The majority of visitors who come to your site fail to purchase or take action. Studies show that more than 90% of online traffic does not convert to a purchase, representing a significant loss for companies. Although digital retargeting ads aim to convert these visitors, they often get lost in crowded online spaces.
We can reconnect these potential customers more effectively. Direct mail retargeting fills the gap between online browsing and offline conversion by sending personalized physical mail to visitors who left your site. This technique will convert anonymous browsers into known, active customers using tangible, high-impact marketing materials.
How Direct Mail Retargeting Works
Direct mail retargeting combines technology and traditional marketing to re-engage lost visitors. This process has several key steps that work together to deliver results.
- Identification: Behind-the-scenes processes identify visitor behavior to physical, mailable addresses in a privacy-acceptable manner. This is achieved through IP matching, cookie data, or email identification, enabling businesses to tie digital activity to real-world contact information.
- Triggered Events: Certain events on your site trigger the automated printing and mailing of a postcard. These triggers include:
- Browsing product pages without making a purchase.
- Abandoning a shopping cart.
- Viewing service pages without making a conversion.
- Seeing several pages and leaving the site.
- Personalization: The mailer is not a generic brand advert; it is personalized based on the user’s engagement. For example, a visitor who left a cart with specific items can receive a postcard showing those items and a strong offer to buy them.
- Speed: Most programs can send personalized postcards within 24 to 48 hours after a website visit, when prospects are in the buying mood.
Main Benefits of Converting Visitors
Direct mail retargeting has several advantages that digital advertising cannot match. These advantages help us understand why this strategy delivers powerful results.
- High Response Rate: Research conducted at USPS Delivers shows that direct mail motivates customers to take important actions: 77% of marketers report it drives website visits, and 64% report it drives purchases. The average time a consumer spends on physical mail is 17 days, compared with digital ads that have only a few seconds to capture attention.
- Less Noise: This strategy reduces online noise from advertisements and overflowing email inboxes. Thousands of digital impressions reach consumers each day, but a physical postcard catches the eye, stands out, and demands attention.
- Physical Interaction: A high-quality postcard creates a personal tactile experience that is more reliable and memorable than a banner advertisement. Direct mail is physical and therefore presents a sense of touch that is impossible to mimic in digital marketing.
- Immediate Re-engagement: By sending physical direct mail soon after a site visit, businesses can reach prospects while they remain interested. The timing is important to convert visitors who were almost ready to buy the product but needed a nudge.
Best Practices for Success
To get the best out of direct mail retargeting, you can consider the following strategies:
- Target high-intent pages: Reach out to users who have browsed product pages, viewed prices, or added a product to their cart.
- Make strong deals: Incorporate exclusive discounts or limited-time offers to prompt action.
- Include powerful calls to action: Make it clear what you want the recipient to do next.
- Test and optimize: Use response rates to optimize targeting, creative, and offers based on performance information.
- Maintain brand consistency: Your mailers should also match the look and messaging of your site.
Why Timing Matters
The re-engaging window for a lost visitor is narrow. Studies have shown that purchase intention declines sharply in the first few days after a site visit.
Direct mail retargeting addresses these issues by automating mailer release to ensure prompt delivery. Unlike weekly or monthly batch mailings, modern retargeting programs can activate individual postcards daily based on real-time web activity. This responsiveness keeps your business up to date when making critical decisions.
Conclusion
Direct mail retargeting is a solution to the problem of lost website traffic that can be converted into a purchase. Combining digital tracking with physical marketing will enable businesses to target potential customers in a way that is more memorable than competitors’ digital-only ads.
Physical postcards create lasting memories, while personalization and quick delivery help ensure your brand stays top of mind. Direct mail retargeting can be a reliable way to improve results for businesses looking to recoup lost carts and convert more browsers into buyers.
