How To Give Millennials Direct Mail They Can’t Refuse

Make Your Direct Mail More Thought-Provoking To Millennials

In the digital world, there’s a lot of question about the viability of direct mail in the millennial marketplace.

Let’s make something clear: sending direct mail to millennials is absolutely worth it. Contrary to what some may think, millennials are not a strictly digital demographic. Intriguing direct mail can elicit a powerful – and profitable – direct response.

The Relationship Between Millennials and Direct Mail

The idea that millennials see direct mail as a marketing tactic of a bygone era is simply untrue. Similar to postcards or books, the aesthetic of direct mail assigns time and effort—and thus value—to the product or service being marketed through a physical medium.

Like a handwritten letter, the effort to make a business-to-customer connection through a postage paid piece of content makes the connection feel more real and lets a customer know their potential business is valued.

The result? Millennials not only trust direct mail above all other forms of advertising, they are more responsive to direct mail than any other marketing medium.

Here’s another fact you may find hard to believe: In a recent study conducted for the US Postal Service, Summit Research found that only 18% of non-millennials read direct mail, while 40% of millennials read direct mail thoroughly, spending significantly more time sorting through and considering direct mail than their consumer counterparts.

Here are 3 ways to make your direct mail more thought-provoking to a millennial:

1. Carefully Consider Aesthetics
   If there’s one thing you can do to grasp attention, its starting with a quality design and aesthetic. In addition to piquing interest in your offering, millennials can intuit a lot about your brand from your direct mail offerings.

   You don’t need to be all out ingenious with your design. You need to convey effort and current taste. Consider a direct mail campaign as a brand ambassador rather than a hard sales tool. In other words, use your direct mail aesthetic to reflect the core qualities of your brand.

2. Speak to the Individual
   More than any other generation, millennials value themselves as individuals. It’s no surprise that as customers, they also want to be marketed to as an individual.

   Does this mean that they expect handwritten letters from your CEO carefully outlining why your product or service is valuable?

   Of course not.

   What they’re looking for is personalization—advertising that’s notably relevant to their lives. Marketing services that they actually need and demonstrating that with specific examples analogous to their lives will be rewarded with increased ROI.

3. Align with a Cause

   Millennials are driven by their values and put their money where their mouth is. According to fortune.com, 84% of millennials will carefully consider their values and the values of a brand before making a purchase.

   Align yourself with a cause, make it known, and watch as a good deed not only goes unpunished, but rewarded with new, loyal customers.

   This comes with a warning: be sure your commitment to your cause is genuine and that you follow through. Millennials are twice as likely as baby boomers to fact check a company’s claims.

The Takeaway

Perhaps the biggest mistakes companies make in marketing to millennials is marketing to millennials. No one likes to be caricaturized and pandered to—it’s insincere at best and damaging to your business at worst—but if you treat millennials like any other valued consumer and present them with a relevant, interesting direct mail offer, you can get a great response. Contact us to learn more.