scanned picture in an email. This service provides a new avenue for businesses to get creative. You have the option of adding interactive campaigns and custom photos, and that’s exactly what can help your business stand out from its competitors.
Benefits Of Physical And Digital Mail
This may sound obvious, but using this type of service will likely increase the number of people who take the time to read the mail you send them. Currently, the average open rate for an Informed Delivery email is nearly 70%, according to an early analysis of the program by the U.S. Census Bureau.
As information about the new service grows, Informed Delivery is increasing in popularity across the country. More than 30 million people have enrolled in the Informed Delivery program since its launch in 2017, according to the USPS.
Our company uses this technology to help boost the number of people who see and open our New Mover Welcome Package. The service helps drive new customers to our clients and allows us to continue to evolve with the changing times.
We also use this service to send a video to each person who will be receiving a welcome package in the mail. This creates some excitement for its arrival, which means new residents will be more likely to open and use the gift certificates when they arrive.
How Your Company Can Employ Informed Delivery
• Boost social media presence: Informed Delivery allows businesses to add ride-along content at an additional cost to spark interest. The ride-along content is in color and includes a link. Many companies are taking this opportunity to encourage customers to follow them on social media where they can continue to engage them online. Building a social media following allows you to connect with your customers on a regular basis at little to no cost.
• Make a video: Informed Delivery allows businesses to attach a link to a short video on their email to entice customers and tell them about the offer they will see in their mailbox.
• Focus on design: Informed Delivery emails a photo of your direct mail postcard to people before it arrives in the mailbox. It’s important to make sure the design of your direct mail translates online. It’d be a good idea to not use colors that will be difficult to read when converted to black and white.
Be Sure To Track Your Efforts
Once you have a solid Informed Delivery plan in place, remember to implement methods for tracking your return on investment. Create unique links for all of your marketing efforts to see which ones are effective. Informed Delivery’s interactive campaign allows businesses to provide a URL with a unique landing page. Web analytics tools can allow you to track impressions, conversion metrics and user activity to measure your campaign’s success. Direct mail postcards with discounts can also be tracked when users bring them into your business for redemption. Tracking allows you to pivot your campaign if it’s not prompting customers to visit your business.
Embrace Digital Trends
Today’s consumer lives in a digital world, and they expect the businesses they patronize to offer options. Mobile phones have evolved to not only be devices used to call and text but also to serve as personal computers for most Americans. Sixty percent of households own at least one smart device, according to a survey of 2,000 people conducted by SAS Institute, a multinational developer of analytics software.
Businesses that embrace technology as they develop their marketing strategies will create effective multichannel marketing campaigns to reach a broad array of consumers. Multichannel marketing allows businesses to reach consumers in the various ways they spend their time — whether that be at home checking their mailbox or on their phone reading a social media post. Increasing digital options give small businesses inexpensive opportunities to connect with consumers and drive traffic.
If your marketing strategy includes direct mail — which I would highly suggest it does — it’s a good idea to take advantage of cost-effective new technology trends like Informed Delivery to increase traffic, drive sales and reach customers digitally.
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