Last-Minute Holiday Direct Mail Tips

If you want to end your year on a high note, take a look at these last-minute holiday direct mail tips for some reassurance – and maybe inspiration, too.

Hopefully you’ve been having a really good year. To set yourself up for next year, you’ll want to finish strong. And you’re far from the only marketer doing so. 

The next 50 days or so are some of the most important days of the year for both marketers and non-profits.

Consider these statistics:

Don’t leave your share of the holiday market on the table. Fortunately, there’s enough time to get in the mail fairly quickly and get your holiday marketing going.

Creating and executing an effective direct mail campaign takes a lot of data, planning, and moving parts. This is true any time of year. But for your customers’ holiday offers and fundraising appeals, time is running out to get them in the mail. 

To make the most of the season and increase your sales, take a look at these last-minute tips for your holiday direct mail. If you’re already doing these on the regular, you’re good to go!

The holiday season is 5 days shorter this year than last. So, it’s absolutely essential for you to have all of the elements for your campaigns ready to go ASAP.

Your strategy should recognize that there’s lots of competition out there for your customers’ attention, in every channel. Once the dust has settled from the election, you’ll have to be ready to start rolling out your holiday campaigns in a big way.

What mailing list will you use? Along with the offer, that’s the most crucial factor in the success of your holiday direct mail. But, you don’t want to waste money.

Put your data hygiene practices to work and check that your data:

Don’t mail to “everyone” (although there are exceptions to that rule). Instead, order your segments from highest to lowest priority based on segmentation factors that will best fit your goals using the right message at the right time.

This is a great time of year to target:

Personalizing your mail piece with VDP gets the customer’s attention when you simply use their name in a headline. But take an extra step, by tapping into their behavioral data. Like past purchases, intent data from web browsing, etc. This adds relevance and increases engagement with your brand.

There’s a time for lengthy, elaborate mail pieces highlighting your products and services. But the closer you’re mailing to the holidays, the more likely it is that your customers and prospects are busy with holiday activities of all kinds.

A few simple essential elements for your design:

For sure, there are good reasons for a consumer to wait until the last days and hours to do their holiday shopping but as a marketer, you need to get them to act NOW.

Use your headlines and the overall design of your preferred format  to tap into FOMO:

With drop dead deadlines so close, you need campaigns that can be developed and implemented quickly. Postcards and flats are great choices, they can be more easily planned, printed, and mailed.

Engage your customers where they are by integrating holiday direct mail with digital marketing efforts. QR codes and personalized URLs (PURLs) get them to your website, not your competitor’s.

If you have time and budget, use this holiday season to try out new messages or offers and creative ideas. This time of year, that could be something as simple as testing percentage or dollar amount discounts.

Track your campaigns fully so that you can attribute where response and purchases come from. As your budget and time allow, use AI tools to analyze your results to date. Then you can adjust what you mail to quickly take advantage of a successful mailing. Additionally, these insights can help you market, nurture, and retain customers throughout the year with follow-up campaigns. And you’ll be more ready for next year with holiday direct mail ideas.

At mailing.com, our data, printing, and mailing services teams stand ready to work with you on your holiday marketing campaigns. We know how to get your mail into customers’ mailboxes on tight deadlines.

Drop us a line or call us! We’ll help you put together a complete and cost-effective direct mail campaign to accomplish your goals quickly and mail with confidence for the holiday season, and beyond.