To some, the rise of digital marketing may have seemed to herald the end of direct mail advertising. After all, email and other digital marketing campaigns can be conducted with far less expense than conventional mail, and access to the internet (along with broadband speeds) is becoming more universal.

However, the fact of the matter is that direct mail advertising continues to thrive. Every day, millions of postcards, flyers, stuffed envelopes, and other promotional materials end up in individuals’ old fashioned mailboxes. This story has a lot in common with the evolution of email, as so many industry “experts” spend years predicting the end of email, as newer forms of digital marketing came into existence. But, we know that email just continues to perform, year after year. Direct mail is very much the same.

Given the resilience and continued popularity of both of these forms of marketing, there is a lot of potential for them to work together in complimentary ways. As mentioned in our recent guest blog post from ReachDynamics direct mail offers some unique capabilities that can be used to work in tandem with digital campaigns.

Better campaign synchronization

A variety of campaign and data management tools can enable companies to easily manage their email and direct mail campaigns (as well as other digital initiatives) in ways conjunction with each other, rather than in the more traditional siloed approach.  By tying their marketing initiatives together more closely, a company can use each form to boost the effects of the others.

One simple example is using multiple marketing channels to communicate with prospective customers for a product or service with a longer customer journey.  In this instance, direct mail might be used to reinforce activity the prospect has taken online, like filling out a lead form that includes their physical address. The direct mail campaign could provide additional message reinforcement, along with a call-to-action to go back to the website.

Synchronizing email and direct mail campaigns can also help ensure consistent brand positioning, which has long been a challenge for companies involved in multichannel marketing.  Look for ways to more closely tie your email and direct mail campaigns and drive better performance for each channel.