If you’re not targeting customers via print, you’re missing out - Sunday Times

According to a study, 70 per cent of consumers feel that direct mail is more personal than online interactions, with a response rate that’s 40 times higher

It never ceases to amaze me when dynamic young entrepreneurs look at me in puzzlement as I ask the same question: “How are you targeting customers with printed direct marketing?”

As their mentor or investor, once we’ve discussed their brilliant idea and plans to use new digital technologies, they’re taken aback by my enthusiasm for old fashioned Royal Mail. And yet more often than not, by the time we’ve finished, print is then nearly always elevated to the top of their to-do list, Especially when I let them know that I owe everything to it.

I first realised HomeServe’s membership model would be successful after I received 38 responses from sending out 1,000 letter mailshots. If that hadn’t happened, the business would have stalled before it had even got started.

If you’re not targeting customers via print, or using it to encourage next-purchase decisions, you’re missing a huge opportunity. There’s a lazy assumption that everyone is digital-savvy, smartphone in one hand and tablet in the other. The online world may be all around us but that does not mean your customers are immersed in it. Their analogue world may be an equally effective way to amplify your message, drive engagement and achieve growth. So instead of looking up at the screen, look down at the doormat.

Having picked up mailshots on mine in the past week or so, I’ve been persuaded to buy wine from Laithwaites, bedding from the White Company, shirts from Charles Tyrwhitt t, and exercise kit from Sweaty Betty (not for me, that one!). I’ve also been persuaded to nip into some of the local businesses that regularly drop leaflets through my door.

More than half are addressed to me personally and are well-produced with fantastic imagery. The words are professionally done, too, adding trust and credibility, telling me all I need to know about the products, and including a tempting call-to-action.

Some are so engaging and of such high quality that they’ll be knocking around the house for several weeks. The same can’t be said for the avalanche of marketing emails that are deleted unread or dumped in my spam. How ironic that the clutter of our digital lives is in direct contrast to what is now less clutter through our letter-box. Fewer businesses are using direct mail, which means those that still do get more prominence on the doormat, especially from those of us who are still working from home a few days a week.

According to a study by the Data & Marketing Association, 70 per cent of consumers feel that direct mail is more personal than online interactions, with a response rate that’s 40 times higher. Neuroscientists have found that direct mail is easier to process mentally than email, engagement is longer and there is an astonishing 70 per cent increase in brand recall. With digital advertising costs soaring and online ad-blocking becoming more sophisticated, it is time to reconsider direct mail.

Don’t just take my word for it: Johnnie Boden called himself a “nitwit” for ditching his brilliant Boden catalogue, a mistake that helped turn a £22m profit in 2022 into a £4.4m loss a year later. Resurrecting it, he believes, was one of the best decisions he’s made since launching the fashion brand in 1991.

At Checkatrade, we distribute 80 million printed directory leaflets a year and track every phone call that each directory inspires, as well as the significant traffic that comes to the website. Emails, web content and SEO/SEM tactics are crucial but they should work in harmony with direct mail to acquire customers and cross-sell. When your client receives their product purchases, there should always be a catalogue in the box prompting their next buy, or a single personalised leaflet which has used AI to predict what next item the customer is likely to choose.

It’s also easy to measure how much impact your mailshots are having by encouraging purchases through a brochure’s voucher code. Plus, if you have bricks and mortar stores, mailshots extend and enrich the in-store experience. That’s especially true in the home improvements industry. Catalogues showing the whole product range are a vital part of the in-store sales process for Wren Kitchens and Easy Bathrooms.

Whatever your business, keep experimenting with print, analyse what works and iterate as required. But beware: too much, too often will make your direct marketing intrusive rather than enticing. Which is why I also recommend you steer clear of outbound telemarketing and door-to-door sales.

Telemarketing does have value when it’s “sales through service”, suggesting an extra product or service to a customer who has called your business and is open to an offer once their initial query has been sorted out. Also, ensure your printed campaign is as environmentally-friendly as possible and make clear that it is. And be aware of cultural differences before embarking on a campaign abroad. In my experience, direct mail works brilliantly in the US and France but fails miserably in Spain and Italy. Do your research first.

With companies drowning out their messages in a competitive cacophony of digital noise, paper is a growth tool that strengthens the customer relationship. And in our artificial, virtual, augmented world, that’s more valuable than ever.

Richard Harpin is founder and chairman of HomeServe and Growth Partner, and owner of Business Leader Magazine