With the end of 2021 and a coming new year on the horizon, I'm looking ahead to the opportunities and challenges that await us in the New Year and thinking of ways to help my clients get a head start with marketing in 2022. As we continue to adapt to doing business online, I've thought about how best to build trust-based B2B relationships that continue to grow and mature.
While strong marketing has always required ongoing monitoring, calibrating, and experimentation, this has been especially true for the past couple of years. However, experimenting in marketing isn't just about incorporating entirely new technologies; it's also about implementing proven methods augmented with new tools to reach customers and more easily build connections.
As we build our plans (and budgets) for 2022, let’s look at how to take advantage of the benefits of direct mail to strengthen relationships in 2022 and explore why using a 3D pop-up card can help get the most out of your marketing budget.
1. Allocate marketing budget to proven direct mail and augment online engagement
While virtually every business knows they need a robust online presence, many marketing departments overlook tried and true media, like direct mail.
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that the field of play is constantly changing. This means that savvy marketing teams need to stay more vigilant than ever to keep abreast of emerging marketing trends. Today, factors like online media saturation, digital burnout, and decreased trust in online social media platforms are all key reasons to explore augmenting your online marketing plan.
You can also rest easy knowing that despite its under-utilization, direct mail has remained a marketing dark horse that digitally-obsessed marketing departments have overlooked for years. And even when we have strong evidence showing the efficacy of direct mail, many marketers are still reluctant to embrace it!
Why not put some marketing budget behind a “pattern interrupt” that gets noticed?
2. Use offline direct mail marketing to increase traffic online
If you're wondering how direct mail can help increase online traffic, look no further than Quick-Response (QR) codes & Near-Field Communication (NFC) stickers. QR codes and NFC stickers are perfect for bringing customers online into digital spaces simply by scanning the QR code with their phone camera or holding the phone near the NFC sticker.
By including a QR code or NFC sticker in your direct mailer, you can take advantage of the benefits of direct mail while still nurturing your online business. And if you're worried about losing customers who don't use QR codes, include a text version of a link. Keeping the link text simple and easy-to-type will increase the likelihood that the recipient will type it into their browser.
In addition to moving the recipients online, a direct mail piece also allows you to further your brand image across media and boost consumer confidence in your business.
In addition to moving the recipients online, a direct mail piece also allows you to further your brand image across media and boost consumer confidence in your business.
3. Improve Customer Trust with Physical Direct Mail
In recent years, public sentiment toward large online platforms and businesses has shifted. Many customers are more than willing to engage offline due to recent highly public data leaks, questionable ethical practices, and opaque online policies. Thankfully, physical direct mail offers an easy opportunity to boost credibility and foster trust with customers.
For starters, direct mail allows you to identify your business right on the front of the envelope via a return address. Knowing that correspondence came from a business entity with a physical location is psychologically reassuring to customers. Whereas anonymous online sellers seem inherently dodgy to many customers, the opposite is true of mail sent from a verified source.
Additionally, customers can't accidentally open a malicious link with direct mail! Whereas customers are reluctant to open unknown email correspondence and accept digital graphics that are key to getting your message across, paper in an envelope is never a threat in that regard. And after all, trust is essential to building business partnerships that last.
4. Put a Plan in Place to Nurture & Grow Relationships
As the adage goes, relationships are work. This is especially true in the business world where there are numerous competitors just itching to wrest a hard-earned client or customer away from you. In the face of this competition, the best way to maintain and grow your business relationships is through ongoing engagement, which takes planning. That's why the single best thing you can do to maximize business growth opportunities in 2022 is to have a plan in place to engage and grow essential relationships.
One of the main reasons to implement direct mail as part of your 2022 marketing plan is that a physical mail-out creates an opportunity for natural client follow-up – even more so if that mail-out is a tactile marketing piece such as a 3D pop-up card. It allows you to build a straightforward process to take advantage of a strategically timed follow-up call. Real-time tracking of postage also makes it easy to schedule follow-ups that would otherwise be difficult to schedule.
Instead of losing sales opportunities to unread emails and missed messaging, use direct mail to reach critical customers reliably when it matters most.
5. Implement a 3D Element to Solidify New Connections with Direct Mail
For the reasons outlined above, implementing any form of direct mail into your 2022 marketing plan is an excellent option for stretching your marketing budget further and getting the most significant ROI with your budget. However, to maximize ROI with your marketing budget, you should consider including a 3D element to leave a lasting impression.
And when it comes to making a positive, memorable impression, that's where Awesome 3D Cards shine--at helping clients create organic opportunities to provide direct follow-up with customers at the perfect time to maximize the impact of a 3D mailer. Awesome 3D Cards are ideal because they are:
- Memorable - When a flat piece of postage unfolds into a dynamic 3D model, the recipient experiences surprise and delight. In turn, this surprise helps form a positive lasting association with your brand.
- Emotional - Opening a 3D card is a positive micro-experience that will make the recipient more receptive to a follow-up call.
- Personal - On top of consumers viewing direct mail as inherently more personal than email, a physical 3D mailer is an excellent opportunity to include a hand-written note and signature. Small individual gestures can make a profound difference in solidifying a relationship and landing a repeat customer.
If you’re ready to take your B2B relationships to the next level to drive sustainable business growth, don’t drag your heels. With 2022 rapidly approaching, now is the time to plan your customer engagement strategy for the New Year.
For more information on how best to implement 3D direct mail into your marketing strategy, visit our FAQ page, or contact Awesome 3D Cards today to schedule your free consultation.