Direct Mail Tracking – Dialing in on Campaign Data

Oct 12, 2020

When it comes to understanding how well an efficient and meaningful direct mail marketing campaign is performing, there are a lot of variables at play. It’s not difficult to make the connection between an increase in sales or services after you send out a batch of direct mail; after all, a direct response to your mail pieces enticing consumers to take action is the whole point. In terms of processing, analyzing, and deciding on the next steps, knowing how successful your direct mail campaigns are or aren’t, is highly relevant to ad spend, strategy, and in some cases, the shifting of priorities to other avenues. Direct mail tracking can make that possible, and with the right programs and mail tracking software, your options for data reporting and monitoring are endless.

There are several different ways in which a business or organization can implement direct mail tracking and informed mail delivery services to help out with not only their direct mail campaigns but their digital campaigns as well. Cross-platform marketing is integral in keeping consumers, constituents, and potential donors in your funnel. By utilizing tracking tools that work fluidly with all of your business marketing channels, the opportunity to observe just how your direct mail pieces are performing for your business is a helpful key to success.

Direct Mail Tracking – The How and Why

The impact of direct mail pieces to consumers is one that some discredit. In an age where digital media is everywhere, the power of holding a mailer, brochure, letter, pamphlet, or other well crafted, quality print direct mail piece is one that a surprising number of people won’t tend to forget.

With services like SnailWorks mail tracking integrated into all of ProList’s direct mail campaigns, the wealth of information that tracking provides and can trigger is a great way to integrate those cross-platform strategies you and your team have been working so hard on while keeping an eye on delivery times, and response times, too. In a recent article from the New York Times, the issue of postal and delivery delays with the U.S. Postal Service was addressed based on SnailWorks’ unbiased, direct mail and informed delivery service data. Through their expansive and networked data retention and reporting, issues on the efficiency of mail delivery are being used to propel action on mail delivery delays and processing efficiency. That’s big news for businesses and organizations looking to become more informed when it comes to their direct mail productivity and response.

Mail tracking for direct mail marketing means businesses have access to dialed-in, extensive reporting data that can help them pinpoint success, delays, and problems with their mail pieces. Not only can a business see exactly where each and every piece of mail is located in its journey with IMBs (intelligent mail barcodes), but the opportunity to create specific QR codes, pURLS (personalized URLs) and other distinctive elements makes success that much easier.

By utilizing direct mail providers like ProList in conjunction with our included direct mail tracking and informed digital response services, marketers who are utilizing direct mail have a lot to gain. Not only will your business or organization be able to create effective and highly personalized mail pieces, but with the help of our partner SnailWorks’ tracking programs, you can engage consumers on a whole new level. Below are a few integrated direct mail options that may come into play when considering a direct mail tracking service:

• Program triggers for digital contact – Triggers can be scheduled to make calls or send follow up emails or newsletters to individuals who have been targeted by a piece of direct mail at a specific date after your mailer goes out and based on when that piece delivers to individual recipients. Remember, we spoke to the advantageous properties of cross-platform marketing for nonprofits a few weeks ago; in today’s marketing climate, cross-platform marketing is important for any type of business or organization.
• Mail tracking boosts the value of your direct mail – Every budget dollar spent on any form of marketing or advertising isn’t ever a thoughtless decision. To get the most out of your strategy and see your direct mail perform at its peak, it’s imperative to know the details surrounding how your ads (in this case, direct mail) are reaching consumers. Being able to observe trends in demographics or how content is consumed by your audience, and being made aware of delivery issues or delays, are key components to overall program success.
• pURLS – Mail tracking goes much farther than just knowing when your mail pieces are picked up and delivered. One way mail tracking helps with a successful ROI comes in the form of personalized URLs. By creating designated landing pages for unique individuals in the mail campaign and distributing that information on your mailer for their access, consumers enter your funnel through a very specific avenue that is easy to monitor through extensive reporting options.
• IMb barcodes – Intelligent mail barcodes are the “license plates of physical mail”. Designed as a barcode specific to each individual piece of mail, these unique IDs are scanned as they travel through each and every mail sorting machine as mail passes through the U.S. Postal Service’s hands. As mentioned in the article above, this can help your business determine if you have a mail delay issue on your hands. By marrying your direct mail IMb code to your follow up digital efforts including emails and online marketing like what the USPS offers in its Informed Delivery® service, response interactions such as open rates and click throughs can be monitored and farmed for even greater data reporting.
• QR codes, coupon codes, & phone numbers – In the same manner as pURLS, unique coupon codes, phone numbers, and QR codes can be tailored to each and every independent piece within a direct mail marketing campaign. Utilizing advanced mail tracking services means the data pertaining to those entries to your website, uses of those codes, or calls to that number enter your data collection process, in turn helping you pinpoint specific information to help you curate your next budgeted campaign.

By entrusting a businesses’ direct mail campaigns to ProList, you get the collaboration efforts of decades of direct mail marketing experience, from a staff with the know-how to implement your marketing strategies for an integrated approach to direct mail and mail tracking. Further direct marketing campaign success comes when a business or organization has the opportunity to see exactly how their mail pieces are entering the consumer market and what the return is. If you’d like help creating the best, most efficient, and well-crafted direct mail pieces for your campaign, alongside advanced and integrated direct marketing solutions that include mail tracking, give us a call at  1-888-PROLIST. More than just direct mail tracking, our qualified and experienced team are here to help you get the most out of your full service and integrated direct mail marketing campaigns.