Using offline media to drive online sales

With the increase of email saturation, offline media used alongside email marketing can be a valuable tool to help drive a high-ROI on online sales.

Whether you’re trying to acquire new customers or retain existing ones, there are several critical components to a direct marketing campaign that must be considered to ensure its success as an online traffic driver.

1. Making sure that your offline direct mail gets noticed

In order to ensure that your direct mail has the highest chance of being noticed and read by your customers and potential customers consider hand writing addresses or using very bright postcards with striking graphics which are more likely to catch someone’s eye than a plain envelope.

2. Increase response rates with an offer and a clear call to action

The hardest part of any offline direct mail campaign is getting the customer to act on the offer and when your focus is online sales your goal should be to drive traffic to the website. In order to accomplish this, create a compelling offer to interest your target market. The type of offer is very dependent on the product or service you provide and what motivates your customers to buy. It’s essential that there is a very strong call to action with a deadline to prompt your target market to act now!

3. Target the right people

List selection will have more impact on the success of the campaign than the creative. Finding a list broker you can work with to ensure that you get the best possible list advice. Consider using people that recently purchased online or have purchased similar products to yours so that you have a highly targeted prospect audience.

Don’t forget to send direct mail to your current customers. Be sure to provide the best offers to the right segment of your database for the best results – evaluate elements like whether customers are opted-in for email, how often they visit your site (in addition to purchase frequency), and the channels they’ve shopped through in the past.

4. Create a more tangible relationship with customers

Consider sending sample products to show the quality of what you offer – offline channels can be used to create a more tangible relationship with your product and your company. Giveaways of one of your products with your company name and contact information on them can be effective to help keep your company in the minds of your customers.

5. Test Test Test!

It is critical to test your mailings. Start with an audience by testing to see if they are the right target for your product or service. What works for you offline may be different in an online environment. Once you have a good list to work with, test the offer to see if a discount works better than a free product might. Test the format of your mailings to determine what works best.

6. Analyse results where possible

The effectiveness of using offline media to drive online sales can be hard to track, whenever possible, match back the list of people mailed to purchases made on the site. This will help you determine who is going direct to your URL.

7. Create continuity with your campaigns

While you want to stand out, it’s important that all of your direct mail campaigns have some continuity. Whether it is a money off offer included in every piece or a layout that remains the same, the more your pieces carry similar characteristics, the more likely they will make an impact and ensure customers purchase from you whether they have your direct mail piece in front of them or not.

If you consider these critical success factors, you too can have a successful direct marketing program that will drive sales for your organisation and increase your bottom line.

About the Author
Janet Holian is the chief marketing officer of VistaPrint, a leading online supplier of high-quality graphic design services and customised printed products to small businesses and consumers. She has been helping small business grow since joining the company in 2000. Please visit www.vistaprint.com for more information.