Digital marketing has grown exponentially over the last few decades, but direct mail marketing has been around for over a century. Both strategies are effective, but which one is right for you and your business?
To help you learn more about the two and how they can benefit you, Epsilon Individual Automotive put together this direct mail vs digital marketing blog.
Differences Between Digital & Direct Mail Marketing
Digital marketing encompasses any and all online channels. If you’ve ever received a promotional email, noticed a targeted ad, or seen social media posts that relate to your search history, you’re familiar with digital marketing. Basically, it’s all the ways businesses can engage with their audience online.
Direct mail marketing is a little more straightforward and self-explanatory. Whether you receive a postcard, newsletter, or catalog, if it shows up in your mailbox, it’s direct mail marketing. While it may sound a bit old school, direct mail is still as effective as ever, thanks to its ability to reach a wide audience.
Which is More Cost-Effective: Direct Mail or Digital Marketing?
Certainly, both direct mail and digital marketing provide ease of access for dealerships as they speak to their target audience. But, considering the different approaches both marketing mediums take in accomplishing the same goal, which is the better option when it comes to cost-effectiveness?
Cost of Digital Marketing
First things first, let’s consider the output. Digital marketing may bypass things like printing and postage costs, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own share of fees. Dealerships can expect to pay for special services depending on the content of their campaign, things like SEO, web design, and content marketing.
Similarly, digital marketing requires additional eyes to monitor the status of the digital marketing campaign, which means more money spent on staffing the appropriate experts across your dealership. Still, this is a worthwhile option to consider for dealerships looking for an enhanced touch when targeting your audience.
Cost of Direct Mail Marketing
Overall, direct mail marketing is much more affordable and cost-effective than digital marketing. Why? Direct mail marketing eliminates the need for the many layered services and costs that digital marketing requires in most cases.
This is due to several factors—like bulk rates, annual promotions, and more—which can ultimately provide better ROI throughout your campaign and well beyond. As you plan your next campaign, consider the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) special money-saving promotions, which can offer serious savings for special campaigns, including colorized mailers.
Additionally, the USPS offers the Every Door Direct Mail® (EDDM®) program to help promote your dealership to specific households based on age, income, household size, and zip code. This lets you better pinpoint your target audience and lets you send between 200 to 5,000 pieces of mail per zip code at a rate as low as $0.164 per piece of mail.
Pros & Cons of Digital & Direct Mail
Between smartphones, social media, tablets, and other devices, digital marketing is not just a valuable tool in today’s market; it’s a necessity. The widespread access to the internet allows consumers to browse for anything, anytime, from anywhere. As far as the auto industry goes, your audience could schedule service, request a test drive, or even buy a car online.
However, there are some drawbacks to digital media, such as getting lost in the shuffle. It’s unfortunately very easy to overlook a promotional email or scroll right past a Facebook ad without even noticing it.
On the other hand, direct mail is much more noticeable. Unlike emails, you only get a few pieces of mail per day. You also can’t ignore it since you physically hold it in your hand. Instead of ending up in the spam folder, your offer has a better chance of being opened, read, and redeemed.
Combining Direct Mail & Digital Marketing
When it comes to direct mail vs digital marketing, the answer is not either/or. Rather, the best campaigns blend both digital and direct mail to ensure that the entire target audience is reached.
At Epsilon Individual Automotive, our team advocates for a balanced collaboration that utilizes the strength of both kinds of marketing. For example, a well-designed mailer may include a QR code that can take the recipient straight to whatever landing page you want.
By adding these interactive tools, your campaign can bridge the gap between physical and digital marketing. It also lets the audience choose how engaged they’d like to be and makes it easy for them to redeem an offer, join an email list, or follow your business on social media.
Effective Ways to Track Response Rates
The best way to market your dealership begins and ends with not just addressing your target audience—but knowing how to effectively track and improve response rates. To do this, you must first segment your audience by age and gender, income and location, and spending habits.
With your audience in mind, it’s best to also clean up your mailing list. This means you should only send your direct mailers to the right people to ensure it reaches who you want. One way to do this is through EDDM, but consumer and specialty mailing lists also assist in helping remove any filler in your existing mailing lists.
You’ll also want to include good call-to-actions (CTAs) in each direct mailer someone might receive. This is your opportunity to concisely and clearly explain the value of your service, promotion, or offer being promoted—which in turn acts as a direct line of communication between a consumer and your dealership team.
A good example of an impactful CTA may read something like: “We’re Unveiling Our New Arrivals. Be the First to Test Drive Them!”
Create an All-Encompassing Campaign with Us
With thousands of satisfied automotive clients and years of experience under our belt, Epsilon Individual Automotive is uniquely qualified to help your business integrate your digital marketing with direct mail.
Between our cutting-edge data solutions and in-house production facility, we’re ready to help you design every element of your next campaign. Contact us to learn more or schedule a consultation today!
