Want to give your next direct mail campaign an edge? It’s important that any marketing campaign is relevant to grab the attention of your audience – whether it’s a tailored email campaign, targeted social media campaign, or an impactful direct mail campaign. What better way to ensure that you produce a relevant, attention-grabbing and impactful campaign than to create a seasonal mailout? Whether you’re selling products for the festive season, ushering in new products for spring, or encouraging your audience to try something different for the new year, there are plenty of ways to make seasonal direct mail work for you.
Why Is Seasonal Direct Mail Important?
Seasonal direct mail campaigns will vary drastically depending on your business, so it is important to understand consumer trends to identify the best times to schedule your direct mail campaigns. For example, businesses selling new double glazed windows will likely experience an uptick in activity approaching winter as homeowners search for ways to better insulate their home. Charities may achieve greater success around Christmas as charitable gift donations become more popular around the festive season of giving. Healthcare brands will experience greater interest at the dawn of the New Year as many kick-start their resolutions to live a healthier lifestyle. Ultimately, it is imperative that you put yourself in the shoes of your customer and question when and why they’ll be more receptive to your seasonal direct mail campaigns.
Spring Revamp
For many of us, springtime signals rejuvenation and newness, posing a great opportunity for direct mail businesses to launch their new products. Whether you’re advertising garden accessories for the upcoming summer weather, or clothes items to update spring and summer wardrobes, your spring campaigns should be focused on the premise of new seasons bringing new beginnings. In fact, research suggests that spring sales could begin to rival Black Friday, with St. Patrick’s Day and Easter being particularly profitable for businesses. Furthermore, businesses selling products related to fashion, gardening and spring cleaning should be particularly aware that the months of February to June are the optimal time to advertise their products with direct mail for maximum impact.
This makes spring a fantastic time to give your direct mail a boost with a seasonal revamp. Grab your customer’s attention with mailouts that fit the season, adorned with natural imagery and pastel colours. This is also a good opportunity to act on the adage ‘out with the old, in with the new’ by ushering in new products for the new season, and offering competitive discounts on winter stock. This is especially beneficial if your direct mail is advertising products with a finite shelf life such as food, beverages and healthcare products where it is important to shift stock that will be expired by next season.
Black Friday Direct Mail
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are some of the most important dates in the calendar for maximising sales. In fact, Brits spent £8.71 billion over Black Friday weekend in 2022, making this a prime opportunity for businesses to offer their very best deals to new and existing customers. Your customers will be expecting more than a generic direct mailout in the run up to Black Friday – they’ll be expecting a good incentive to shop with your brand rather than with your competitors. ADM anticipate that competition between retailers will be fierce this year due to the rising cost of living and goods, which makes Black Friday weekend a prime time to seek out deals that may otherwise be unavailable for the rest of the year.
This is where personalisation in direct mail really shines. Rather than offering generic deals for a percentage off retail price, businesses can distribute direct mail with a more personal touch to truly appeal to their customers. Printing vouchers tailored to a customer’s purchasing habits for certain products, or by printing their account number and points details on direct mailouts, makes recipients feel more directly appealed to. This also eases the purchasing process by reminding customers of their loyalty to the brand, and encouraging them to build up points or any other rewards from a customer rewards scheme.
Christmas And New Year Direct Mail
Most households experience an uptick in the amount of direct mail they receive in the run up to Christmas as businesses vye for consumer’s attention. However, this means that any direct mail campaign you schedule needs to truly stand out from the crowd, or risk blending in with the other swathes of direct mail.
Now is the time for businesses to distribute their brochure and catalogue mail in anticipation of the Christmas rush. Many customers enjoy taking time to flick through a catalogue, circling gifts they wish to purchase for others, and pointing out items that may make a good gift for themselves. This deviates from the typical scrolling on mobiles or computers that customers do when searching for gift ideas at other times of the year – there is something quintessentially Christmassy about taking the time to read through a physical brochure or catalogue. Although this seems like a more antiquated form of advertising compared to modern techniques, evidence suggests that mail order catalogues are actually rising in popularity. In 2020, mail order catalogues grew by almost 350% as shoppers were forced away from brick and mortar retail stores. Now that lockdown is over, this does not mean that mail order catalogues are redundant – in fact, the pandemic reminded many of us of the joys of sitting down and browsing at our leisure as opposed to tackling the hustle and bustle of storefronts during the Christmas rush.
Ace Your Seasonal Direct Mail Campaigns With ADM
At ADM, we carry out direct mail campaigns year-round, year-in, year-out. Suffice to say we’re quite the direct mail aficionados! Having led huge organisations like the National Trust, Bible Society and University of Sheffield to seasonal campaign success, we’re confident that we can help your business thrive with our marketing know-how – no matter the season! As trusted distributors of well-known brochures and catalogues for popular brands such as David Austin Roses, Harrod Horticultural, Bravissimo, and Peter Christian, you can trust ADM to help you make a success of your next direct mail campaign.
For more information on what we do, how we do it, and how direct mail can transform your business, simply fill out the form below to talk to a member of our team…
