Ben Franklin is credited with reminding a French scientist that nothing is certain except death and taxes. He probably should have added postal rate increases too since he was the first Postmaster General. I’m betting that when he wrote his letter in 1789, the cost of mailing it had increased. Why am I talking about 18th century concerns? Because USPS has again increased its postal rates. And those increases may be passed on to you if you’re relying on direct mail campaigns to drive qualified leads to your senior living community. I can hear your budget feeling the pinch. But if you’re thinking about cutting your direct mail campaigns, there are strong reasons to keep direct mail in your strategy toolkit.
Older Americans ❤️Printed Mail
I know you’ve heard these stats about why your senior living marketing strategy should include direct mail campaigns:
- Almost half of those 50 years or older prefer direct mail offers
- They read 48-50% of their direct mail
- Promotional mail is opened 80-90% of the time
- It stays in the home for ~17 days on average
- 54% respondents say direct mail led them to try a new product or business
- Direct mail has a response rate of 4.4%
- Email on its own has a response rate of 0.12%
- Direct mail as part of a digital campaign can boost response rates by 290%
In other words, the right message and the right piece of direct mail are a powerful combination for driving qualified leads.
Better Data = Better ROI
When every penny counts, choosing WHO receives your direct mail piece becomes critical. That’s why using the best data is so very important. Specific targeting, using our proprietary MicroModeling® Report, means every recipient in your data list is a look-alike of your ideal resident. And that means less waste. Pairing your postcard or mailer with a digital campaign to target this select group via email, social and display ads, and a retargeting campaign delivers measurable results.
Sabal Strategy can also identify your anonymous website visitors and match them back to your campaign list. Counting the cost of postage, printing, design and content against a single RSVP, or relying on guests to remember which piece of the campaign successfully convinced them to attend an event is counterproductive. An omnichannel campaign works because each piece contributes to the ultimate action of getting your audience on campus for a tour and discussion about their future. When you look at direct mail as a part of the whole, and when you can measure the results of your efforts, direct mail just makes good $$$, er, sense.
Sabal Strategy has a new name, but our commitment to delivering the most cost effective data and marketing tools to our clients is as strong as ever. If you’d like to know more about how we can help you drive more conversions with better qualified leads than your current data supplier, reach out to Maribeth today. We know our data is better, we know we can pinpoint your best look-alike audience, and we know you’ll have less UAA waste when you choose Sabal Strategy.
