Reaching out to clients is a key part of every business’s strategy. Whether finding new clients to work with or keeping up established relationships, it is your job to reach out and put the best foot forward with every client. You can call or send out an email — after all, everyone you are working with has one — but so is every other business vying for your clients’ attention, and it’s a challenge to make an email stand out or feel truly personal. To get ahead of the competition, you need to find the unfair advantage — going physical.
Physical mail presents a range of attention-grabbing advantages over digital communications methods, though these benefits might not be obvious to those used to talking over the web. Here are some of the reasons that physical mail will set you apart when reaching out to clients.
1 – Physical Demands Engagement
As anyone with physical and digital mailboxes knows, you do not approach email the same as physical mail. Emails can pile up by the hundreds thanks to automated replies and other spam, leading to clients only opening about 20% of their emails. With 80% of emails going overlooked, it is likely even your most perfectly crafted email will go unopened and your client unengaged.
Physical mail, on the other hand, demands engagement. Whether placed in their mailbox or delivered by office mail cart, people go through their mail envelope by envelope and make a decision about whether to open them. By sending physical mail, you are guaranteed an audience with your targeted client rather than hoping they find your needle in the haystack of digital spam.
2 – Physical Mail Gets Results
Once the client opens your message up, the goal is to get them to respond. Despite the relative ease of typing up a few sentences and sending it to you, clients are unlikely to respond to emails. Data from the Association of National Advertisers shows only .12% of emails garner a response, while roughly 4% of all physical mail receives a reply from clients. Phone calls receive the highest response rates with nearly 13% of calls receiving a follow-up. It is harder to ignore a letter than an email, and as such it gets a bigger reaction from clients.
3 – Mail Can Be Personalized
Email personalization is limited to subject lines and body content, meaning they are not really customizable. Physical mail, on the contrary, offers endless ways to be personalized for your business. Logos can be placed on envelopes and boxes, stationary can be made unique to each employee, and files can be presented in a variety of folder and sleeve types. Mailing materials can be modified to subtly reflect your company, such as using unique folder pocket cuts to underline your dynamic nature or using post-consumer recycled paper for a document sleeve.
4 – Send Digital Goods in Memorable Ways
An email can quickly deliver files to clients as attachments, but what good is an attachment if the email is unlikely to be opened? Digital goods can be delivered in the form of CDs and flash drives, giving your digital marketing an analog makeover. Companies all over have been sending clients software stored on physical media since the 1990s when AOL gave millions of free trial CDs to computer users around the world. CDs and other physical media can be securely delivered in a number of folders and envelopes, some of which can be customized to fit your company’s product.
5 – Send Samples, Coupons, and Other Goods
People like free stuff, and giving out samples works wonders for sales. Brands like Company Folders, Inc. know this and have earned thousands of loyal clients by letting them sample their products for free. By packing an envelope with some samples and coupons, you’re giving the client the opportunity to trust your product and encouraging them to make their first of many purchases.
Even if samples do not work for your business, mailing items to clients is not out of the question. Mementos such as pens, notepads, and mugs alongside regular marketing materials give clients useful office goods while also keeping your name an arm’s length away. An email can be quickly deleted, but it is hard to forget a name etched into your new favorite pen.
6 – Codes Are More Interesting Than Links
Getting engagement with social media is a key part of marketing strategies, and it can seem confusing trying to incorporate it into physical mailing materials. But have no fear, for QR codes are here. Taking the spot once held by hyperlinks, QR codes direct clients to your websites while requesting more engagement on their part. The codes can be integrated into the design envelope or letter’s design, combining its functionality with your product’s aesthetics.
