The Top 5 Benefits of Direct Mail Marketing for Alumni Outreach Programs

You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars today to leverage the benefits digital era. In fact, no one likes to drain their marketing budget on long-term marketing campaigns. And this is where direct mail has managed to come back to the spotlight.

After all, it is one of the best ways to contact valuable individuals through preferred channels. Contrary to misguided perception, direct mail marketing is alive and well. In fact, in many cases, it works even better than email marketing.

You might not be aware of it, but direct mail marketing solutions have become ideal to influence action. You can now make direct mail part of your marketing mix. Predominantly, it has started to become a gold standard to learn about alumni outreach programs offered by the universities.

Here are the top key points that can convince you to follow the tide of direct mail marketing:

1. No More Opt-Ins with Personalized Direct Mail

Unlike text messaging and email marketing, you don’t need permission to send direct mail in your alumni outreach program. And when someone unsubscribes from your direct mail, you can still stay in contact with them. It is the sole reason that makes printed direct mail so much more intuitive and personalized than digitalized email marketing campaigns.

Plus, when you send direct mail, you don’t have to worry about getting stuck in a spam filter. If you’re skeptical about direct mail because someone else “might” pick up your messages, then rest assured that it happens rarely. Unlike ad copies and email marketing, direct mail never runs into viruses as well.

2. Direct Mail is not Invasive

Unlike most marketing tactics, creative direct mail doesn’t interrupt or force the audience for attention. Sure, email marketing is effective, but it fights to garner the attention that often bums out people. With creative direct mail, you can count on high engagement. It is an absolute certainty to get real results from real mails directed at your alumni.

With email marketing, for instance, most of the target audience does not respond or even read the messages. Since companies and individuals receive significantly more spam-filled marketing emails, it is a chance for direct mail to leverage the unique opportunity.

3. Direct Mail Leaves a Long and Lasting Impression for your Alumni Outreach Program

Mostly, people choose to leave their direct mail on the desk or the refrigerator door for weeks. So, even when the mail doesn’t lead to instant action, it can linger in the minds of the recipients. Ultimately, direct mail is a more striking choice to contact and leads to action.

You can expect the same desired effect when a recipient moves on. Often, people send bounced emails to people who have moved on to another company. With direct mail, however, you can reintroduce yourself like a vendor.

4. Specificity is Enabled with Direct Mail Alumni Outreach

With direct mail, you can be as specific as you want to be with your targeted alumni audience. There are always certain offers that won’t get you enough attention through email. And this is where creative mail shines. It allows educational institutes and businesses to send direct mail as a way to build trust and convey the offered information at the same time. Besides, the tangible nature of direct mail makes a bold impression that is usually hard to get through other marketing tactics.

5. Direct Mail Can Drive Online Marketing and Social Media Marketing

Yes, you can send creative direct mail and still roll out online and social media marketing efforts. If your audience prefers mobile interaction, you can optimize the direct mail to get the attention and build valuable relationships. You can use direct mail to influence key alumni decision-makers. Simultaneously, you can brainstorm new ideas to step up your mobile and social media engagements.

Use Direct Mail for Alumni Outreach Programs for Universities

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There are endless opportunities to communicate with alumni through direct mail. Once you figure out the preference of your target audience, you can create visual graphics and content that will grab their attention.

In fact, testing direct mail campaigns for different alumni engagement has become standard practice. You can use a social media management tool and integrate other marketing strategies. For most universities, the commitment towards your alumni is an ideal tool to empower and raise funds.

It serves as an opportunity to raise awareness and conduct direct mail marketing campaigns. There was a time when alumni engagement came down to the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns, and that means traditional student reunions and phone calls. You can still use invitation notes, postcards, and printed flyers to entice attention.

But in the digital age, universities have a unique chance to engage and communicate with their alumni on a more personal, modern, realistic, and consistent basis. You can use direct mail to collect resourceful information about several alumni programs.

Furthermore, you can use the same information to develop persona maps for every alumni group. You can also use a variety of digital tools to track your alumni engagement tactics. For instance, you can use Twitter for quick shout outs and updates.

You have to think of direct mail as a way to promote the entire network among alumni. Though ultimately, you have to offer your alumni reason to share relevant content. As far as the personas of your target audiences go, you can categorize information on interested subjects, current jobs, level of engagement, total spend time online, connections on Twitter or LinkedIn, interaction method, and preference between blog posts and podcasts.

How to Move Forward with your Alumni Direct Mail Campaign

On the surface, direct mail may not come across as glamorous, but you have the freedom to personalize the messages that cater to your specific target audience. Now you can get the attention of your target customers without false hopes or promises. Start the discussion through direct mail and analyze how the discourse moves forward.

You can add your own creative touch through proactive direct mail marketing campaigns. Incorporate memorable content within your direct mail marketing campaigns that would help you break new sales records and drive growth. In retrospect, now you can turn your creative ideas into reality through promotional direct print-mail services.