Many businesses seem to be treating social media as a standalone marketing channel and failing to consider how it can intertwine with other key marketing activities. In this mini-series I will look at how your social media presences and strategy can integrate across your marketing plan. First up is…
Direct Mail
Remember that? It’s still a very common practice so don’t laugh. Receiving mail through your door (and I mean a real door for all you Sims fans) can cause both annoyance but on the flip-side can be a nice experience.
Your business may be spending some serious cash on DM so why not make sure you are using it to take the offline – online? Traditional calls to action (CTAs) such as ‘call us’ hold limited appeal. How about using a QR code (make sure you explain how to work them) to take the individual to a promotion running on your Facebook page? Or perhaps offer real authenticity and transparency by driving them to your reviews on Yelp (note- if your product or customer service sucks, this probably isn’t the best of ideas)? Launching a new product? Use that QR code to take the reader to a video demonstration. Running an online coupon? Lead the reader to your web sign-up form, that way you can collect key data that you may not already hold on that customer.
Key to all if this is trackability – by placing dedicated QR codes on your DM, you can gauge how effective these CTAs are in taking your customer/prospect further down the funnel. If you are not keen on using QR codes then at least make sure you have custom URLs within your mail. And of course have logos and usernames/URLs for each of your social media outlets on all mail.
I really like this quote I heard on a podcast recently – ‘silos in your business will hurt you, silos in your marketing will kill you’. Worth remembering.
Have you got any great tips or examples of social media integration in DM? Please share in the comments below!
There you go folks, some practical tips for working social media in to your direct mail activity. Stay tuned for the next in the series!
Fellow digital comms chum Petya Georgieva was inspired to write 5 ways to make digital #PR pros run a mile after reading my questions, check it out and arm yourself with her great questions!
Mike
Social Penguin on The Web!