Direct Mail ROI Explained

Developing an understanding of key performance indicators like return on investment (ROI) is a must before embarking on new marketing initiatives. Being knowledgeable regarding these statistics allows you to determine whether or not you’re getting the results you need from a particular medium.  And if you’re new to the world of direct mail campaigns, you’ll likely have some questions regarding direct mail ROI. If that’s the case, the insights you’re searching for can be found below!

What is Direct Mail ROI?

Direct Mail ROI is among the most valuable statistics for helping to determine the success of a campaign. Calculating your direct mail ROI is simple. All you have to do is divide the profit of your campaign, by the total investment, then multiply by 100. On average, the ROI for direct mail campaigns is roughly 112%, according to research.

Let’s say for instance that you’re embarking on a mailing campaign for a local restaurant that costs $2000 to execute. As a result of the postcards you sent during the course of a month, you attract enough new diners to generate an additional $6000 for the restaurant. Once the campaign concludes, using our equation above, we can see that the direct mail campaign you executed generated an ROI of 300% – which is excellent! In this situation direct mail ROI can be used to illustrate why this medium is worth the restaurant investing in moving forward.

How to Track Direct Mail ROI

Tracking the results of your campaigns is a must for measuring your direct mail ROI. Let’s stay with our example of conducting a mailing campaign for a local restaurant. There are a few options for attributing new orders and customers to your direct mail campaign, including:

 

• QR Codes
  

  
  Ever since the pandemic, QR codes have returned in a big way. Let’s say you include a QR code onto your postcards offering a discount or a special on a future order. Once your campaign ends, you’ll receive a report allowing you to see how many recipients canned it. Additionally, as a result of your coupon code you’ll be able to attribute how many new orders were placed and how much revenue was earned thanks to your campaign.

 

• Unique URL & Landing Page

  You already know that most recipients will anticipate seeing your website on your direct mail piece. But did you know that you can catch them off guard by including a unique URL and landing page? And once your campaign ends, you’ll receive a report allowing you to see how many recipients navigated to your landing page.

 

• Tracking Phone Number
  

  
  Similar to your website, recipients will also be anticipating seeing your phone number on your mailer. But instead of including your standard phone number, including a specialized tracking phone number allows you to trace how many phone calls you received resulting from your campaign. And by tracking the calls you get from your postcard you can easily log orders and revenue generated.

Tips for Improving Your Direct Mail ROI

Now that you’re up to speed on tracking your ROI, it’s time to focus on boosting it. Maximizing your direct mail ROI is likely easier than you might think. And making the right tweaks could deliver a higher ROI than you’d receive from other types of marketing campaigns, too. If you’re concerned about your campaign yielding a low ROI there are a few different courses of actions you can take, including:

 

• Test and Tweak Your Design, Offer and Copy
  

  
  There are a variety of elements that are capable of impacting your ROI. Tweaking aspects of your direct mail campaign like your offer, or artwork can have a bigger impact on your ROI than you may realize. You can test the impact of these elements by sending multiple variations of your mailer with different copy and designs to small audiences and tracking which version performs better.

 

• Include a Short and Sweet Call to Action (CTA)

   

  Your call-to-action is among the most vital aspects of your direct mail piece. That’s because the right CTA makes taking the next steps for recipients quick and painless. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is leaving recipients a long winded, vague CTA. Including a CTA that’s clear, concise and capable of quickly leading recipients to taking your desired next step is essential to maximizing your ROI.

 

• Target and Personalize Your Direct Mail
  

  
  Believe it or not, audiences can tell the difference between a mass marketing message, and a personalized one. That’s why personalizing your direct mail is essential to achieving the ROI you’re hoping to achieve. After all, receiving a mailer personally addressing you  will likely catch your attention long before a generic mailer. And with Targeted Direct Mail, you can leverage numerous demographic insights like age, marital status, hometown and more to create your ideal audience. Personalization, combined with targeting could provide the exact boost to your direct mail ROI you’re hoping for.

Begin Your Direct Mail Journey With GrowMail Today!

You can’t overstate the importance of tracking, reporting and optimizing for ROI when it comes to conducting successful direct mail campaigns. And working with a proven partner makes conducting a campaign that results in sky high ROI simple. Throughout the country, all kinds of businesses are exceeding their direct mail ROI goals with the guidance of GrowMail. Ready to find out why businesses rely on GrowMail for help conducting direct mail campaigns? If so, request a free printing quote today!