What exactly is Direct Mail Frequency? Frequency means how often or how many times your campaign is potentially seen by the same particular group of consumers within a certain timeframe. Do not confuse this with direct mail reach, which is the total number of potential/consumers who receive the flyer. When you have high frequency, the more times your advertisement is seen, it becomes more recognizable, cuts through the noise, increases brand recognition, and reiterates the main message your business is trying to convey. It should be noted that not all of these consumers will see the direct mail campaign or see your advertisement each time it has been deployed. The risk is quite low when it comes to frequency in direct mail as it’s quite difficult to over mail a campaign given all the steps that are involved just to reach mailboxes, therefore this should not be a concern to any business!
Here are four reasons on why you should increase frequency:
Competition Is Heavy
You are not the only one vying for attention from your consumers. The more competition there is, the more you need to increase frequency within a given time frame based on what message you’d like to send. With so much happening in the digital world, using direct mail differentiates your ad just by the format that consumers see it in. It takes a minimum of three times for someone to recognize a brand or logo and six to eight times seeing your ad before turning into a lead.
Stay Top of Mind in Peak Season
Timing is very important when it comes to sending out your direct mail especially if your business, like most, is seasonal or has a ‘peak season’. This is where you can get a head start sending out your direct mail campaign in advance so when you are in peak season, consumers will already have you at the top of their minds. For example, if you have a lawn and garden service, you may want to start your marketing campaigns in late winter or early spring. Even though a customer may not need a service right away, with the frequent drops, there will be a time they do!
Reach Your Target Customer Multiple Times
Before you start, know who your ideal customer is and then you can start targeting them. Once you’ve established this, you will market (send out direct mail pieces) to them frequently which will increase your chances of converting them. According to a Canada Post study, 80% of consumers remember a Direct Mail piece that was sent to them in the past four weeks. If following the rule of thumb in the number of drops every 21 days, a potential consumer would see your ad twice. That would be on day 1 and day 21 at any point in the year.
Improve Your Return On Investment
ROI = [$ Revenue Earned] - [$ Cost of Investment]. With this equation on hand it will help you and your team create campaigns while factoring in frequency and ultimately to create an impact. By ensuring you are reaching your customers with optimal frequency, you ensure that your dollars are well spent. With 20+ years of experience in the industry, we have seen too many times a one-month test does not produce optimal results as it didn’t follow best practices in terms of frequency. Knowing that direct mail has been proven to have a higher response rate compared to digital ads, imagine the success of your campaign when almost 8 out of 10 consumers are making a purchase based on a print ad.
In summary, keep focused on the goal of having your marketing campaign seen by as many potential consumers as possible! There is no right or wrong solution, only the above recommendations to help align you on why frequency is beneficial. Contact us today as we can help increase your direct mail campaign responses through a uniformed frequency plan.