INTEGRATE DIRECT MAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT

A while back, while browsing some of my bookmarked pages for must-read articles, I stumbled upon a concept that I now keep written on a sticky note on my computer at all times:

Marry the romance of analog with the convenience of digital

While I wish I could stake claim to this maxim that perfectly encapsulates the practice of integrated print, it was the artists of Snail Mail My Email that inspired GOOD to deliver this sentiment. But hey, inspiration is best when shared, right?
I wanted to bring this phrase to attention because we’ve been reading and trying to understand how analog communications such as direct mail fits in with today’s digital platforms, namely social media. As active participants on various social media sites (cough, follow us, cough), we spent some time investigating the best practices and strategies to cross-promote product or service offerings via integrated direct mail and social media platforms. We’ve found that when using integrated marketing communications, your message will surely extend its reach further than if you were to attack each medium separately.
(Click here to download more tips in our free ebook, 42 Ways to Direct Mail Marketing Success!)
With over 1 billion active Facebook users, 343 million active users on Google+, 200 million LinkedIn users, and 200 million active Twitter users, your customers are more than likely active on one social media site or another.  (Digital Marketing Ramblings)
A recent study conducted by IBM found that 82% of CMOs are planning on increasing their use of social media over the next 3-5 years.  As more and more marketers are becoming savvy with social media marketing, the messaging highway is fast becoming a massive information traffic jam. Yet, with all of these people online, more and more consumers report that they prefer to receive information from direct mail.  By including direct mail marketing into your social media strategy, you stand the chance of maneuvering through the crowded lanes into the mind of your target audience.
The first step you need to take to begin this beneficial partnership is to take inventory of your customer data. Sure, not everyone who connects with your business on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter are going to be on your mailing list, and vice versa, but surely some will fall in both columns.
Here are four easy ways to gather the information you need:
• When asking a customer or prospect for their mailing address, ask for their Twitter handle too. Send out a personal tweet or direct message to build the business-consumer relationship while gathering insight into that customer and your audience in general.
• Keep track of social media interactions with your customers in your CRM. This data will enable you to segment your content depending on what their needs are and where they will see value in communications from your business.
• When sending out direct mail, include your social media information and tease customers with any current social media promotions your business has going on. By measuring the results of each campaign, you can see what types of direct mail promotions or marketing channels different audiences respond to.
• Tweet and post status updates that encourage your social media fans to sign-up for your mailing list. Make sure you’re adding a direct-mail only value to the customer, otherwise they won’t see how signing up benefits them directly.
Now that you have a basic social media connection with your customers and understand what media they prefer using, you can begin to plot your messaging and offer strategy. While we can offer a few suggestions, this is where your creative chops really come in. To truly generate audience interest in your messaging, it’s best to offer some sort of incentive for them to react to. This could be a coupon, a “freebie,” or something else of value.
Here are some ways to integrate your direct mail and social media messaging to drive greater response.
• Host a contest that is cross-promoted on all of your social media profiles. Announce the contest to those on your mailing list with a postcard.
• Send a direct mail piece that announces a deal only available to those who “like” you on Facebook. Be sure to keep track of who engages with you during the time of the campaign. Those who “like” you can print the coupon or use the coupon code you provided. Make it an offer that can be shared. (Who knows, maybe the coupon will even go viral!)
• Consider adding a QR code or other mobile-optimized technology to your direct mail piece that takes the viewer immediately to your landing page offer. Give them an incentive such as 10%.
We can’t stress enough how impacting this multi-channel messaging approach is. Nowadays it takes much more than seven points of contact to make a sale, so making multiple appeals on social media along with a tactile and “straight to the mailbox” via direct mail is a smart marketing approach for new campaigns.
To better understand how B&B can partner with you to create an integrated approach,  check out our Integrated Marketing solutions.
By +Maggie Young