Direct mail marketing might be seen as a traditional method of marketing that has gone out of fashion since the world is now digital, but that’s far from the truth. Direct mail marketing is here to stay, although it is going through some significant technological evolving that is makes it appealing to the target markets.

Through the power of technology, direct mail marketing has become once again part of the marketing strategy that converts prospects to buyers and also drives engagement to retain customers. 

There are different technological advancement that has taken direct mailing to a brand new level. Some of these technologies are augmented reality, video print, QR codes, near field communication, and lots more. 

In this article, we will discuss technologies available for direct mail marketing and why they are better than the traditional method.

Technologies to include in your direct mail

So, rather than sending your customers and prospects plain old paper full of texts and images, you can make it more exciting for them added to the touch and feel the experience that endears everyone to direct mails in the first place. Here are some innovative technologies some marketers are already using, and you should do the same too.

Add a sound

One simple technology you can add to a plain text direct mail that will not cost much is the audio in print. You can add audio to your direct mail like they do in greeting cards. It can be an opening welcome sound or something pleasant that plays when your customers open the letter.

Video brochure

It seems like booklets included in direct mails are becoming dull even with all exotic images in them. You can give your customers something more refreshing by adding a specific video, which could also be a live stream to an event together with the print material you are sending. 

To enable them to watch the video, you can include a video screen along with a play button. It all sounds superfluous, but these technologies exist, and big brands are already using them to wow their customers and prospects. The experience is out of this world.

Quick response (QR) code

Connect your offline users to an online experience by adding a QR code to their direct mail. Thee codes could lead them to anything you wish to promote, such as your product page or online stores. It can even take them to contest or discount pages. The best thing is that you can include a QR page in any promotional print material such as posters, letterheads, flyers, brand logo, brochure, door hangers, and so on.

Buy now technology

Another technology you can include indirect mails sent to customers is the buy now technology in which users can scan the QR code of the enabled mail, which takes them to where they can buy and pay for products or services they desire.

Programmatic mail

Another way technology has made the direct mail aspect of marketing more appealing is through the use of programmatic mail. Here, companies can use the information they’ve gathered from customers through surveys, loyalty cards, coupons, and so much more to send them letters addressing their specific problem along with the solution. This method drives a higher conversion rate. 

Near field communication

The near field communication is a remarkable technology that takes direct mailing to a whole new level. NFC comes in the form of a microchip which can communicate with the mobile phones of your customers through short radio wave. You can put this chip in the direct mail you wish to send to them.

With this technology, your customers don’t need to open a website or download an app. All they need to do is place an NFC enabled device on the mail, and whatever content you intend them to see will display on their phones. 

You can use this device to reveal product labels, contests, discount coupons, and lots more. You can also program it to take your customers to your website, which has all your products or services or to guide them through a customer onboarding process.

Augmented reality (AR)

Take your target audience on a thrilling adventure right where they are standing and staring at the direct mail through some augmented reality technology.  Adding AR to direct mail involves including digital elements on printed materials so that when users point their smartphones, it brings up information about your product and services. It’s one wow-factor experience users would not forget in a long while. An excellent way to ensure your audience never forgets about your products or services.

Reasons to use technology for direct mail marketing

Aside from the wow factor, these technologies bring about; they also help in reducing the challenges that come with traditional direct mail marketing such as managing data on customers. With the CRM software, you can learn everything about your customer’s behavior and customize the mail accordingly. 

You can even decide to send direct mail to your customers and receive responses from your CRM through technology. Here are some other reasons to include technology in your direct marketing campaign:

Effective communication

With technology, you can look through your customer’s purchasing history and send them a mail to remind them to purchase something that might have skipped their minds rather than sending random letters that don’t interest them.

Manage the workflow

You can manage your customer’s data, track, and measure results through automation and cloud-based software. Using these technologies are better than the tradition spreadsheet, which is subject to a lot of errors and takes time and effort to complete. You also don’t have to bother about the thousands of printed emails sent to customers since there are technologies to take care of that too.

You can also customize the contents in direct mail to fit the age, preference, and interests of your customers to increase their response rate through automation technologies.

Better optimization

You can now easily find your target audience, analyze their needs,  customize their solution, and send out the printed mails all through the use of technology rather than stressing yourself and your team to work through all the logistics.