With Christmas right around the corner, the US is about to enter its largest spending weeks. Direct Mail offers the ability to capitalize. In 2020, the average American spent $998 on gifts, holiday items and other holiday expenses during the season. Over the past decade, ecommerce trends have risen enormously, but with more people traveling and feeling safer in 2021 than they did in the 2020 holiday season, experts predict we’ll see more in-person purchases as well.
So what does this mean for your direct mail strategy? Here are a few general ideas to consider:
- Shopping frenzies (a la Black Friday and Cyber Monday) aren’t going anywhere.
- Gifts for others are the biggest percentage of spending.
- Shoppers are putting more thought into their planned holiday spending.
- Consumers, on the whole, are more conscious and discerning than ever about engaging with obvious marketing efforts.
Keep the main message the focal point
It’s not uncommon for brands to run multiple sales at the same time as part of a larger campaign. However, you don’t want your biggest sale to be missed amid other specials. Emphasize your most important offer(s) by placing them front and center of your direct mail packet.
Use an oversized mailer design to grab attention
Help your mailer physically stand out from the rest. Oversized direct mail can capture consumers’ attention and also divert their attention away from smaller pieces of mail, especially when in a stack or pile.
Go after your current customers
It’s tempting to promote a lot of holiday deals as ways to expand your customer base. However, your existing customers will likely go with what they know. Plus, if you’re running a great sale, they’ll be more likely to engage with that campaign based on previous positive experiences. Data-driven personalized marketing can help you quickly identify those existing customers and create custom messaging that would better resonate with them compared to a new audience.
Clearly label dates
There’s nothing more frustrating for a consumer excitedly going to use a coupon only to find out they didn’t read the fine print and that coupon expired. Not only does it leave a poor taste in a customer’s mouth, but it can also discourage any sale from happening. When designing your holiday sales and deals collateral, make sure those start and end dates are big enough for any customer to see. That goes for email efforts as well; putting the dates in a subject line can help remind customers to use an e-coupon before it expires in their inboxes!
Combine your direct mailers with email efforts
Customers need multiple touch points with your brand before they make a decision. During the holidays, that touch point threshold is often higher simply because of the volume of marketing that consumers experience. The more a customer sees your holiday direct mail marketing message, the more likely they are to participate in that sale or campaign. To increase visual consistency, use similar design elements between your direct mailer and your digital messaging.
Don’t forget post-holiday shoppers
Yes, the holidays are huge for shopping. However, there are plenty of late gift-getters, procrastinators, or “I’ll wait til the new year” thinkers who would likely appreciate your campaign after the holiday craze has wound down.
The holiday seasons can be chaotic. The team at Xerographic is here to help bring order to the chaos! By trusting the expert team at Xerographic, we can ensure that your project brings fresh life to your marketing, sales or conference needs. As one of Central Florida’s leading digital print shops, we’re able to help businesses stand out from the competition. Give us a call at 407-490-0690 or drop us an email at info@xerocopy.com.
