Do you want to be considered the very best in your industry? Beating your competition requires a marketing plan that will grab the attention of your prospects in a unique, show-stopping way. This tactic will steal the limelight from your competitors…

Who would have thought a dancing shark at the Super Bowl would go viral? But that’s exactly what happened in 2015 during Katy Perry’s halftime show. Katy’s backup dancer, Bryan Gaw, gave a silly performance very different than all of the other sharks and stole the show.

Today he is known as “left shark” in the media, and he says he did his freestyle moves on purpose. Even Katy Perry couldn’t compete with his online popularity afterward.

As you are also faced with fierce competition in business, coming up with a strategy to steal the show from your competitors will help you make it to the top.

The way you market your products or services impacts heavily how many prospects choose you over another business. So it’s crucial to invest in the best marketing channels that deliver the highest return on investment. Instead of pouring all your resources into one marketing channel, consider other options that may give you more of an advantage in the game.

Currently, research shows almost 50% of people feel they spend too much time on screens. And, even more report feeling overwhelmed by digital brand communications via email (69%) and social media 61%). That’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to digital fatigue!

The trend of taking a break from doom scrolling has continued. I’m not suggesting you abandon digital advertising altogether, but marketing your business in other ways like direct mail will help you reach more prospects overall.

Here are the top 3 reasons why direct mail is a show-stopper that could earn you first place on the top business charts.

1. More than 50% of people feel overwhelmed by digital media, while direct mail holds their attention.

I don’t know about you, but when I spend too much time scrolling social media I wind up feeling like I just wasted a bunch of time.

The reality is that I’m not the only one – many Americans are reporting digital fatigue, and there is a massive movement to spend less time online. A health study found that 46% of people attributed their tiredness to too much screen time. And as mentioned above, 69% of people said they felt overwhelmed with digital communications from brands.

Some people are leaving their Facebook and Instagram accounts altogether. In 2023, searches for “Deactivate Facebook” increased by 1,566% and searches for “Deactivate Instagram” were up by 2,400% one poll discovered.

Besides this movement, many are simply favoring other social platforms over Meta. YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat have increased in popularity.

One study found that even though Meta will claim 75% of U.S. social ad dollars in 2024, adults are only spending 41.8% of daily social media time on Meta’s platforms. So while Meta profits through businesses spending their precious dollars on ads, Americans aren’t even seeing them.

Take a look at this chart…

If you spent a lot of money on Facebook ads or Instagram ads, you may be shocked at these numbers right now.

I 100% understand.

But this is why it’s important to prioritize marketing methods that deliver a high return on investment. Direct mail in particular is a great way to increase revenue.

Why? Because people are guaranteed to see a mailer! Do you see each piece of mail addressed to you? Then think about your own behavior in regards to social media. Your potential customers are probably scrolling past your online ads too.

With social media, you are taking a gamble on whether or not they even see the advertisement, and then whether or not they stop scrolling and take the time to see it.

Lastly, even if they do stop to see it, are they even fully digesting the information and doing something with it?

The odds are that this information goes in one ear and out the other as they say.

Mailers however take up more space in general – both physically and mentally.

Research shows that direct mail has an average engagement rate of 95% and is interacted with at least 4 times at home. Another study reported that 75% of business mail stays in the home for over 4 weeks and is revisited an average of 5 times.

Not only does mail physically remain with people longer, it is also recalled longer in the brain. Scientific studies found that people recall direct mail advertisements better than digital ones. In a test that compared the impact of similar direct mail and digital ad marketing campaigns, participants’ recall was 70% higher when they were exposed to a mailer as opposed to a digital ad, which had a recall of 44%.

But that’s not the only reason why mail stands out in a crowd…..

2. Advertisements in the mailbox have decreased 16%, giving you more space to make an impact.

In 2023, the USPS announced that marketing mail volume declined 2.6 billion pieces (or 16%), costing over $333 million in revenue, in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the same quarter in 2022. There was also a 15% drop in mail volume during the pandemic since many businesses shut down and had to stop marketing.

With less mail in mailboxes, this gives you an opportunity to take market share from your competitors…aka….get ahead in the race for revenue.

Basically, it’s the difference between a crowded Disney World on a summer day to Disney World during the pandemic at shutdowns.

Which would you prefer?

The fact is, direct mail marketing is the least crowded marketing channel right now. Some businesses have the impression it is too time consuming to manage or is outdated. But this information is far from the truth.

I’ll show you exactly why those three impressions are wrong in my third point as to why direct mail gives you an advantage over competitors…

3. About 97% of direct mail users report higher response rates due to advanced targeting and personalization options.

Digital advertising has long given businesses the impression that they can reach more demographics of people online than other marketing channels. This is far from the case though.

Think of digital ads like casting a wide fishing net into a pond whereas direct mail is like using a specific lure on a single fishing line to catch a particular fish. The reason a mailer campaign can get more granular is because the mailing lists give you more opportunities to select unique targets.

You can find families with children, pets, certain home values, high incomes, and more. Mailing lists are based on unique, reliable data that has been gathered for a specific purpose. These names and addresses are tied to legal contracts, like buying or selling a home, divorces, births, and moving to new places.

There are also more opportunities to reach contacts with automated direct mail via a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM). While social media and online advertising only reach those who are logged in, automated mail is sent directly to your prospects and customers so they won’t miss it.

Using the latest technology, sales professionals can mail direct mail pieces automatically to new prospects as soon as they are entered into a CRM. With a little setup, you can even target website visitors. As soon as they click onto your website, they receive a mail piece within 24-48 hours of their online session.

Overall, no other marketing channel has these expansive and unique capabilities. Triggered mail is making such a big difference in the growth of small businesses that we decided to launch our very own direct mail automation company, PCM Integrations.

What’s more, is you can even customize your automated mailers, like including a prospect’s first name with personalization. In fact, 97% of direct mail users see higher response rates with personalized/customized direct mail and 56% said that response rates were significantly higher with personalized/customized direct mail.

Here’s an example:

So while you are taking advantage of these incredible targeting options and direct mail technologies, your competitors are in the complete dark about it.

Not only will these direct mail advancements save you time, but they will also grab your prospects’ attention more than any other advertisement coming their way.

These advancements in direct mail don’t just bring you more leads. They also result in your prospects and customers feeling extra special — and this is turn will create more revenue for your business.

I know it may be a big shift in your thinking to really see mailers as the showstopper, but I challenge you to give it a try and see the difference.

Then you can tell me about your results!

If you have any questions about running a lead-generating marketing campaign for your business, please give one of our marketing experts a call at 877-437-6220. Their advice is 100% FREE!

Best,

Joy