The days of Love Film are long gone. You know, the days where you had your movies sent directly to you in the post, watched them and sent them back. It was a brilliant idea when it first came out. It was a new level of comfort and convenience.
Although there was the danger of being sent a scratched DVD or the wrong film: who wanted Finding Nemo when they ordered The Godfather? But at least we didn’t have to traipse to the video shop!
There was a sense of anticipation and foreboding to it. Would they have a copy of the latest film or not? Teetering on the edge of disappointment only served to heighten my joy when they did have a copy to rent. When they didn’t, I was forced to settle for second best, lest all that hiking go to waste.
Then everything went downhill once we all started streaming movies. Goodbye Love Film. Goodbye Blockbuster. No more hiking and no more video in the post.
And what does this have to do with the price of fish you might ask?
Well, funny you should ask.
While posting anything – let alone video – to someone during lockdown might have understandably dropped off your radar, it needs to come back onto it.
Why?
Because direct mail gets results.
94% of advertising mail is engaged with and only 6% is discarded or unopened. And when it comes to recall, mail is remembered 35% more than social media and 49% more than email marketing.
Mail is also seen as a trusted channel, with 87% of people considering mail to be believable, compared to just 48% for email. On top of this, 70% of people say that mail, rather than email, makes them feel valued.
I’m just going to recap the first stat and ask you if your other channels have that level of engagement: 94% of advertising mail is engaged with and only 6% is discarded or unopened.
So, if you haven’t used direct mail – for whatever reason – maybe it’s time to give it a go. And we’re not suggesting you should post out a VHS or DVD, although that might work for some people depending on who your audience is. No. We’re talking about embedding video and smart technology within printed material. This is direct mail for the online age.
For example, your mailing piece can include an LCD screen playing your video and an RFID chip which people can hover their phone over and instantly be directed to your website. Or even better, a button that instantly triggers a call-back from your sales team.
If the video and messaging on your mail item is compelling enough, they will engage immediately with your brand.
There are two things that show how this type of campaign can work and the awesome results that can be achieved if you do it with the right agencies and technology.
