To print or not to print in the midst of COVID-19
The coronavirus has impacted millions of lives and industries globally. With the majority of consumers working from home and feeling the fatigue of e-commerce, how can print and mail during the COVID-19 pandemic add value and create trust amongst your customers?
You are more likely to hear from most people that when receiving any electronic communication from their creditors or brands, they are more likely to be suspicious of the communication whereas through printing and mailing a statement, marketing offer and any other form of communication to them through print and post they find it more trustworthy. Critical communications delivered to a physical post box take more thought and action to discard. In the e-commerce world there has been in a spike in phishing scams and more and more consumers are not opening e-mails, rather choosing to either ignore, delete, or unsubscribe to messages received electronically.
In a survey done in April 2020, by USPS (US Postal Service), with more than 1,000 adults, Americans responded by saying that they feel more connected by receiving posted item in their post boxes rather than connecting through technology.
The survey highlights included:
- Approximately 67% of consumers are feeling increasingly isolated and distant from people and have acknowledged the effect of the pandemic on their mental well-being.
- When asked how the pandemic has changed their activities over the past few weeks, approximately 1-in-6 consumers said they have sent more post to family and friends over the past few weeks
- During the pandemic, two-thirds of those surveyed indicated they would be likely to send posted items. Family members and friends would be the most common recipients. Those who are younger, have higher income and those with children are more likely to want to send cards and letters.
- 42% said they were more reliant on post as a result of social distancing and 38% indicated the importance of being able to shop for mail products such as cards and stationary in retail locations permitted to be open during the pandemic
So why would businesses consider using Direct Mail to target their audience rather than e-commerce?
Direct Mail informs your target audience about your business, for example if your customer is trying to recall whether or not your store is open for business, what better way to reach them using Direct Mail and informing them of any special offerings you may have.
- As mentioned in the above survey done in America, consumers prefer to receive brand communications through posted mail. Personalised addressed Direct Mail tells your audience that they are important to your business, so much so that you are willing to spend money on paper, ink and postage to reach them.
- Direct mail has traditionally a higher response rate than other form of marketing. In surveys done in Europe Direct Mail is more likely to be kept on average in a home for 17 days and be looked over a few times, whereas e-mails last 2 seconds in a mail box or if the e-mail lands in a spam box, these e-mails are never looked at.
- Direct mail maintains brand awareness and is measurable. Direct mail also has been proven to have one of the best ROI’s of all the marketing channels.
- Direct mail does not need to break the bank to be effective, with considerable thought and innovation campaigns can be put together that are cost efficient and impactful.
In these times of a global pandemic, Direct Mail has a new role and cleverly customized personalised direct mailings can boost consumers attention spans and the more interactive the mail piece the more likely the consumer will remember the brand. Using textures like foiling, embossing or glitter inks tweaks their interest and will be remembered. Print buyers are able to assist marketers with their campaigns and boost their response rates by finding innovative print solutions within budgets.
Sources:
https://www.modmail.com/blog/the-5-reasons-why-direct-mail-marketing-strategy-still-works
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