When you are running a direct mail campaign, it’s very important to track your results in order to improve your future campaigns. However, if you are running multiple campaigns, how do you know which source the prospect found you through? How do you keep track of where they are coming from? Marketing metrics play a critical role in understanding how effective your campaigns are. Response rate is considered very important by most direct marketers. According to an article by the Direct Mail Association, direct mail gets response rates 3% higher than email marketing. Of course, direct mail is harder to track than email; after all, there’s no “open rate” to tell you how many people looked at your direct mail piece. What business wouldn’t want to keep track of how well their campaigns are doing? Here are 4 no-brainer ways to measure and track your direct mail response rates.
1. Phone Call Tracking
Phone call tracking is a great way to track direct mail response rates. Phone call tracking is one of the most popular ways businesses measure their marketing efforts. With this tracking method, you assign a unique phone number to a single direct mail campaign. You can get different phone numbers to use for different campaigns. This allows you to identify which leads are coming from which campaign, because if they call your tracking number, there is no way that they could have seen that number anywhere else. Depending on the call tracking software you use, tracked information can often be integrated directly into your CRM system. This helps you keep track and follow up with leads.
2. Personalized URLs
Rather than printing your general company website URL on the direct mail campaign, use a unique URL that will only be promoted to the audience receiving the direct mail piece. The URL may be used to redirect the audience to the business website or a landing page of your choice. There are two main ways to personalize URLs. Specific URLs can be created for particular campaigns, so that every time someone goes to the designated URL, you can track them. This will require you to have an analytics program installed, like Google Analytics, so that you can see how customers are interacting with your content. You can also create a personalized URL for each individual direct mail recipient. These are called variable URLs, and any reputable printing house will be able to execute these individualized URLs. Your receiver will be given a personalized URL, such as www.website.com/theirfirstname-lastname. This type of direct personalization can help motivate customers to respond. Variable URLs will not only give you response rate statistics, but will also tell you who exactly viewed your website.
3. QR Codes
QR codes are good ways to track your direct mail pieces. If you’re new to QR codes, don’t worry, they are quite easy to create. All you need is to use a QR code generator like KAYWA to create a unique code. You can then print these codes on your direct mail pieces. It’s also important to know that not all QR codes are created equal. When you are creating your code, you need to make sure that your code can be tracked and analyzed so you can measure direct mail response rates. The code should be compatible with most, if not all, QR code reader apps. QR codes work in a similar way as personalized URLs. However, they provide a quicker and more convenient way for anyone with a smartphone to get to your website or landing page. All they need to do is use their QR code reader app on their mobile device to scan the code, which will then take them to the designated website in a flash.
4. Coupons & Coupon Codes
Whether you create a direct mail piece with a tear-away coupon, or print a special coupon code onto a flyer, coupons of any form are very effective and easy ways to track direct mail response rates. Besides, who doesn’t like a good offer? You can count how many coupons and codes are redeemed to determine your response rate. This is also another area where you could use variable printing to create unique coupon codes for each recipient.
When you know your how your response rate is doing, you can test and tweak your marketing strategies and tactics to achieve success. What other ways can you track and measure direct mail response rates? We would love to hear you thoughts in the comments below! Please call US Data Corporation at (888) 578-3282 if you have any direct mail marketing questions.