Interactive Direct Mail Tactics You May Not Have Tried

These interactive direct mail ideas help you connect with consumers, across multiple channels, to generate higher engagement and response.

Informed Delivery:

Informed Delivery enables campaigns to generate more consumer impressions, interactions, and insights by sending consumers a daily email with a digital preview of their mail.

The USPS uses the technology of its automated mail sorting equipment to digitally image mail. Then provides the 30+ million ID residential users with these images prior to delivery so they know what content is coming, before it actually hits the mailbox.  Informed Delivery is a free notification feature for residents in a majority of zip code locations across the country.

Consumers receive emails to the email address in their personal USPS.com® account containing grayscale images of the exterior, address side of up to 10 pieces of incoming letter-sized mail that is arriving soon.

Brands can tap into this interactive direct mail technology to enhance product offerings or drive traffic to stores or websites. Links to landing pages, video messages, social media accounts and other marketing channels can be integrated increasing exposure and enhancing results.

Augmented Reality:

The emotional connections consumers make with brands through sight, sound, and motion are undeniable. Augmented Reality incorporates a visual trigger in your mail piece that the customer can activate with any smartphone camera and the AR app. The effect? Interactive experiences that bring vivid dimension, movement, and power to your product.

AR has been around for some time and is mainly used for B2C to amplify brand recognition. Whether a letter, product manual, catalog, or magazine ad the interactive direct mail experience can be scanned from anywhere, as long as the consumer has downloaded the app.

There are many applications for AR in marketing campaigns:

• Link images directly to an online store that lets customers shop directly
• Provide product demos
• Show multidimensional product views
• Social sharing
• Provide “try-before-you-buy” scenarios for retailers, furniture stores

AR is ever evolving, and has a number of interactive direct mail advantages, including:

• AR is far more visually appealing than a QR code. AR can be seamlessly incorporated into your design elements – like a logo or a photo.
• AR involves setting a marker – like a logo. Unlike QR codes, the linked information can be updated as needed and viewed across multiple touchpoints.
• AR has the ability to track the number of scans, visitor locations and even phone carriers.
• AR allows for 3D integration and various video styles for a more immersive experience.
• AR is fully supported via the ACTIV8AR app, which is managed by a dedicated team.

QR Code:

A Quick Response (QR) code is a square, pixelated, 2D barcode containing a url link in a dedicated area within the direct mail design. When scanned by a smartphone equipped with the correct reader software, the consumer is directed to a website, text, or image. QR codes are easy to set-up and can be customized to direct consumers to personalized sites.

IP Targeting:

This technology turns your mailing list into a digital address list, which you can use to execute an integrated campaign or create an online/offline experience.

Location Targeting:

Send mail to new audiences by finding your ideal target where they work, shop or play—both online and off.

About the GRI Marketing Group, Inc.

The GRI Marketing Group is a consumer-focused marketing agency, in business for over 30 years, that works across multiple channels integrating online and offline content. Please contact us if you need help getting maximum engagement and impact with your campaigns.