Seasonality Of Direct Mail

Have you ever thought about how the time of year affects your Direct Mail campaigns?

Seasonality (changes in behaviour patterns depending on the time of year) is an important consideration in your Direct Mail; the right message at the right moment has a multiplier effect and will deliver great Return On Investment from your campaigns. Of course the opposite is also true; the wrong message at the wrong time can have a disastrous effect (just try selling rain coats during a heatwave and you will see what we mean). Don’t worry though; Stannp’s easy to use Direct Mail platform is the perfect solution for all your seasonal campaigns!

Think About ‘The What’

Depending on your industry, you will probably find that specific products or services are in demand at specific times of the year.

This effect can make The What a key component in your seasonal trends; offering the right product or service at the right moment (to the right people) will multiply the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Think About ‘The When’

Thinking about what you are sending and who you are sending it to are of course important parts of planning your campaigns; but don’t forget to include the when in your plans too.

This might be as simple as knowing that your campaign is a targeted offer for a specific event or holiday (Christmas, New Year, Black Friday, April Fool’s Day, Mothers Day, etc…).

Alternatively, it could be a complex solution build on data and understanding of your industry patterns or your specific customer’s behaviours.

Example 1; Fuel

One of Stannp’s regular customers sells heating oil to households; they use weather forecast data to predict incoming ‘cold snaps’ a few days in advance, and have great success driving sales with postcard campaigns that land on their recipients doormats just as temperatures start to drop.

Example 2; Holidays

Another Stannp customer is a holiday park,  sending weekly campaigns to prospective customers.

Using offer codes, phone traffic and website visit data they were able to identify that their response rates plummet on Wednesday afternoons, but they get great responses on Thursday and Friday.

Factoring this information into their campaigns, they now never dispatch on a Monday (which will reach most recipients on Wednesday). Instead their campaigns now run on a Tuesday, timed to reach their recipients when they are at their most responsive across Thursday and Friday.

Example 3; Financial Advisors

Financial Advisor (IFA) response rates vary significantly with seasons and holidays.

You might think campaigns would work well over holidays (Christmas, May Day, Bank Holidays etc) when people have more time available, but in fact response rates drop significantly over these periods.

The worst time of year for an IFA campaign is November /December;  household finances are stretched in the run up to Christmas and recipients are busy.

Conversely, people often make New Year’s resolutions and re-evaluate their finances over the change of year; January and February are great months for IFA’s to send Direct Mail campaigns.

Triggered Campaigns

Do you want to set up campaigns in advance ready to send seasonal offers?

Stannp’s triggered campaigns are a great way to get your campaigns ready in advance, triggered to dispatch on specific dates of your choice.

You can either upload recipient data like a standard Direct Mail campaign, or ‘drip feed’ data through our API, adding recipients (for example new customer sign ups) on an ongoing basis.

You can find out more in our Triggered Direct Mail Campaigns article. You may also like to read our posts 'Increase Your Response Rates' and '14 top tips to increase your sales with direct mail' for more information on making your seasonal campaigns as effective as possible. 

We hope you found our Seasonality of Direct Mail article helpful.

For more hints, tips, guides and info you can find us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, or feel free to speak to your account manager if you have any questions or need any help.

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