Direct mail is well known for reaping results and high engagement for many companies, but what about smaller businesses? Many are put off my direct mail due to not having the available budgets to compete with big corporations. However, direct mail can be an effective way for small businesses to engage with their current and prospective customers, it just needs to be done the right way. Keep reading as we reveal our cost-effective direct mail solutions for small businesses. In today’s oversaturated digital landscape, physical mail provides a welcome break from screen fatigue, offering a tangible connection that helps local brands stand out and cut through the digital noise. While the volume of digital messages increases, mail offers a clear, dedicated channel, ensuring your message has a higher chance of being noticed and remembered, which is why we continue to champion direct mail as part of a sound marketing strategy.

• The power of direct mail

• Should small businesses use direct mail?

• Our top cost-effective direct mail solutions

• Direct mail for small businesses with DMS

The Power of Direct Mail

Direct mail has been a long-standing form of marketing that can have a great success rate for companies, across all industries. With such an emphasis on digital, it appears that direct mail acts to break through the noise of constant emails and social ads to reach the hands and eyes of the customer tangibly.

With more people working from home, daily attention rates to direct mail have soared. The average direct mail piece now captures 145 seconds of attention per item over a 28-day period, with items being interacted with 4.43 times on average. This is significantly higher than the time spent reading an email. It shows to be converting too, with 6% of all mail prompting a purchase, and over half (53%) of those purchases being made online, showcasing its powerful role in driving digital action. For brands looking to improve engagement and conversions, direct mail remains a super touchpoint, complementing and amplifying digital marketing. If you want to know more about this synergy, you can read our guide on how direct mail complements your digital strategy.

Should Small Businesses Use Direct Mail?

Direct mail is not just reserved for larger companies. The results and engagement can be replicated across all types and sizes of businesses, however, smaller businesses may need to tailor their approach to meet their needs and budgets. Remember, just one well-executed and highly targeted direct mail campaign can do wonders for a small business, the right solution just needs to be identified.

For small businesses with limited resources, focusing on the quality of leads over quantity of reach is critical. Direct mail excels here, providing a remarkable return on investment (ROI). In fact, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) found that direct mail delivers an impressive 161% ROI when sent to a carefully managed house list, outperforming all major digital channels. The high response rate of direct mail, which can reach 7.2% for warm campaigns, means that even smaller print runs can yield significant results when the data is right. This channel allows local businesses, from independent retailers to specialised service providers, to build tangible brand awareness in a way that digital ads simply cannot replicate. Furthermore, as many marketers are increasing their direct mail investment because the channel is proving to be a reliable component of a successful integrated strategy, small businesses can take advantage of the growing acceptance and effectiveness of mail, providing them with a crucial edge over larger, digitally-saturated competitors. You can find out more about the resurgence of mail and the upward trends in the channel by reading this recent article from Forbes.

Cost-Effective Direct Mail Solutions

Many small businesses don’t have large budgets for large-scale and extravagant direct mail campaigns. However, small businesses can implement several cost-effective direct mail solutions to help save costs, make the most of their budgets and carry out a successful direct mail campaign.

Have a Well Defined Target Audience

Setting clear objectives for the campaign will help small businesses to define who they want to target. This is important as a well-defined target audience ensures mailers are only sent to the intended recipients, ensuring resources are not wasted on sending to people the mailer doesn’t concern. For example, sending a ‘Here’s 10% off your first order’ direct mail campaign to someone who is a regular customer would be a waste of a mailer and not cost-effective. By refining your targeting and learning how to segment your mailing lists for higher engagement, you ensure every pound spent is aimed at the highest potential customer. A small local car dealership, for instance, might use geo-targeting combined with specific demographics to send a promotional postcard marketing piece only to homeowners in a specific postcode area nearing a car lease renewal date.

Clean & Update Mailing Lists

Similar to the above, making sure mailing lists are up to date and cleaned of any misspellings or old addresses is essential in ensuring as many mailers as possible make it to the correct recipient. Printing personalised mailers to only have them be undeliverable is a loss that can be easily avoided with proper data hygiene. Beyond avoiding waste, maintaining clean data is essential for GDPR compliance and helps future campaigns by ensuring accurate personalisation. We recommend checking out our dedicated advice on how clean is your data for best practices.

Budget-Friendly Envelopes & Materials

Small businesses may not be able to afford elaborate materials, paper, embossing or envelopes. However, that doesn’t mean that their direct mailers can’t stand out and be engaged with. There are many budget-friendly materials out there that can look amazing, especially when paired with a well-thought-out and eye-catching design. Using envelopes of a slightly different or larger size than usual or perhaps in a bright colour can grab the attention of a customer. In addition, using handwriting-style font seems to be an effective way of improving engagement. A popular budget-friendly format for small businesses is the use of simple mailshots or postcards. These formats require minimal production complexity yet still provide the tangible impact of physical media. Furthermore, selecting the right digital printing service allows for cost-effective, short-run, highly personalised campaigns without the expense of traditional litho setup, making it ideal for small business budgets.

Utilise Offers

A small business may not have the most fancy of direct mailers, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be engaged with. Utilising a strong offer for your recipients can be an easy and cost-effective way to improve the success rate of your campaign. How about offering a free gift when they place an order, make a donation or sign up for your event?

Keep it Short & Simple

Keeping things short and simple is a good strategy when it comes to cost-effective direct mail for small businesses. Make a message clear with a strong call to action (CTA). Multiple pages and images can be more expensive to print, so keeping it to a minimum is a great way to save on mailers.

Make Use of Bulk Mail Discounts

Small businesses can make use of bulk mail discounts too! They are not just for bigger companies, but businesses will need to meet some minimum send volume requirements. Working with a partner that specialises in securing postal discounts is the most effective way to manage these essential costs, which often account for the largest part of the budget.

We recommend speaking to a mailing house to see how they can help you save on postage. Even if you don’t qualify for bulk mail, they often get the very best rates when it comes to postage costs and will be able to find you the most cost-effective solution.

Track & Analyse Results

Tracking and analysing a campaign is a very effective way of optimising future campaigns. Implementing simple but effective tracking mechanisms, such as unique PURLs, dedicated phone numbers, or QR codes that direct traffic online, allows for precise measurement. This practice of constant A/B testing in direct mail techniques helps businesses rapidly learn what resonates with their audience and how to optimise their creative and offer to drive higher conversions. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversion rate, response rate and return on investment (ROI) can help small businesses tweak their direct mail campaigns and their success over time, ensuring long-term cost-effectiveness.

Work with a Direct Mail Mailing House

Working with a mailing house that specialises in direct mail is a fantastic solution for small businesses. A mailing house is a specialist in their sector and will be able to help a business create effective campaigns in line with their budgets and expectations. Many will have experience working with smaller businesses and will be able to offer expert advice on how to save on all areas of the campaign, whether that be on materials, printing or postage. A reputable mailing partner, like DMS, can advise on everything from material weight for postage savings to optimal inkjet addressing techniques for large-volume, low-cost print runs. We also offer expert print management services to help consolidate your needs and ensure you access maximum postal discounts, transforming your mailing budget into a powerful asset.

Direct Mail for Small Businesses with DMS

At DMS, we are committed to creating and delivering effective and high-quality direct mail campaigns for all types of businesses, big and small. We have a wide range of cost-effective solutions we can implement to ensure your budget is maximised to its fullest, ensuring it’s set up for success when it comes to actioning your campaign.

We are an experienced and passionate team with an array of knowledge and are always happy to answer any questions. Call us on 0117 934 1600 or click here to get a free quote.