Direct mail campaigns reached $38.5 billion targeting local advertising in 2018. Stats like that are why you still get endless “junk mail” in your mailbox, even when we live in a world where pretty much all communication can be handled online. The simple truth is running an online store can still benefit from a direct marketing campaign. For example, when most ecommerce brands rely heavily on Black Friday sales, sending out a text, email, or coupon through snail mail can make all the difference in your final revenue figures.
Learning how direct marketing works and its role in the upcoming holiday season will make or break your bottom-line sales. Let’s explore this idea together!
What is Direct Marketing?
Direct marketing is a targeted approach that communicates directly with potential customers and new customers, employing various tactics to encourage a more personal and immediate response. That is a fancy way of saying you are focusing on a specific target audience instead of a buckshot ad campaign.
A direct ad would be the coupon targeting users who have purchased from your online store in the past and may be interested in a new product for Black Friday. That is different from general social media showcasing your “free shipping” code to all potential leads.
Like everything else in life, you want to blend your Black Friday marketing strategy by using direct marketing in your overall planning. That requires personalising every ad to the specific user group or individual you are targeting.
Why it Matters Post-Black Friday?
Black Friday deals are huge. They represent a significant portion of most ecommerce business’s annual income. However, not all shoppers take advantage of this shopping day. In fact, there is an underground movement for shoppers to avoid the busy aisles of big box stores because of the many examples of social unrest from fighting over the same trending toy.
That being said, those same shoppers absolutely love Cyber Monday and pre-holiday shopping on their mobile devices. This is where you, as an ecommerce brand, needs to strike with your direct marketing campaigns. Promoting everything from a free gift to free shipping or anything else that drives a sense of urgency during this time period will result in increased sales.
Six Direct Marketing Tactics for Black Friday Sales
1 – Email
Personalised email campaigns can remind customers of items they viewed or left in their cart during Black Friday. This tactic is a great way to re-engage and provide them with tailored offers.
Email doesn’t have to be a simple message with a hello and CTA.
You can integrate newsletters that update readers on company news, coupon codes for new seasonal promotions, or even gift cards for your summer business that users will want to give during the winter months for the discount.
The personalisation factor here is segmentation. For example, followers of your white-water rafting business living in Colorado may receive a different email than those in Hawaii.
2 – In-Person
In-person direct marketing may seem strange for an online business, but let’s explain. In-person is another way to say direct selling. This could be pop-ups for coupon codes or for high-traffic areas of your website.
Another form is a personalised video that addresses a unique market segment. This is challenging, but you can change the pop-up responses of your ads and videos based on the geographic location of the IP addresses visiting your storefront. That kind of direct selling is gold!
3 – Social Media
Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, X (formally Twitter), and Facebook are fantastic ways to directly market. The primary way to do this is through social media DMs (direct messages). These can be easily personalised based on follower demographics.
Targeted social ads are another form because you are giving the target audience reach a laser-focused strategy based on the rich analytics built into the platforms. Everything from the browsing history of users to the age of their dogs can be leveraged for DMs.
4 – Catalogues
There’s a reason Sears, LL Bean, and Victoria’s Secret catalogues are a mainstay of pop culture. The in-depth branding and point-of-purchase marketing is highly successful. In most cases, you send these out to customers who have already purchased. It gives them a more tactile way to shop in their leisure time and can be easily themed to the holiday season.
5 – Direct Mail & Coupons
Never discount the benefits of marketing through the postal service. Direct flyers, postcards, and coupons are a great way to end up on your target audience’s kitchen counter for days or weeks. They will spend every morning seeing your ad at the same time they brew their coffee. You’ll stick out in their minds because of that repeated exposure.
6 – Telemarketing
Again, it may seem strange for an ecommerce brand to focus on old-school marketing techniques during post-Black Friday deals, but they work! You don’t need to cold call every client. Telemarketing also refers to recorded messages announcing a sale, SMS text messages for 24 fire sales, and even using messaging apps like WhatsApp to deliver your free shipping codes.
Pros & Cons of Direct Marketing
Direct is just that, direct! You aren’t throwing a bunch of sand in the air, hoping to catch a few grains back in your hand. You are highly personalising messages to an exact target audience that cultivates high ROI.
Pros:
- Direct targeting leads to higher conversion rates.
- Personalisation enhances customer experience and loyalty.
- The most cost-effective methods (email, social media, etc.)
- Measurable results through tools like heat maps and WooCommerce plugins.
Cons:
- It can be perceived as intrusive if not done tactfully.
- Requires a well-maintained database of customer preferences.
- Costs can add up, especially for physical materials like catalogues and direct mail.
- It may have a lower reach. You are targeting specific audiences instead of more expansive crowds.
Final Thoughts
The holiday season is just around the corner, and Black Friday sales will soon be in the rearview for Cyber Monday and pre-Christmas coupons. Leveraging direct marketing allows you to boost those sales so you can increase other parts of your business throughout the rest of the year.
Before you jump into any of these holiday season campaigns, you may want to get some research finished. The Live Sales Map for WooCommerce from our exceptional development team at OPMC helps you understand your audience better. You’ll be able to see the location of most orders, volume, and frequency to inform your future direct marketing campaigns. Download our plugin today and boost your pre-holiday figures!
