Should You Still Use Letterbox Distribution And Marketing?

Letterbox distribution and marketing

There are so many marketing options available for small businesses today when trying to reach their customers. From a more traditional approach such as letterbox marketing (flyer printing and distribution) to running paid ads on Facebook. In fact, the choice is often so overwhelming for small business owners, leading them to uncertainty about where to spend their precious marketing budget to get the best result!

Social media and online has exploded exponentially as a marketing tool over the last few years, and continues to increase in popularity as a means of businesses reaching their target customers.

Most organisations now focus many of their marketing efforts on Google, Facebook, and Instagram (to name just a few), and it’s not surprising, given that people are spending more time than ever before online.

However, when it comes to results and Return On Investment (ROI), how do you determine the right marketing mix of approaches to ensure your message cuts through all today’s advertising noise and reaches your audience?

Blended marketing: new vs. traditional

With so much marketing channel choice, effective customer communication lies in combining a number of innovative channels (digital) with more traditional (offline) tactics such as print marketing. Within today’s competitive trading environment much of the emphasis has shifted to become increasingly online. Social media has evolved from simple peer-to-peer sharing, to a complex layering of marketing data and analytics, which require constant attention to obtain the best results.

Keywords and websites are vital, online experience is crucial, Smartphones are the device of choice, and engaging content is king. However, many businesses often neglect the power of targeted print marketing and letterbox distribution as part of their marketing plan. Some businesses have become so entrenched with the use of digital platforms, that they have actually lost touch with the real advantages that letterbox marketing can offer to boost the effectiveness of their overall strategy.

The most successful marketing mix lies, not in one or the other marketing channel, but in the innovative collaboration of both tangible and intangible. Combined there is real power to be found in using both print and digital to strengthen the ROI of a marketing campaign.

The Letterbox Drop

Leaflet distribution to physical addresses has been an essential part of many brands’ marketing strategies for years, because it’s tangible, reasonably cheap, direct, and effective. In fact, letterbox distribution was so common at one point that is was considered a cornerstone of marketing. However, with the general population becoming increasingly accustomed to ‘door drop’ advertising, where a deliverer places flyers in your letterbox, some argue that its effectiveness as a marketing tool has waned. This has left business owners and marketers wondering if it is still an effective means of reaching customers.

The rise of digital and social media to reach customers has drawn a lot of the spotlight off letterbox drops, but as the saying goes ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’, and today for small businesses planning their marketing this cannot be any truer. Having a blended multichannel approach to marketing your products and services to customers that uses both traditional and digital channels will enable your brand to reach and ‘stick’ in the minds of your target audience.

9 Advantages of letterbox distribution and marketing

So what does flyer print and distribution have to offer your business, in terms of reaching your customers and boosting sales? And why should you spend a portion of your marketing budget on it?

1) Letterbox distribution and marketing really does have the potential to communicate a brand message to every single sector of a marketplace, because everyone has a letterbox and check it every day!

2) From there, printed materials have more lastability with people due to their physical nature. The digital space is crowded and fleeting, which often means digital ads disappear just as quickly as they arrived. Letterbox drops often enable your message to be seen for longer by customers.

3) Letterbox distribution and marketing allow small businesses to be more personal than other methods such as email, especially if the message is location based, because delivery can be tailored to recipients in a particular area.

4) Right now, the letterbox distribution and marketing space is less cluttered compared to other marketing channels. The average Australian household only receives around two to three pieces of unaddressed promotional items per week. Just compare that to how many Facebook ads you see in your feed every day!

5) Flyers and delivered promotional collateral offers your business a way to really be creative and make a lasting impression. Everyone checks emails and digital platforms – all the time – so often it’s quite easy to lose interest, whereas something creative and innovative delivered to a letterbox can really resonate with a recipient and drive direct action.

For example, the local Martial Arts centre may send a piece of wood with a perforated edge to encourage you to ‘karate chop’ your way to the message! A local newspaper was recently advertising a new cinema, and organised the pages to be perfumed with a popcorn smell. There have also been executions that change colour due to touch or temperature, reveal hidden messages when they get wet, and ones that even glow in the dark when people check their mailbox after work.

6) The results speak for themselves. Physical catalogues from supermarkets and retail chains are a long embedded staple in Australian culture – one which continues to entice people to move stock off shelves, despite the ease of access to online catalogues. There’s just something convenient and appealing about flicking through printed pages and scanning for bargains.

7) Modern print marketing offers customers a nostalgic experience in stock thicknesses, the vibrancy of colours, the contrast of different inks, the intricate textures, and the cut of the paper, all off which can really connect with your customer in a way digital can’t.

8) Paper engineering is becoming the latest rage, with companies investing in this specialisation, in order to tap into the full potential of the print element of their marketing campaigns – creating not just a tangible piece of communication, but a tactile experience. Chatoyant pearl paper which shimmers in the light makes a store opening invite extra special. Rich colours on branding labels communicate the passion behind that wine brand. Embossed letterheads will have your customers running their hands over your logo time and time again. Recycled brown paper smells earthy and immediately tells your customers that your café is rustic.

9) Letterbox marketing and distribution enables your business to target audiences on a hyper local basis – even down to a particular block of flats. And with the ability to personalise printed material you can deliver a granular message to your customers.

The point is, letterbox marketing still has a lot to offer your small business. It shouldn’t be ignored and replaced with other forms of advertising which today are often deemed as being more innovative. A clever multi-channel marketing combination of several methods can yield exceptionally strong results, consistently.

How letterbox distribution and marketing has worked in Real Estate

In a recent interview with Christopher Melotti, the Marketing Manager for the reputable and highly successful Devine Real Estate in Sydney’s Inner West, we asked the following questions:

• Do Devine Real Estate Agents still use letterbox drop marketing?
• Do you believe it’s still an effective marketing tool?
• Do you think this marketing tool will stop being used by real estate businesses?

Chris’ responses offered a real world example of the reality of balancing traditional and digital marketing methods to effectively reach customers.

“Yes, we still use letterbox drop marketing with each property’s launch campaign,” states Chris. “And while I’m extremely bias towards digital the results speak for themselves. Letterbox marketing is still an effective marketing tool.”

 

Our best results are those achieved through a targeted distribution approach and use of proper branding and copywriting to develop high quality collateral – not just something whipped up at a local print shop.

Chris continues “Although I lean more towards digital marketing the use of letterbox marketing and distribution comes back to knowing your audience. And for now, they are responding well to physical marketing material delivered to their letterbox. One of my Real Estate agent colleagues said she recently got called in to sell a person’s house because he had kept her recent flyer on the table at home for six months, and every day, it kept reminding him to call her. Finally, he did.”

“It’s very hard to fly the exclusive social media and digital flag, when evidence like this is plain to see, which is why I now elect for a mix of approaches to ensure that all bases are covered to match the communication channel preferences of all my audiences”.

“I attribute letterbox drop success to perhaps different segments preferring tangible materials that they can physically touch and leaf through at their leisure; printed magazines that they can write on, and calendars that they can put on their fridge.”

“It seems that despite the uprising of all things digital, many customers are still inclined to respond to more traditional methods – more than many business owners and marketers assume”.

Chris concludes: “However, as with everything in marketing the landscape is continually changing and as Millennials begin to be more prominent consumers, especially in the real estate market, this may change.”

How Can GDR Group Help?

Print and letterbox distribution and marketing has found its own way in a world characterised by digital marketing. It continues to prove itself as an effective marketing tool to raise brand awareness and boost sales for local businesses, across Australia.

So, if you are interested in taking advantage of letterbox marketing and distribution to reach your customers and improve the ROI you get from your marketing spend then you need to speak with one of our experts.

At GDR, we understand that organisations and businesses like yours see the importance of letterbox marketing, print and letterbox distribution, but just don’t have the time to do it themselves.

That’s where we can help! We specialise in design and advertising, copywriting, printing and letterbox distribution, to allow reach your local customers.

GDR provide unrivalled bespoke marketing services to small businesses across Australia that help them grow, thrive, and succeed.

We can create the ideal letterbox flyer marketing plan for your business’ strategy, which will:

– Increase your ability to reach customers
– Provide engaging content to your audience
– Nurture both new and current customers and drive sales
– Track ROI

Stay ahead of the competition and let our experts develop a strong letterbox marketing and flyer distribution strategy for your business that helps you dominate your local market.

We would love to help!