Deliver results from letterbox to inbox

21 October 2009 | By Jo Roberts

The good old-fashioned letterbox campaign has been feeling the pressure of late. The online world has attracted a tranche of marketers who would formerly have relied on direct mail to invest in new media communications, while the proposed strikes by Royal Mail workers threaten to curtail DM campaigns reliant on delivery through the postal service.

The standoff between the Communiations Workers Union and Royal Mail is all the more frustrating when you consider research that shows traditional direct mail and doordrops are still popular with marketers and can be used effectively to drive traffic, especially when combined with new media initiatives.

A healthy 62% of digital campaigns are seeing an increase in return on investment when combined with direct mail, according to research carried out by media group OMG.

This year’s annual TGI survey shows that both doordrop and direct mail campaigns motivate consumers, almost in equal measures, to buy and ask for information online.

TNT Post also points to a recent experiment by agency The Insert & Leaflet Team (TILT), which invented a brand called Quote Genie, specifically to enable the direct tracking of the doordrop campaign.

A leaflet promoting the brand was posted to 600,000 households in order to observe how the communication was used by those who received it. Just under half (41%) of respondents visited the website after they received the mail pack and just over half (59%) called to find out more information about the products and services the fictional insurance business provided.

TNT Post managing director of doordrop media Mark Davies says it’s often difficult to credit a doordrop campaign as being the motivating factor for driving consumers to visit a website, but the test carried out by TILT shows that consumers can be motivated to visit a website following the sight of a leaflet through the door.

He says/ “Virtually every retailer will use doordrops at some point as a footfall driver. I can see no reason why they can’t fulfil the same role in the online space.”

Davies argues that receiving a leaflet at home is more likely to spark an online visit than outdoor media or press advertising as people have instant access to their personal computer. It is relatively simple for consumers to take the logical step and get in touch with the firm as a result.

But simply putting a website URL at the bottom of a doordrop or direct mail communication is not enough any more, Davies argues. With so many upcoming tasks to fill people’s minds, businesses need to think creatively to motivate consumers to take the communication further.
“You need to give people a reason to visit the website; some incentive to make that journey into the online space,” he adds.

With the need to create compelling content in mind, the RAF took a creative approach for the relaunch of its teenage programme Altitude earlier this year, three years after it was first created.

It sent out a bespoke “welcome pack” to the 13,000 existing members of its website. The pack contained a letter with a membership card, along with a small card featuring a magic symbol. Members were directed to a website which contained detailed information about life in the RAF.

The RAF website was made even more interactive when members logged in and held up the small card to a webcam. This enabled visitors to view a 3D image of a Red Arrows aircraft, displayed alongside a video of a Red Arrow pilot talking about his experience in the forces.

Chris Pearce, business development director at digital and direct agency Tullo Marshall Warren (TMW), which created the campaign, says that taking a more creative approach motivated members to re-engage with the RAF online.

“The DM piece increased their interactivity with the Altitude website, which in turn helps them get closer to RAF life and become potential RAF recruits when they are eligible,” he claims.

It isn’t just the RAF integrating direct mail and online media better than ever before. Unilever recently launched its largest integrated campaign for Surf washing powder to promote its new fragrance, Twilight Sensations.

The marketing drive will use targeted direct mail to reach half a million people in the UK. These consumers will be directed to the website, which provides laundry and fashion advice. Surf brand manager Caroline Monzani argues that it’s “essential” to use “below-the-line communications to encourage trial and enable consumers to experience these new fragrances.”

Understanding when to strike with large DM campaigns such as the Unilever Surf promotion is a vital consideration when planning a direct mail campaign. Recent research carried out by GI Direct shows that 70% of UK adults were between five and ten times more likely to respond to personalised offers.

The timing of the campaign is also essential. More than half (66%) will be more likely to respond to direct marketing if it is received at the right time. Tourism Ireland is currently using targeted doordrops and personalised direct mail sent out to coincide with the time of the year when people are looking to book a holiday.

Patrick Headley, sales director at GI Direct, argues that getting both personalisation and timing right can convert to internet sales. “In many cases, this high level of personalisation and targeting is used to drive prospects online where they will then be encouraged to make a purchase.”

Ian Bates, creative director at direct marketing agency Entire, believes that more online-only brands will use direct mail and doordrops in the future to speak to potential customers.

He argues: “Some online brands are working in a crowded market these days and with the opportunity to talk to someone offline, you might be in a space that’s not quite so crowded.”

Online takeaway portal Just-Eat claims it is proof that you can successfully migrate consumers from direct mail and doordrops to websites. The online business allows consumers to order takeaway meals for delivery from their local restaurants via its web-based portal.

Just-Eat is teaming up with local restaurants by contributing to the cost of printing leaflets in exchange for having the Just-East logo and website on their leaflet.

Mat Braddy, chief marketing officer at the takeaway portal, says a recent survey which asks new customers how they discovered the business showed that “apart from search, the biggest way people discover us is through doordrop leaflets or through a sticker placed on the door of a restaurant.”

He says that using direct-to-homes marketing is a simple way for a relatively young brand to get noticed. Although Just-Eat will be using other marketing activity, such as television advertising, alongside doordrops later in the year, he says that so far, doordrops have proven to be a cost-effective way to promote the brand.

Supermarket Waitrose also went offline recently to promote its online food club MyWaitrose. As well as an email campaign created by Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw, a direct mail shot was sent out to appeal to the supermarket’s discerning foodie fans.

The tangible qualities of the campaign, with its embossed envelopes, couldn’t be promoted via a solely digital campaign, explains Chris Ridd, senior planner at the agency. To fit the Waitrose brand, the communications needed to communicate a sense of the supermarket’s upmarket status.

“It created cut-through, generated a sense of occasion and also ensured the communication is premium,” claims Ridd. Initial results show that 11% of respondents registered for the food club following the mailing which, he argues, shows that a well thought out, offline DM campaign can drive online traffic and convert customers.

Ridd says: “It’s all about getting your message out where your audience is. Marketing is at risk of being driven by trends and fashion, rather than where the audience is, what they look like and where they are consuming the product or brand.”

TNT Post’s Davies agrees but warns that communication through the letterbox will need to continue to prove its worth, especially as marketers are increasingly attracted to digital communications.

He advocates the use of metrics to help prove the links between direct mail and online behaviour. Hitwise has developed a tool to identify the profile of visitors to websites, which will help link targeted doordrop campaigns with online visits. Davies says the next step is understanding the geographical nature of online responses to make tracking more accurate.

Leighton Morgans, business development director at Eclipse Marketing, says that ultimately, marketers would be foolish to ignore the relationship between DM and digital because mail “has proven to be more robust in terms of generating success”.

But the increasing accuracy with which direct mail and door drops can be measured in terms of driving consumers online will be met with a cautious response from marketers waiting to see what happens with the proposed Royal Mail strikes.

As Robert Keitch, chief of marketing and brand at the Direct Marketing Association, sums up: “These strikes will only serve to undermine the commercial value of post as a means of doing business.”