SEO and Direct Mail on the face of it, have very little in common. One is the elder statesman of direct marketing, the other one of the pillars of digital marketing. The idea that one could have any kind of significant impact on the other is not often considered.
But consider this… if no-one knows to search for your company or brand online, then what good is SEO? This is where direct mail is the perfect ‘wingman’ for SEO. Direct mail makes the introductions, opens the doors, highlights the brand and raises awareness for your business within your target demographic. If you ensure that your direct mail pieces drive traffic online with a URL (or even better PURL), your searches will naturally gain increase substantially. In laymans terms, the more searches you get, the higher you show in the page rankings.
Direct mail makes the introduction to help ease the struggle of cutting through the noise online. A well structured and targeted email campaign can be extremely effective, but with approximately 124.5 billion business emails sent everyday, there’s a good chance it won’t be seen. The doormat is a less crowded space. Even if your direct mail piece isn’t acted upon immediately, according to a recent study by the DMA the average direct mail piece is re-visited 4.2 times. Whereas an email is quite easily and often consigned to the trash folder never to be seen again, direct mail has a longevity you just don’t see with other channels.
The likelihood is, once your direct mail piece has been retrieved and reviewed 2 weeks later, that interest will probably result in a search for your business online. Coupled with a planned and structured P-P-C campaign and you could even steal a march on your competitors and be the first result returned. Pay Per Click is a whole other blog, but in brief, it’s a bidding system that allows you to bid on search terms. The very nature of the ‘bidding’ process favours larger businesses who can allocate larger budgets and marketing spend, but there are ways you can make progress on smaller budgets.
A little creative thought around the type of search terms that consumers may use can go a very long way. By using your direct mail pieces to display specific terms relating to your product, service or promotion, searchers will arrive at your ads online before your competitors. The direct mail piece is an extremely powerful tool for you to curate the recipients journey from paper to google. You can positively influence their search behaviours with your wording and imagery making it easier for them to find you online.
SEO and Paid search is a vast and complex subject if you’re unfamiliar with its intricacies, but everyone understands direct mail. The relationship between the two is less widely understood. Direct mail still has a huge role to play in a multi-channel marketing campaign that drives online traffic, just let it open the doors and watch the searches soar!
Thanks for taking the time to read this piece on storytelling marketing. If you need any further info or would like to talk to us about your mailing campaigns, feel free to contact us on our office number: 01189 474 888 or alternatively, email us at enquiries@heraldchase.com
