It's no secret that data has become the backbone of modern day marketing. While marketers have always needed information about their markets in order to construct effective campaigns, the digital age has only further highlighted the uses of data. Never before has so much rich information about potential customers been so available to marketers and businesses. As such, the proper handling and use of this information has become a key part of the modern marketing package.

Data in Marketing

Even in the earliest days of the Internet, when going online was something you did for an hour at most every day, it was clear that data was king.

With the rise of Big Data in later years, the techniques and tools used to attract and market to potential customers only got more sophisticated. As more and more people spent more time online, it was easier than ever for companies to track consumer habits and trends. Data allows marketers to create more precise campaigns, which in turn increases effectiveness and ROI.

Because data is so central to the modern marketing experience, learning how to correctly collect, organize, and analyze that data is key. In our article 'Why Should Enterprises Invest in Marketing Analytics Data Literacy', we outlined a few ways marketing teams and managers can organize and deploy data. This includes a better understanding of how to categorize the data on hand, how to build data pipelines and ensure the information is ready for analysis, and building models from that data.

How Direct Mail Harnesses Data

While data has always been important in marketing efforts, it's clear that in the current era not making use of it could spell disaster for fledgling and established businesses alike. New Vantage has found that 92% of companies have increased spending in AI and big data as of 2019. This only means that competition is going to get fiercer and smarter.

So where do offline marketing techniques fall in? How can businesses and marketers make use of traditional tools while still maximizing the information they collect? One clear solution to this is direct mail.

While direct mail certainly isn't as flashy as digital marketing techniques, it's held its own by virtue of being so incredibly effective. Don't take our word for it; look at the data. Statistics compiled by Small Business Trends make the advantages of direct mail clear: the average ROI for direct mail campaigns, for one, is between 18-20%. U.S. advertisers have found that the return on direct mail spend can go as high as 1300%. 59% of U.S respondents and 65% of Canadian respondents said that they enjoy getting postal mail about new products and services from brands.

Direct mail marketing also employs the cornerstone of data analytics: traceable information. Because your marketing packages go out to specific addresses in a mailing list, it's easy to see who's responding to your campaigns. The Direct Mail Solution author Craig Simpson claims that tracking direct mail is fairly simple. You can make use of dedicated hotlines, URLS, and landing pages to keep track of responses to see who is responding to what aspects of your campaign.

Leading U.S.-based marketing company Triadex Services' CEO Greg Mesaros highlights the importance of data in their work. "By combining data with the optimal marketing channel and persuasive messaging, Triadex Services has generated over a billion dollars in new revenue for our clients at a fraction of their marketing budgets." It's clear, then, that the right collection and handling of data is key to huge returns.

Despite using the postal service, one of the oldest communication techniques known to modern man, direct mail has proven its relevance in a data-driven world. If your goal is to collect as much information on your market as possible, there's no need to limit yourself to the digital sphere. With direct mail, you can bring your campaigns straight to your customers' doorsteps. The benefits are clear: go for direct mail if you want higher ROIs, better impacts, and richer data.