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Whether you listen to Christmas music year-round or dread the holiday rush, there’s no denying that the holidays are the most profitable time of year for many businesses. In fact, estimates from the National Retail Foundation attributed between $755.3 to $766.7 billion in sales last holiday season alone.

In order to capitalize on some of the biggest shopping days of the year, here are a few of our favorite holiday marketing ideas and advertising tips.

General Tips for Holiday Advertising

Before we dig into the tactics that can help boost your business during the holiday season, it’s important to understand the bigger picture of marketing during the holidays. Here are five goals to keep in mind when planning your holiday marketing campaigns.

1. Be Timely

It’s never too early to start planning your holiday marketing ideas and initiatives. Pages can take up to 45 days to rank, so we recommend moving any web-based tactics live no later than mid-October. While Christmas isn’t until the end of December, many people start shopping in early- to mid-November, well before Black Friday deals hit.

2. Be Brief

With advertising competition at an all-time high, attention spans are short. Keep your messaging short, sweet, and impactful for the best results.

3. Stay Focused

Online noise and increased ad costs mean that your holiday advertising ideas have to be sharply focused to make an impact. If you have a limited budget, focus on a few key days of sales based on historical data from years past.

If you’re looking for the strongest return possible on a small budget, remarketing is another great option, as you’re likely to see a higher conversion rate by advertising to former and current customers.

4. Respect Your Brand

Just because it’s the holiday season doesn’t mean that your blue brand has to transform to red and green! Consider what the holidays look like visually for your business, and allow your foundational brand to shine through in every marketing initiative you undertake.

Here are some holiday angles to consider:

  • Feel-good, charitable, emotional, and grateful
  • Exciting, flashy, and full of great deals
  • Fun, bright, and family-focused
  • Non-denominational, winter-focused, or inclusive of all winter holidays

When choosing a direction for your holiday marketing ideas, always consider your business’s brand, tone, and overall marketing goals. Slapping a graphic Santa Claus on your year-round advertising simply doesn’t cut it.

5. Be Truly Competitive

Don’t expect to own the market and see a massive boost in sales if you’re only willing to offer 10% off and free shipping. In order to succeed at marketing during the holidays, you’ll need to be generous with your sales and special offers, especially to loyal customers who have waited all year to make a big purchase and get a great deal.

If you’re a service-based company, consider offering vouchers or pre-orders that customers can buy now and use later. Not only does this create urgency and encourage sales, but it allows you to pre-schedule and guarantee your next year of business ahead of time.

In order to rank during the competitive holiday season, you’ll need to foster strategic search engine optimization (SEO) on your website year round. That being said, here are a few considerations to keep top-of-mind to expand your optimization during the holidays.

Holiday SEO & PPC Strategies

SEO and PPC should be a major focus when it comes to holiday marketing ideas. Making timely gift guide landing pages for holiday search terms is one of the best ways to capitalize on the busy shopping season.

Fill these pages not only with best-selling products but thoughtful content that will help customers who are unfamiliar with your business make a quick and easy purchase. And, be sure to focus on internal linking and all of the usual SEO-boosting suspects to get your pages ranking.

Keep in mind that like with any paid medium during the holidays, you’ll pay more per click than you do during other times of the year. The heavy competition can be discouraging when deploying your holiday marketing ideas through PPC, but it can pay off big if you are strategic in your keywords and bids.

The Merits of Google My Business

An often-overlooked element of your website’s search engine optimization is your Google My Business (GMB) profile. This panel allows customers to view your company’s store hours, reviews, and updates without even having to click through to your website.

Be sure to complete your GMB profile before the holiday season begins, and revisit it frequently to ensure your hours, contact info, and other store details stay up to date.

Holiday Email Marketing Campaigns: Signups & Savings

The holiday season is one of the best times to grow your email list organically. The trick? Offering direct, valuable savings to customers to encourage them to sign up. Once you have a customer hooked, here are a few tricks to prevent them from unsubscribing:

  • Use subject lines to create urgency around sales and deals
  • Create email automations for abandoned carts
  • Offer valuable content like gift guides and product tips

Inboxes are especially cluttered this time of year, so be sure that each email you send has a true purpose and won’t simply frustrate your customer to the point of unsubscribing.

Holiday Social Advertising Strategies

With high costs and oversaturated platforms, social advertising during the holidays can be incredibly competitive. You’ll have to be at the top of your game if you want to stand out among the crowd.

Giveaways, contests, and other content that encourages audience engagement can be particularly helpful in breaking through the noise. While you have limited space to get your message across, try to think about your audience and speak directly to them in a novel and creative way to grab their attention. At the end of the day, authentic ads that showcase great deals will do far more than screaming at users with all caps and bright flashing signs.

Writing Content for the Holiday Season

When it comes to holiday marketing ideas, content is everything. Here are three tips to keep your content thriving and bringing in new customers.

1. Be Timely

We can’t stress enough the importance of timeliness when it comes to seasonal content. It can take weeks or months for your content to be indexed and served to users. And, many users start researching holiday decorations, gifts, and more up to two months before the big day. 

That means any search-driven content you have planned needs to go live no later than October. It may feel strange working on holiday copy before fall has even arrived, but it will pay off big time come the holiday season.

2. Consider Your Unique Holiday Customers

During the holidays, millions of people shop for gifts at stores they’re unfamiliar with. One of the best ways to earn a new customer is to make sure they have everything they need to make a decision (and a purchase), even if they’re unfamiliar with your industry.

Consider building out your product pages further to aid in product comparison and streamline decision-making. Product guides that go over sizing, features, and the differences between product models can also make online shopping a breeze for those unfamiliar with your store.

3. Utilize Internal Linking

Internal linking is one of the top ways that Google understands the architecture and content relationships on your website. This means that high-quality internal linking can help your holiday-themed blogs gain traction faster when every day counts.

Use links with purpose. No reader wants a constant bombardment of product links without any explanation to help them make a decision. Be sure to include plenty of helpful and educational content links, as well.

Breaking the Mold with Creative Holiday Campaigns

With so much noise online, you’ll need to think differently when brainstorming holiday marketing ideas if you want to stand out in your customers’ eyes. Consider the go-to marketing tactics of competitors and industry leaders, and then brainstorm adjacent or opposing ideas to get started.

One of our favorite innovative holiday marketing strategies over the years was a digital holiday card we created for local law firm Barley Snyder. They wanted a unique and memorable way to wish their clients and colleagues a happy holiday season. We planned, designed, and animated a custom digital greeting card that was equal parts meaningful and charming.

Barley Snyder Winter Holiday Wishes 2019

Check out the full Barley Snyder case study. 

Dreaming of an amazing holiday marketing campaign but don’t have the time or resources to bring it to life? See how our team can help!

Working in a digital marketing agency (or really any company in any industry), you come to understand that the success of a project lives or dies by the quality of your project management. 

Project management methodologies offer a clear roadmap that will keep you on track and under budget. That way your team can deliver a project not only successfully, but efficiently. 

There are different types of project management methodologies you can choose from that will ensure your digital marketing project stays on track. Keep reading to learn more about which project management approach may work best for you. 

What is Project Management?

Project management provides a framework for delivering completed projects. It is the planning, performing, and finishing of certain tasks and goals for a campaign or project. 

The main objectives of project management are producing specific outputs, called deliverables. The work is divided into project management phases, which allow for easier collaboration, better coordination, and more efficient delivery of project work. 

For example, within our agency project management is used to manage multiple marketing activities and campaigns, including: 

For project management to be successful, there must be a project manager to lead in planning, executing, monitoring, controlling, and closing out projects. The project manager is responsible for the entire scope of the project, the project team and resources, as well as the project budget and timeline. 

Every project manager takes control of a  project differently. Depending on their unique qualities, they will select a style and a project management methodology that suits their personality and the personality of their team.

Every successful project management process depends heavily on the strength of the project manager, and learning how to be a good project manager starts with knowing which type you are. 

The 4 Types of Project Managers

Wondering what type of project manager you are? There are 4 main types of project managers that all work differently to accomplish goals. Each type has its strengths and weaknesses, but all types work efficiently in their own unique way to launch a successful project. Let’s explore each one further.

1. Technical Project Manager

The technical project manager has complete command over all project management practices. Technical project managers have great attention to detail, analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as, critical thinking and decision-making capabilities. A technical project manager is successful because their team trusts their expertise and looks to them as an authority.  

2. Adventurous Project Manager

Adventurous project managers are those that believe the bigger the risk, the higher the reward. They are always looking for new opportunities and ground-breaking ideas. However, while they take risks, they still stay inside strategic boundaries. An adventurous project manager is successful because they are able to see and share the bigger picture and get the team to buy into the excitement. 

3. Expert Project Manager

Expert project managers are experienced and knowledgeable. These managers focus on reliable data and are masters of executing different project management methodologies to perfection. They turn business opportunities into financial results thanks to their years of experience and hard work. The expert project manager is successful because the team can depend on their in-depth knowledge and experience to guide them through the process as well as learn from their expertise in project management. 

4. Supportive Project Manager

The supportive project manager believes in motivation and delegation. They focus on uninterrupted communication, smooth team collaboration, and boosting morale. Working closely with team members, they ensure everyone has a role to play. The supportive project manager is successful because they are able to get everyone involved and working together, which leads to the entire team gaining experience and skills. 

Types of Project Management Methodologies

As you begin your research into project management methodologies, you’ll quickly learn that there are several popular project management approaches:

  • Agile – This methodology is collaborative, quick, and open to data-driven change. It involves short phases of work with frequent testing, reassessment, and adaptation throughout the process. 
  • Scrum – This methodology splits work into short cycles (often called sprints) which usually last 1-2 weeks. Each small team is led by a Scrum master, which is different from the project manager. 
  • Kanban – This methodology visually represents tasks on a Kanban board. Each column on the board represents a stage in the process, and tasks are shown as they progress through columns.
  • Six Sigma – This methodology puts an emphasis on ensuring consistency in output and impeccable quality. It aims to eliminate defects and reduce variation. 
  • Waterfall – Waterfall is considered the traditional project management methodology. The tasks and phases are completed in a linear, sequential order. Each stage must be completed before moving on to the next one. 
  • Lean – This methodology applies lean business principles to project management methods. This maximizes value and minimizes waste. The 3Ms (Muda or waste, Mura or unevenness, and Muri or overburden), represent waste in this method. 
  • XP – This methodology is designed for software development and emphasizes teamwork and collaboration among managers, customers, and developers. It consists of a set of rules based on its five values

Which one is best? Choosing the right approach can be difficult because of the wide variety of types of project management approaches.

And while all methods have advantages and disadvantages, we have found that the Waterfall method is best when it comes to digital marketing project management because of its structure and extensive documentation. 

The Best Project Management System for Marketing: The Waterfall Approach

The waterfall method is a sequential, linear process that consists of several discrete phases. No phase can begin until the prior phase is complete. In addition, each phase’s completion is terminal. This means you cannot return to a previous phase once you have moved on to the next one. 

The Pros of Waterfall Project Management

The Waterfall project management approach has many advantages. First and foremost, it is easy to manage and understand. Extensive documentation allows you to see progress clearly.

The documentation also means that knowledge stays in the organization and makes training simple. You don’t have to try and infer what someone was going to do next, it is already written out for you. 

The Waterfall approach also allows team members to better plan their time, so they know what they need to do and when they need to do it. Lastly, it benefits the person receiving the results, because they will know exactly what to expect. 

Using the Waterfall project management approach, you can segment your marketing projects into easy-to-execute project management phases.

Putting It Into Practice: Creating Project Management Phases

Project management phases are key to creating a successful project. Understanding and following these phases will help you to stay on track and successfully accomplish your goals. When choosing the Waterfall approach, there are six phases to progress through: 

  1. Discovery / Scope – The scope of a project outlines all aspects of the project in detail. This includes activities, resources, timelines, and deliverables. The scope also covers the key stakeholders, processes, assumptions, and constraints.
  1. Design – The design phase of a project is usually broken up into two subphases: logical design and physical design. The logical design consists of brainstorming and theorizing possible solutions. In terms of deliverables, the logical phase typically takes the form of a mood board. The physical design puts those theoretical concepts into concrete practices and provides additional deliverables like design compositions
  1. Development – The development of the project happens when programmers incorporate the requirements and specifications that were created in the design phase into actual code. This includes building out the structure as well as the functionalities required by the project, including adding in content marketing and SEO strategies.
  1. Test – The test phase is used to evaluate the final version of the developed project. During this phase, the documentation from all the previous phases is finalized to align with the delivered project. This is also where the project manager and team will decide if the project is ready to be launched. 
  1. Launch – The launch phase occurs when the project team is ready to set the project into motion and share it with the client or the world
  1. Review – The review phase includes the project managers comparing the actual project budget, timeline, and goals to their original projections. Depending on the results, project managers may choose to adjust schedules or adjust processes to keep future projects on track. 

The Cons of Waterfall Project Management

While there are many advantages to the Waterfall approach, there are also disadvantages. The main con to this approach is that there is no going back; the completion of a phase is terminal.

In addition, there’s the pressure of making the final deadline. Since the timeline is so strict, falling behind on one task means falling behind on every task. There isn’t much flexibility or room for error. 

Since there are some disadvantages to the Waterfall method, we recommend creating your own hybrid project management approach and adding agility. Doing this allows for more flexibility than a strict Waterfall approach, but still benefits you with that clear structure and documentation of expectations.

Hybrid Project Management Concepts: Adding Agility

It’s not uncommon for organizations to adopt a standard project management methodology based on the unique way their team operates. Or, even more likely, they will combine several methodologies to create a hybrid concept.

A disadvantage of the Waterfall approach is that it can be too rigid and not quickly adaptable. This rigidity can be a drawback when working in digital marketing where scope revisions can come at any time.  For that reason, it’s key to develop a Waterfall / Agile hybrid of methodologies.

The key to figuring out how to be a good project manager is learning how to cater to the needs of all stakeholders and knowing when that means being flexible and stepping outside of the Waterfall model. Being flexible gives freedom to make adjustments that are needed for unique requests or scenarios.

Agile methods focus on adding, testing, and tweaking the functionalities of a project. This means you can explore potential changes as development progresses, instead of being tied down to one plan. 

All features go through a testing and revision process in weekly or bi-weekly “sprints”. These sprints allow constant collaboration and continuous improvement at every stage of the project. 

Person working on a project in an office.

Putting Your Project Management Approach Into Practice

Once you’ve decided what type of project management approach is best for you and your team, you can begin putting it into practice. When setting up your project management strategy, there are a few things to keep in mind. 

Creating an agile waterfall project management strategy can seem overwhelming, but with the right guidelines, it can feel less daunting. Following these guidelines will help ensure your project runs smoothly and is delivered successfully: 

  • Have a unique scope created for every project. Do not depend on cookie-cutter project scopes. Get creative and develop a new scope for each of your projects to ensure you are determining the best course of action for that specific scenario. A well-thought-out, tailored scope is your best chance at sticking to your timeline, budget, and expectations.
  • Create flexible hours for completing the work. Every web redesign marketing project is different. Some may be heavier on design, while others may focus more on development. The same can be said about internet marketing projects – some will need more time spent on SEO, while others need attention on social media efforts. Your hours should reflect your priorities and marketing goals.
  • Incorporate project reports. Evaluating every project at the end of each phase or month will help you to measure your progress and avoid issues that can build up over time. You can then make any necessary adjustments to your project to keep it on course.

Putting different types of project management methodologies into practice is hard, but not impossible, especially when you have someone on the outside to help. With the right research, planning, and structure, you can create a project that will no doubt be successful.

Need a third party that can facilitate smooth management of your marketing initiatives? Tower can help. Discover how we can benefit your business’s efforts with our successful project management process.

Budgeting in any industry can be overwhelming, let alone if you’re putting together a non-profit marketing budget. It can start to feel like everything is a priority as you sit down to plan. At the same time, it’s important to go into a new fiscal year being mindful of your spend. As you sit down to plan your overall finances for the year, setting up a non-profit marketing budget is key to achieving the goals and initiatives you’re working towards.

Establishing budgeting goals and marketing objectives doesn’t have to be a daunting task either. When executed properly, they can help you make objective decisions and lay down steps for future success. Below we’ll cover the importance of a marketing budget for your non-profit, tips for getting started, and ideas for managing your budget throughout your fiscal year.

Why Is A Non-Profit Marketing Budget Important?

So why exactly is a budget important for a non-profit institution specifically when it comes to your marketing? From a high-level view, it’s key to pre-planning your marketing initiatives and making sure you have the right resources behind them.

If you’re curious what the average marketing budget non-profits have in place is, research shows the general rule is roughly between 5-15% of your operating budget. However, one surprising study found that almost 20% of non-profits had no firm budget at all and simply played it by ear month to month. 

As a non-profit group, you likely put a lot of energy into impact initiatives like fundraising, donor relations, or event planning. But at the end of the day, marketing is an important piece to all of those activities. 

By establishing budgeting goals up front, it’s a lot easier to advocate for the day-to-day support you’ll need before you’re in the midst of marketing work. Plus, when it comes time to review the year with your board, it makes reporting on your marketing strategy’s ROI much easier to track.

4 Best Practices When Creating a Budget for Non-Profits

It’s best to start establishing your non-profit marketing budget roughly 2 ½ to 3 months ahead of your new fiscal year. This gives you and your team enough time to pull together different components. The average marketing budget for non-profits will need to account for cash flow, programs, advertising, and more. If you’re not sure where to begin, here are some great non-profit budgeting tools from the National Council of Nonprofits

Starting early will give you enough time to set up deadlines for internal and board approvals so you’re ready to get started when the fiscal year begins. Plus, it allows you to engage any outside vendors or marketing agencies that can offer extra support outside of your team’s scope. Here are the best practices that can be helpful as you’re putting it all together.

1. Set Your Strategy

To start, you’ll need to have an idea of the overarching objectives of your organization for the year. Marketing for brand awareness is great, but it’s not the only way you can use marketing to make a difference. Your marketing choices should be flexible enough to offer support in a variety of ways to different impact initiatives.

For example, marketing efforts to help raise a specific amount of donations vs. hosting a campaign to engage current volunteers would look very different. Pick those top non-profit-wide initiatives and then dig into how marketing will play a role in achieving them.

2. Determine Your Marketing Goals

Next, it’s time to look at marketing goals that will support those overall efforts you’ve identified in the first step. These should be clear and measurable. Some typical marketing goals non-profits set can include:

  • Quotas (for your events, email marketing list, social media, etc.)
  • Performance-based benchmarks
  • Boosting Leads
  • Increased donations or support
  • Driving qualified website traffic

As an example of how it all fits, consider a non-profit with an objective to find new volunteers. If there’s a sign-up area on the website, a great marketing goal could be to drive more qualified website traffic to the page. 

Increasing site traffic with visitors who have similar interests will give the organization greater visibility and help boost those volunteer numbers over time. Plus, as your site traffic grows over time, you’re likely to build your expertise, authority, and trust. This means you’ll perform better in search algorithms as well. Once goals like this (driving more traffic) are established, it’s time to consider the day-to-day marketing actions you can take to reach them.

3. Pick Your Tactics & Think One Step Ahead

Carrying on with the analogy above, if your marketing goal is to drive more traffic your tactics may include investing in a PPC campaign or focusing on a content marketing strategy. These are the efforts that will help you work towards those goals.

Identifying which tactics you’ll use and the costs associated with them will help you create those important estimates for your budget. And while you’re planning out your tactics, make sure that you’re including a good mix of both traditional and digital marketing efforts.

Some traditional marketing tactics to consider are: 

  • Print advertising
  • Direct mail campaigns
  • Radio messaging
  • Billboard messaging

And some effective digital marketing tactics you can pair with these include:

  • Social media advertising
  • Internet radio messaging
  • PPC / display advertising
  • Organic internet marketing
  • Website redesign or hosting and management updates

From there, decide how to allocate your budget, keeping those main goals in mind as well as any spending requirements. (For example, there may be minimum spend amounts needed to do advertising via radio or social media.)

If your non-profit marketing budget also needs to cover events, consider setting up buckets per event. You can include budgeting to cover each event’s postage, signage, security, rental fees, printing, design, and more. That way those hidden costs won’t be unaccounted for in your budget.

As an extra safety net, consider also setting up a miscellaneous fund so you can plan for the unexpected and field any last-second requests. This can also come in handy for items with larger costs like photography, videography, or traditional media placements like TV and radio.

Once you’ve settled on which tactics are most important to reaching your marketing goals, you can start to craft your best marketing budget

Two teammates work together to develop their non-profit marketing budget and marketing strategy.

4. Communicate with Your Non-Profit Team

Marketing for a non-profit typically has to cover a wide range of mission pillars. Your team will have a role in event planning, execution, follow-up, and plenty else that falls on your plate. The key here is to have your action steps planned ahead so you have enough resources to cover all these demands.

While putting together your budget, there may be necessary tactics that require clear communication to the board or fall outside the scope of your team. For example, redesigning your website to improve your branding might be a necessary tactic, but it is challenging if you don’t have the right dev and design support internally. Additionally, it will likely require cooperation from the profit’s top stakeholders.

As you start to present your marketing budget, communicate what’s needed for your marketing tactics to be successful and also advocate for the resources your team will need to accomplish them. Uniting expectations at the start will make the months ahead easier to navigate.

Managing Your Costs Throughout the Fiscal Year

Once your budget is in place the next hardest part can be sticking to it and managing it throughout the year. Here are some of our recommendations that can help, especially if you’re trying to maximize your dollars throughout the fiscal year.

Tap into Your Volunteer Network

It’s easy to think within the confines of what your team can do, but don’t forget there’s an entire community behind you that believes in your cause! Consider ways that organizations, volunteers, or other partners you have exposure to can help open the doors for growth and help you carry out marketing goals in a cost-effective manner.

Volunteers support their local non-profit by spending time packing and organizing boxes.

Look for Trade or Pro-Bono Relationships

Be vigilant for any opportunities to create a mutually beneficial relationship that also helps you stay on budget. This could include:

  • Trading venue fees for sponsorship highlights on event materials.
  • Trading a free, mission-driven in-office lunch and learn for event volunteers.
  • Trading board membership dues and seat for marketing support.

Don’t Just Think in the Present

And last but most important, don’t just stay in the moment with your marketing. Always keep an eye a month or two ahead, while evaluating the past months, to make any marketing budget adjustments and stay on track. 

It can be a slippery slope if your non-profit staff gets bogged down in fundraising or focuses on the event happening right now, with no preparation for what lies ahead. Doing this can potentially pinch planning for your next major impact initiative and steal away from its future success.

How An Agency Can Make The Most of Your Money

As you begin establishing budgeting goals and drawing conclusions for your marketing budget, remember that you are not alone. If you’re finding that there are certain marketing goals that fall outside what your team can support or are trying to navigate creating a well-rounded marketing plan, having an outside perspective can help.

You may find that working with an agency can generate creative ideas for expanding your mission awareness into new markets at a reasonable cost. Consolidating your outsourced support to one vendor instead of multiple can save money in the long run and provide a more cohesive support system when it comes to marketing execution and branding. 

Plus, the experience of an agency can go a long way when budgeting for marketing pieces you’re unfamiliar with. Their expertise can help you determine the best spend of your money for each marketing bucket so that your dollars make the best impact possible.

Looking for more advice on creating a non-profit marketing budget? Listen to our podcast for more great budgeting advice or reach out to our team to hear input from experienced non-profit marketing professionals.

Have you ever used direct mail marketing for your business? In the digital age, many marketers avoid direct mail because they think it’s old-fashioned and can’t compete with other channels. Other companies have used direct mail before, but weren’t happy with their ROI because their campaign wasn’t well executed.

If you’ve ever asked “what is direct mail marketing?” or want to learn more about this time-tested marketing channel, we’re here to help. This ultimate guide provides the basics you need to understand direct mail marketing. We’ve also sprinkled in tips and advice that will help you execute your next campaign like a pro.

What Is Direct Mail Marketing?

Before we can get into the details, it’s important to define direct mail and direct mail marketing. Let’s start by answering a common question :: what is direct mail?

Direct mail is print marketing that’s sent out in the mail (usually via the USPS). It can come in a variety of formats, such as postcards, brochures, and parcels. Direct mail can contain coupons and offers, or it can be purely informational with a soft call to action (CTA). Direct mail is sent to a predefined group of people on a mailing list or carrier route (a smaller segment of a ZIP Code).

Direct mail marketing is a form of direct marketing that targets people with direct mail pieces sent in the mail. Like any marketing channel, it has its own set of best practices. We’ll take a closer look at two of them below.

Direct Mail Best Practice :: The 40 / 40 / 20 Rule

When it comes to direct marketing, the 40 / 40 / 20 Rule is one of the oldest plays in the book. This guideline was developed in the 1960s by marketing pioneer Ed Mayer. Basically, the 40 / 40 / 20 Rule provides advice on how marketers should break down their direct marketing efforts.

While the 40 / 40 / 20 Rule was created in the pre-Internet age, it’s still relevant today — especially for direct mail marketing. The 40 / 40 / 20 Rule breaks successful direct marketing down into three main elements :: audience, offer, and everything else.

  1. Audience. You should focus 40% of your attention on choosing the right audience for your direct mail piece. Even if your mail piece is perfectly designed, your efforts will be wasted if you send it to people who aren’t interested or can’t use your offer.
  2. Offer. Mayer recommends putting 40% of your energy into creating a relevant offer. Providing recipients with an appealing offer they can actually use encourages them to take action. Including a CTA with your offer is very helpful because your audience knows their next steps.
  3. Everything else. Dedicate the final 20% of your time and energy to the details. This includes elements like direct mail format, design, and copy.

Direct Mail Best Practice :: Reach vs. Frequency

Balancing reach with frequency is also critical to any direct mail marketing strategy. Here’s what we mean by reach and frequency:

  • Reach is the number of people you send your direct mail piece to. In other words, it’s the number of people on your mailing list or carrier route. If you mail to 2,500 people, your reach for that campaign is 2,500.
  • Frequency is the number of times you send your direct mail piece to the same person. If the same person sees your ad two times, the frequency for that campaign is two.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking reach is more important than frequency. You want to get in front of as many people as possible, right? Not necessarily! According to the Rule of Seven, people must see your brand at least seven times before they notice it and take action. That’s a lot of impressions!

With this in mind, you should always prioritize frequency over reach when sending direct mail. Mail to a smaller group of people several times, instead of a large group of people one time. Like any marketing channel, consistency is key to your success because it helps you stay top of mind.

Can Direct Mail Marketing Work for My Business?

Yes! Direct mail works for businesses and organizations in every industry you can think of. Here’s a short list of businesses and organizations that can benefit from direct mail:

  • Restaurants
  • Gyms
  • Grocery Stores
  • Churches
  • HVAC Companies
  • Landscaping Companies
  • Accounting / Tax Firms
  • Automotive Shops
  • Dentists
  • Salons

Whether you’re looking to boost sales, increase brand awareness, or reactivate lapsed customers, direct mail can do it all.

Not convinced yet? Just check out these direct mail response rates from the Compu-Mail. The response rate to direct mail can be as high as 37%. Direct mail also pairs well with digital marketing. And Merkle reports that campaigns using both direct mail and digital marketing saw a 118% lift in response rates, as opposed to campaigns that only use one advertising channel.

Who Should I Send My Direct Mail To?

Figuring out who to target with your direct mail is the first step of any successful campaign. Who you mail to varies based on the goals of your direct mail campaign, which we’ll discuss later. First, let’s look at three common methods marketers use to segment their direct mail audience.

Ways to Segment Your Direct Mail Audience

There are a variety of ways to segment your audience into groups with shared characteristics. Here are three of the most common:

  • Geographic segmentation. This method is exactly what it sounds like and involves targeting people within a specific geographic area. This might be people who live within a specific ZIP Code, carrier route, or radius of your business.
  • Demographic segmentation. This method breaks people down into groups that share specific personal characteristics. These can include gender, race, income, education, and employment.
  • Firmographic segmentation. This method is used in business-to-business (B2B) marketing. It breaks companies into groups based on traits like industry, location, customer type, legal status, and performance.

Putting Audience Segmentation Into Action

So, what does audience segmentation look like when it comes to direct mail marketing? Here are a few examples:

  • New mover campaigns. These help you drum up business with people who are new to your area. You can purchase a mailing list of new movers and get to them before the competition.
  • Grand opening campaigns. Opening a new location? Use geographic segmentation to target people who live within a certain area of your new location.
  • Abandoned cart campaigns. Use your eCommerce platform to identify people who have abandoned their online shopping cart. Mailing them a special offer for the product / service they were interested in can get them to complete their transaction. Abandoned cart remarketing is commonly done via email, but direct mail is also a great option because most companies don’t use it for this purpose.
  • Birthday campaigns. Obtain a list of prospects with birthdays or mail to your existing customer database during their birthday month. Making this personal connection can encourage them to take action on your CTA.
  • Rewards club / loyalty program campaigns. Show appreciation for members of your rewards club or loyalty program by sending them special offers. This is a great way to upsell, since they’re already brand advocates.
  • Upsell campaigns. Send existing customers an offer for an item that complements something they recently bought from you. For example, if someone purchases bait from your sporting goods store, send them an offer for a fishing rod. Even if they aren’t in the market for a rod at the moment, they’ll be reminded of your brand and may purchase from you again in the future.
  • Winback campaigns. Since you already have data on lapsed customers, it’s easy and inexpensive to create a personalized offer they’re likely to respond to.

What Are Direct Mail Formats?

So, you know who to mail to and the campaign type that’s best for you. But which direct mail format should you choose? This is a very important decision, and the format you choose can have a big influence on whether your campaign is successful. Here are a handful of the most common direct mail formats.

Brochures / Menus

Brochures have more space than some other direct mail formats, so they’re perfect for sharing detailed information about your products / services. If you run a foodservice business, your brochure might take the form of a menu. Menus help boost brand exposure because recipients may put them on the fridge or in a kitchen drawer.

Letters

Because they’re sealed in an envelope, letters can feel more confidential than other formats. They also offer a lot of personalization options. They’re great for things like prospecting and upselling to existing customers.

Postcards

Postcards work well for prospecting because they’re an inexpensive way to get in front of people who may not be familiar with your business yet. Make a great introductory offer, and you may just get them through your doors. You can also send postcards to existing customer lists, like people with birthdays or members of your loyalty program.

Direct mail postcards have evolved far beyond the traditional 4” x 6” postcard. Today, companies can send interactive postcards that play video content or have scratch-away stickers with special offers printed underneath.

Periodicals

According to the USPS, periodicals are newspapers, magazines, and other publications sent to a list of opt-in subscribers. Businesses use periodicals to stay top-of-mind with existing customers, boost brand awareness among prospects, and provide information on their products or services.

Packages

Businesses that sell expensive products / services might send parcels (like gift boxes) to high-value customers / prospects. This usually costs more than sending other direct mail formats, but it can pay off if customers make repeat purchases or if your product / service has a high price point.

Which Direct Mail Mailing List is Right for Me?

Once you know who you’re mailing to, you’re ready to get your direct mailing list. Like we said before, your target audience plays a key role in the mailing list you choose. Let’s take a look at two common mailing list types and the USPS Every Door Direct Mail® (EDDM®) service.

Targeted Mailing Lists

Like the name suggests, these mailing lists target specific people based on shared traits. Say your business designs and manufactures high-end navigational systems for yachts. You wouldn’t mail to just anybody, right? Instead, you’d get a targeted mailing list comprised of yacht owners or people who have expressed interest in nautical navigation systems in the past.

As you can see, targeting a specific group of people with shared traits helps you reach individuals who might be more receptive to your offer. Knowing their names and a few personal traits also helps make your direct mail more personal, which can increase response rates by up to 36%.

Targeted mailing lists can be expensive depending on how specific they are. A house customer list is another example of a targeted mailing list, but it’s free since you already own the names on the list.

Saturation Mailing Lists

Saturation mailing lists contain the names of people who live within a certain geographic area. As a result, they help you blanket specific areas with your direct mail campaigns. Saturation lists work best for businesses that offer a product or service almost anybody could use, like restaurants and auto shops.

Because they’re less specific, saturation mailing lists usually cost less than targeted lists. However, you can still do some targeting when you use a saturation list. You can remove the following address types from a saturation list:

  • Business addresses
  • PO Boxes
  • Some residential addresses (i.e. apartments, seasonal dwellings, drop addresses)

If you do choose to remove address types from your list, make sure you still adhere to the 90 / 75 Rule to get the best postage rates. This stipulates that you must mail to 90% of all residential addresses or 75% of all business and residential addresses on your chosen carrier route

Every Door Direct Mail® (EDDM®) (No Mailing List)

EDDM® is a DIY USPS direct mail service. Unlike campaigns that use targeted or saturation mailing lists, EDDM® does not require a mailing list. That’s because your direct mail is delivered to nearly every address / door along a carrier route.

You can still do some audience segmentation with EDDM®, even though there’s no mailing list. The USPS EDDM® tool allows you to segment by the following median demographics:

  • Address types (residential or business)
  • Age
  • Household size
  • Household income

Keep in mind that because EDDM® uses median figures, your pieces will reach people who may not be interested in your offer. Direct mail sent via EDDM® is addressed to “Local Postal Customer” since there’s no mailing list. You’re also restricted when it comes to the size and format of your pieces. You can only send flats, which are large envelopes, newsletters, and magazines.

How Do I Get a Direct Mail Mailing List?

You’ve chosen the type of mailing list you want to use. But where do you get a direct mail mailing list? There are several mailing list sources, which we’ll review below.

Use Your House List

Don’t overlook your house list of existing customers or people who have expressed interest in your business in the past! This free option can be very effective because you already have information on these individuals. Here are a few examples of house lists:

  • Active customers
  • Past customers
  • Prospects who provided you with their contact information
  • Members of your rewards club or loyalty program
  • One-time customers

You own your house list, so make sure you keep it clean and updated. Here are three mailing list data hygiene best practices:

  • Make sure your mailing list is CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) certified. CASS standardizes your addresses for the USPS to ensure deliverability. This process includes things like adding ZIP + 4 codes and IMBs (Intelligent Mail Barcodes) to your mail pieces.
  • Run your mailing list through the NCOA (National Change of Address) database. This service provides up-to-date information on people who have moved within the last four years. That way, you don’t waste money mailing to people who no longer live at an address.
  • Deduplication allows you to pinpoint and merge duplicate records, which saves you money because you’re not mailing to the same people twice.

If you don’t want to use a house list (or if you don’t have one yet), you can also rent or buy a mailing list.

Rent or Buy a Mailing List

If you only plan on mailing to a group of people one or two times, renting a mailing list is a smart option. While you don’t own the names on the mailing list, you do own any information you get from the people you mail to. You don’t have to maintain the list yourself, and rented lists typically cost less than purchased lists.

If you plan on using a list many times, buying a mailing list is usually your best bet. You’ll own the names on the mailing list and any information you gather from recipients. You’ll need to perform your own list hygiene, though.

There are two main types of rented or purchased mailing lists: compiled lists and response lists.

  • Compiled lists contain the names of people with similar interests, like rock climbing, tennis, or gardening.
  • Response lists contain the names of people who have purchased from or requested information from businesses offering products / services that are similar to yours.

How Do I Track My Direct Mail Campaigns?

Direct mail tracking is very important, but many marketers overlook it. Don’t make this mistake! When choosing a tracking method, make sure you consider the format of your piece and the goals of your campaign. Make sure you’re using different tracking codes for each direct mail campaign so you can differentiate between them.

Here’s a short list of methods you can use to track your campaign:

  • Trackable phone numbers. Adding a trackable phone number to your piece allows you to determine how many calls you receive as a result of your direct mail. This helps you tweak future campaigns because you’ll know what is and isn’t working.
  • Trackable URLs or PURLs (personalized URLs). These are another easy way to track the effectiveness of your campaign. Adding a name to a URL (i.e. https://www.towermarketing.net/norafulmer) and greeting them by name on the landing page helps you speak to people on a one-to-one level.
  • Trackable email addresses. Like trackable phone numbers and URLs, printing trackable email addresses on your pieces helps you track response rates for your campaign. Use it to look for trends that you can use for future audience segmentation and tracking.
  • Coupon codes. If your direct mail piece includes coupons, make sure each coupon has its own unique code. Whether recipients redeem the coupon in person, over the phone, or online, make sure employees are meticulously tracking coupon codes. This helps you determine which offers are getting results and which ones aren’t.
  • QR codes. QR codes are easily trackable and help you glean valuable information on your direct mail campaigns. Plus, they’re easier for prospects / customers to follow up on, since they don’t have to type a URL / PURL into their web browser. All they have to do is scan your QR code with their smartphone camera or a QR code reader app.

How Much Does Direct Mail Cost?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to direct mail marketing. However, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. As you’ve learned, there are a wide variety of components involved in any direct mail campaign. Everything from your mailing list type to the format you use affects your cost. That’s why working with an agency that offers direct mail marketing services (like Tower!) is a great way to lower your expenses. We use our experience and connections with vendors to get you the best results at the lowest price point.

Want to try a direct mail campaign for your business? Contact our print media experts today to start the conversation!