Direct Mail vs. Email Marketing: Choosing the Best Channel for Your Business in 2024

This indirect approach is beneficial for two reasons:

1. It keeps your brand in the spotlight. An email can be a gentle reminder that you’re there, ready to help your subscribers whenever they’re interested. 
2. It enhances subscriber engagement. Creative messages can make subscribers more interested in what you have to say. Instead of just selling, you’re sharing interesting, relevant content. 

The top four benefits of direct mail are: 

• It has high open rates. These days, people don’t get as much mail as before. But when they do, they’re curious and often excited, kind of like getting a surprise. That means they’re more likely to open your letter.
• You get more visibility. A physical letter or brochure pops out more than an email. It’s right there, in their hands, not hidden among a hundred emails. Plus, if they like what they see, they might keep it around, which keeps your business in their mind longer.
• It feels more personal: There’s something special about getting a physical piece of mail. It shows you put in the effort to reach out to your audience personally. This can make people feel a closer connection to your business.
• It can spread the word. Direct mail doesn’t just stop with the person you send it to. If someone else sees your brochure or letter and likes what they see, they might become a customer, too, even if you didn’t send it to them directly.

These are the drawbacks of using direct mail for marketing: 

• It’s expensive: Creating great content costs money. But when you add the cost of printing, materials, and mailing, it often doesn’t seem worth it. You also can’t skimp on the quality of your materials because that could make or break your campaign. 
• It’s slow: Besides being pricey, putting together a direct mail campaign takes more time compared to sending out emails.
• You’ll reach fewer people: You could theoretically send mail anywhere in the world, but you’re probably going to stick to sending in your geographical area. Plus, many people hesitate to give out their home address due to privacy concerns. So, it’s harder to build up a big mailing list compared to an email list.
• It’s hard to measure success: Once you send out your mail, figuring out how well your campaign did is tough. You can’t easily track who opened your mail or what they did after that. This is a big drawback if you rely on campaign metrics to make decisions. 
• It’s not great for the environment: The postal system uses a lot of energy and resources. It also adds to pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. While this might seem like a minor issue, it’s something to think about if you’re trying to be more eco-friendly.

Since email marketing is all online, it’s:

• Cost-effective. You don’t need to spend money on printing or postage, which saves you a bunch.
• Quick. Once you prepare your email content, you can send it out and it’ll reach your audience instantly.
• Easy to measure. You can keep an eye on every email you send using tracking pixels to see who opens your emails. Plus, you can conduct A/B tests to see what gets the best response. 

The benefits are: 

• Flexibility. You’re not stuck with static images or text. Emails can include GIFs, videos, polls and even dynamic content to make your messages more attractive and engaging. 
• Automation. With direct mail, you don’t have much control over the subscriber’s customer journey. Email marketing, however, allows you to send automated emails for each step of the customer journey, helping you target your audience more precisely. 
• Personalization. Direct mail offers a level of personalization by allowing you to send targeted mail based on geographical locations. But it doesn’t come close to the personalization that email marketing offers. For example, you can target subscribers based on their previous shopping behaviors and even psychological factors. 
• Multi-channel engagement. Email marketing can be used in tandem with other marketing channels, including social media. By placing social media buttons inside your email copy or crafting a luring CTA, you can easily direct subscribers to these pages. On the other hand, these social media pages can help you grow your email list. 

These are the top five hurdles you’ll face with email marketing:

1. Deliverability: Deliverability is all about making sure your emails land in the primary inbox, not the spam folder. It ensures your subscribers see your messages. 
2. Sender reputation: Establishing your email sender reputation means making sure ISPs recognize and trust your domain. 
3. Spam and privacy: You need to stay compliant with laws like CAN-SPAM Act, which protect your subscribers’ privacy. What’s more, email companies continue to take tougher stances on spam senders. 
4. Engagement: If your emails are often ignored, your marketing efforts will produce no tangible results. That’s why you need to build an audience that’s eager to receive your content. 
5. Security: Following best practices in email security can help safeguard your sender reputation and your subscribers’ information. You don’t want your company or your subscribers to become victims of BEC or phishing attacks. 

These are some of the other tools you’ll get with Campaign Refinery: 

• Automatic list cleaning. 
• Impactful analytics dashboard. 
• Gamification system to boost engagement. 
• Mandatory domain authentication from the first day.

Based on these insights, direct mail might be the right choice for you if: 

1. Your customers aren’t online. Believe it or not, some people still prefer the offline world and might not have an email address. They can be perfect for direct mail.
2. Your business is local. If your business focuses on a local area, sending out direct mail can really work well. Sending mail far and wide, though, can get expensive.
3. You’re targeting an older demographic. Some groups, particularly older generations, may be more likely to read and engage with physical mail than email. 

If you’re thinking about whether email marketing is right for you, consider these points:

1. Your business loves data: With email marketing, you get detailed insights on your campaign performance. This is super handy if you like making decisions based on solid data.
2. Your budget is tight: Email marketing won’t break the bank. It’s a great choice if you’re just starting out with marketing and need to watch your spending.
3. You want quick action: Email is speedy. Send out a message, and it lands in inboxes right away. It’s perfect for reaching lots of people quickly.
4. You care about the planet: If being eco-friendly is important to your business, email marketing is a green choice. It’s all digital, so there’s no paper waste.

Consider a hybrid approach when:

• Your audience is diverse: If your customers range from tech-savvy to old-school, using both email and direct mail ensures you reach everyone.
• You want to maximize impact: Some messages might be more memorable in print, while others work best online. Combining both can make your marketing stronger.
• You’re aiming for multiple touchpoints: It often takes several interactions to get a customer’s attention. So, a mix of email and direct mail can create a more effective campaign.
• You’re testing the waters: Not sure which method will hit the mark? Trying out both can give you valuable insights into what your audience responds to best.

Consider these tips when growing your list: 

• Use legitimate list-building methods. Never buy lists of emails. Always aim to get people to sign up because they’re really interested in what you have to offer.
• Use double opt-in. Just because someone uses your website doesn’t mean they want emails from you. Double opt-in asks them to confirm they really want to hear from you, which keeps your list full of people who are genuinely interested.
• Perform list cleaning. Regularly look for unengaged subscribers and invalid addresses and remove them from your list to avoid spam complaints and hard bounces. 

Follow these tips to make it happen: 

• Grab their attention with a compelling subject line. Make them want to open your email because the email subject line is so intriguing.
• Make your content helpful. Even when you talk about a product, focus on how it can solve their problem.
• Use enticing CTAs. Encourage subscribers to do what you’d like, whether it’s reading more, signing up, or making a purchase.
• Steer clear of pushy sales talk and spammy words. Keep the language friendly and genuine to avoid turning off your reader or triggering spam filters.

Instead, follow these practices: 

• Segment your subscribers based on age, location, interests, etc. This lets you send them information and offers that they’re more likely to care about.
• Send messages that matter to each person. If you know what they like, tailor your emails to fit those interests.
• Look at how your subscribers act. Keep an eye on what they buy and what emails they open, then use that info to send them targeted messages.