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When it comes to getting your brand in front of your customers, you need a strategy that is cost-effective, direct, and successful for generating traffic and bringing in new leads. This brings us to two distinct marketing strategies that we’re going to cover: direct mail and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Now keep in mind, if you solely rely on only one tactic for your entire marketing strategy — such as paid search advertising — you could be missing out.
According to statistics from MarketingProfs, 44% of people can recall a brand right after seeing a digital ad, whereas 75% of people are likely to recall a brand that received direct mail. Based on this statistic alone you could argue that it would be better for raising brand awareness to go with direct mail, but imagine how much more awareness you could generate by combining both strategies!
PPC Advertising
So what exactly is pay-per-click advertising? It’s a way to buy clicks to your website. A popular form of PPC is search engine advertising. Anytime someone is searching for your services, they will be served an ad that — once clicked — will take them to your website and you will be charged a small fee for that visit. After getting a viewer, it’s then up to your website to engage them and lead them to your call-to-action or visit your business.
Direct Mail
Direct mail offers a high level of targeting capabilities that make it a great starting point for marketing campaigns. It’s personal and leaves a lasting impression on consumers. More businesses are choosing to go strictly digital with their advertising tactics and that has caused less competition in the mailbox, meaning you’ll get more of your customer’s attention. When you use direct mail in your marketing plan, you’ll see a higher ROI than you would with paid search.
How Do They Compare?
With PPC advertising, you are actively placing your business in front of prospects who are already interested in your business, when they search for your products or services. With direct mail, on the other hand, you are putting your business in front of your prospects often before they begin their search, building brand recognition.
By combining these two tactics, you’ll create more touchpoints for consumers to interact with your brand. Once a prospect gets your marketing piece in the mail, you can then serve them digital ads using paid search advertising when they get ready to buy.
By using this multi-channel approach, you’ll be sending a reminder that will resonate with your target because they are already familiar with your brand. Because they have previously received a physical piece of mail from your business, it increases their brand recall and begins building an emotional connection before they’ve even decided on your business.
So Which Strategy Works Best for Small Businesses?
This actually isn’t a one or the other kind of answer. To get the best results and the biggest bang for your marketing buck, you need to blend both tactics into one cohesive strategic marketing plan. By using the strengths of each tactic, you can expand your reach and create impressions on members of your target audience that you otherwise wouldn’t reach.
If you want to know a little more about how this two-part strategy works or if you’re ready to get your prospects engaged with your brand, contact one of our marketing experts to help you get started!
