6 Secrets of Holiday Direct Marketing Campaigns that Get Noticed and Produce Strong ROI

Standing out from the holiday advertising crowd requires more than a ‘%’ sign

20% off. 15% savings. Save 25%. 20% off sale. 10% holiday rewards. Save 30% Black Friday only.

Imagine coming home one day in November, getting your mail, and flipping through these six direct mail promotional offers from various companies all on the same day. It’s kind of dizzying. Or mind-numbing.

This year, you can reach more customers than ever in your holiday direct mail marketing campaigns by doing things many brands won’t even think to try.

The opportunities and challenges with holiday season sales

Holiday marketing — especially during the Christmas season – offers businesses a rare opportunity to win over new consumers while also re-engaging existing and lapsed ones. It’s the one time of year many consumers are looking and waiting for great deals. Thus, it has also become the time when they receive more direct mail offers than any other time of year.

The challenge for you isn’t just to send out holiday marketing campaigns. It’s to present them in such a way that you stand out from the many other businesses doing the same thing.

During the holidays, you’re not just competing against other businesses in your industry. You’re competing against all stores offering holiday sales. You’re competing for the limited amount of money people will spend during that time of year.

Consumers are asking themselves, “Should I go here for my purchases, or there? Should I buy this item, or that one?” Clothing or tech? Concert tickets or hobby supplies? Massages or auto tune-ups? They’re ALL your competition during the holiday season.

Tips for a successful direct marketing holiday sale

1. Show up where no one else is

Standing out in holiday sales campaigns is challenging no matter what you do. But the best way for your holiday promotions to get seen is to show up in places no one else will be.

The best place to do that is on their front door, the only remaining undistracted location for media.

With front door strategies such as the next-level door hangers available from Power Direct, which are more like mini-billboards, your holiday campaign is all but guaranteed to be seen and considered. 

And door hangers are just one option — see nine front door media options.

More than anything else, this one strategy will increase your conversion rates simply by virtue of having no visual competition.

2. Offer more than a percentage discount

In the beginning of this article, you saw first-hand how these kinds of offers can make customers feel. Nearly every other holiday marketing campaign offers a percentage discount. That’s great if it works, but is it enough to break through into customers’ minds? There’s always someone else willing to one-up your sale.

Rather than give away profits, consider these other more compelling holiday direct marketing offers: 

A free gift with purchase

This works especially well if the customer must visit the store to claim the gift. Just make sure the gift has broad enough appeal. A desirable or useful free gift, by itself, will be enough to motivate holiday shoppers to choose your brand over other places for their holiday shopping. Bonus points for making it holiday-related, such as a box of cookies. 

An entry to win a prize

Ideally, you’ll be able to require a store visit in order to enter the contest. If you can offer more than one prize, such as an array of smaller prizes and one or two higher-value items, you increase the chances of winning and will attract more participants.

Special, exclusive access to elite status or limited offers

Does your business have a rewards club or customer loyalty program? Depending on the details, look for a way to work this into your holiday direct mail campaign. Amazon, for instance, uses Prime Day to get more people to sign up for their monthly membership.

You can do the same thing with your holiday campaign and your loyalty club. For instance, “Spend $100 and get your first two months of membership free.” This is a powerful tool because it increases revenue while also deepening brand loyalty. And you can leverage that loyalty again in future campaigns.

Can’t-miss in-store experiences 

Special holiday performances will draw people to your store over another brand that has nothing special to see. Look especially for activities for kids to keep their attention while the parent does their shopping. Musical acts, performing arts groups, special product demonstrations — you have a lot of creative options here.

If you couple this with some special discounts, you’ll have a dynamite combination because you’re tapping into two emotional triggers for consumers — things that are new, and things that are urgent. That’s a winning direct mail marketing campaign.

Remember — holiday shoppers have low brand affinity. During the holidays, they’ll visit stores they’ve never been to while searching for gift ideas. With interactive elements such as unique in-person experiences, you will greatly increase your attraction for new customers as well as returning ones.

Put these offers on your door hanger marketing as well as your direct mail campaigns, and now you’ve tapped into the trifecta of new, urgent, and the promise of being seen.

What does a campaign cost?

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3. Keep it simple

Make the value of your direct mail marketing immediately apparent. Simplicity applies to both the offer and to the visual presentation. Don’t bury critical details in the same font size, type, and color as the rest of the mail piece.

The customer should be able to look at the headline in your holiday marketing materials and in less than five seconds, understand the basic premise of the offer.

Simple promotional headline examples 

“Save 10% and Enter to Win. In-Store Entry Deadline: December 24”
“Free Show All Weekend. You Shop & Save; The Kids Have a Blast.”
“Free Gift! Come to Our Store [or Call this Number] Before December 10 to win a free prize”

Again, these are simple, templated headlines with no context, but you get the idea. The point is, highlight the most valuable and desirable part of your unique offer so it’s impossible to miss.

Imagine getting a slew of direct mail with 20% off, 10% off, save 15%, and then you see one of those three offers listed above. Which one would get your attention? There’s no contest.

4. Specify your direct mail campaign targeting

Are you targeting new customers, or re-engaging existing ones? Or both? The more specific you can get with your recipient type, the more you can align your holiday campaigns to them.

Targeting customer segments?

Offer a one-time only discount, special bonus, or some other unique experience to win over new consumers. As a strategy for encouraging customers who already know you to come back this holiday season, your direct mail and door hanger messaging should clearly identify them as the only recipients. “Special holiday sale for our most loyal customers,” for example.

Demographic targeting?

This could include the obvious ones like age and gender, but you can go much further than that. With Power Direct’s sophisticated targeting capabilities, you can target over 4000 demographic variables.

Yes, you read that right — 4000. 

This includes categories like number of vehicles owned, range of home value, types of occupation (we have 22 categories), and educational attainment.

For certain lines of products and services, you might not want to blast a whole neighborhood with direct mail marketing that really only appeals to men with high school diplomas who work in a trade.

However, remember that no matter who you’re targeting, your holiday mail might be seen by someone else in the home. And because this is the holiday season and people are hungry for gift ideas, that’s okay!

As long as the target audience is immediately clear, anyone reading your direct mail piece will know whether it’s for them, or for someone they’re shopping for.

5. Measure, measure, measure

Use special codes like QR codes and coupon codes on all your physical mail. You want to know how well your holiday direct mail campaigns are working, especially if you’ve done extensive targeting. Plus, this increases digital engagement and may allow you to follow up with email marketing and other online strategies.

It’s also a good idea, as this article suggests, to run a testing campaign before the holidays get too close, perhaps in October. See which versions of your copy, message, and other door hanger and direct mail features resonate the most with your audience before rolling out your full campaign.

Track your data. Determine your key numbers such as ROI and cost per sale. If you’re using more than one form of media, track each one in all the same metrics. Then use those insights to target even more effectively in future campaigns.

6. Make it fun

Holidays are supposed to be full of joy. Not pedantic or perfunctory. However, because they often start to feel like a slog for holiday shoppers, you can help bust them out of any holiday funk or stress they might be feeling. And nothing wilts your prospects more than seeing sixteen “20% off!” direct mail campaigns in three days. When overwhelmed, people often revert to doing whatever they always do. You want them to do something new.

Create a holiday direct mail campaign that reflects the joy from the unique and exciting experience you will give them if they shop with your brand.

One simple way to do this is with creative design elements like color and imagery that tie in to the holiday spirit. You can also use unusual textures and different sizes of items. Door hanger marketing makes this extra easy — we offer everything from die-cuts to scratch and sniffs to perforation for coupons or even scratch-offs for contests. Check out some of our super creative door hanger designs.

But more than anything else — the fun is in the offer. Especially during the holiday season, beginning well before Thanksgiving. Here, you can get away with language, puns, silly jokes, and funny pictures.

Use humor and creativity. Get noticed. And grow your revenue in your next holiday marketing campaign.

Want to plan a front door direct marketing campaign this holiday season?

Talk to a Power Direct campaign consultant while you still have time to plan!