There’s no doubt that direct mail marketing is as useful today as it was before the digital era. According to research by the DMA, direct mail marketing gets up to 37 times more responses than email marketing. However, just because you use direct mail does not guarantee that your piece is going to be opened or read. You need to put in effort into your direct mail and turn it into something that recipients will find useful and interesting; something they won’t be so quick to throw away. Here are some unique direct mail promotional ideas that will help your mailer stand out from the rest.

Product Samples

Mailing your recipients samples is a great way to give them a taste of your business. For example, a carpeting company can send a carpet tile sample. A beauty shop can give away free samples of lotion or shampoo. If your business doesn’t sell tangible items, that’s okay. You can still use this method. Try giving away a coupon for a free trial of a service.

Logoed Items

May it be a magnet, a pen, or a coaster, you can imprint your logo and contact info on a variety of objects. According to the ASI, about 40% of people who receive a logoed item from a business they have not worked with said they would be more likely to try this new business out in the future.

Calendars

If you’re thinking about sending out one direct mail promotional item for the year, make it a calendar. According to ASI, the average amount of time a promotional item is kept is seven months. But, calendars have a much longer lasting power. That means calendars have a higher chance of being seen and reminding the observer of your brand. Calendars provide at least a year’s worth of ongoing advertisement, and it’s something promoters only have to invest in once a year.

Flash Drives

Integrating the old with the new! Not only is a flash drive a great little gift, but it’s an innovative way to spread your brand’s message. You can put your sales message and call-to-action on a flash drive and mail it out to your audience which they’ll see when they plug it in to use it. Research shows that 91% of people in the United States who receive promotional flash drives keep them because they are useful.

The standard direct mail piece can be easily enhanced by combining the basic CTA message with a promotional item. It is important to have your direct mail campaign stand out from the moment your audience receives it – after all, you only have a few seconds to catch their attention. Being clever with your creative can do just that. If you have additional direct mail promotional ideas, please share them with us in a comment below!