If people are looking at and researching products and services online, it makes sense to follow up in the same digital medium, right? Not necessarily. As it turns out, some people have a tendency to tune out digital ads. What you can do is take these digital clues about what motivates and inspires people and move the technology offline to print with direct mail.
Why? Because direct mail works. You can still customize marketing on a personal level, only now people have access to the postcard or special offer when they need it: they can leave it on the counter as a reminder or put it in their purse, where they’re more likely to take action.
And one of the most effective and efficient ways to use this data in direct mail campaigns is through agile marketing.
What Is Agile Marketing?
To understand the role agile marketing plays in direct mail, first you have to understand what, exactly, agile marketing is. Agile marketing is collaborative and streamlined and responsive and quick.
1) There are no long, detailed marketing plans with agile marketing. Instead, these small, frequent tests are broken into “sprints” of 15-30 days. The mentality is: “This is what we’re going to get done in a short timeframe.”
2) In order to achieve that goal, you still need a strategy, but instead of letting it run its course, you test it, you measure and analyze results, you document what you’ve learned, and you reevaluate your position.
3) You don’t lose a chunk of your marketing budget on an underperforming idea or tactic because you’re not waiting to respond to real-world results. You’re figuring out what’s working and what’s not and making adjustments, gradually putting more resources behind effective techniques.
4) Rather than “business as usual,” you’re embracing the unexpected. And really, you’re finding better ways of working.
5) The customer—always—is at the center of decisions.
Everything moves more quickly in business today than it did in the past, and the data-driven steps of agile marketing are key to realizing new opportunities. By taking the data beyond the digital world, the customer has a more all-encompassing experience and you get the most out of your marketing dollars.
Ready to produce your next direct mail campaign?