There’s no place like home, and while we have long held this belief, it intensified in 2020. As the pandemic forced many of us to spend more time at home than ever before, brands adapted their marketing approaches to reach consumers in a relevant yet effective way. MediaPost’s recent article, With Home As Center of Everything, Brands Must Be First Place Experts, focuses on how brands must focus on the “4 Es of Marketing”: Environment, Education, Escapism, and Experience, to become “first place experts” and reach consumers in an impactful and meaningful way.
Research has shown that people make approximately 88% of their purchasing decisions at home. For the last five years, Programmatic Direct Mail® (PDM) has helped brands become first-place experts by helping brands engage directly with their most valuable customers in a relevant and respectful way that also hits their marketing objectives.
Below, we dive into how Programmatic Direct Mail can help you master the 4 Es of marketing.
Environment
Like the article mentions — and our analysis of COVID-influenced consumer behavior trends — many brands across all verticals saw an increase in online activity and sales this year. This increase created opportunities for brands to add Programmatic Direct Mail into their marketing mix for many reasons:
- Reaches your ideal audience at home, where they are now, and where they’re making decisions.
- Allows brands an opportunity to visually communicate how their products or services can improve consumers’ most valuable space.
- Remain at the top of shoppers’ minds while they’re in the consideration window.
Relevancy is a critical aspect when it comes to the first E, environment. Relevant direct mail is more efficient and less wasteful, as you ensure only the people most likely to take action receive it and prevent unwanted mailings.
Fueled by consumers’ recent online intent signals and delivered within 2–3 days, PDM® reaches consumers while they’re still in the consideration window to buy, improving the efficacy of your campaigns.
Education
Programmatic Direct Mail also offers a unique opportunity to educate people about your brand, tell your story, and showcase your various products and services — all in one concise mailpiece. People are visual creatures, and showcasing options with a tangible piece of mail allows them to connect with your brand in a new, different way.
Use high-impact direct mail to visually appeal to your valuable customers, help influence their purchasing decisions, and Survive the Sort™ (think: make it to the fridge). As our founder, Lewis Gersh, says, “no one hangs a banner ad on the fridge as a reminder or to ask, ‘honey, should we buy this?’”
Escapism
Escapism is and has always been prevalent among consumers, both pre-pandemic and especially as it’s ongoing. From gaming to cooking to streaming or reorganizing, consumers crave it all. And marketing has always been there to provide consumers with an escape.
Brands use Programmatic Direct Mail to remind people of what they were recently considering — whether it be a new couch, dress, or fitness routine — to provide a welcome moment of escapism, add a bit of joy to your day, or amplify your stay-at-home time.
By reaching people at home, you offer them time to reflect on their decision to buy or not to buy. And they can do so on a timeline in a way that feels right to them.
Experience
Once seen as a simple task, checking the mail during the pandemic became an experience. Opening the mailbox was often a highlight to the day, a welcome opportunity to break up the monotony at home and stretch your legs — even if only to the end of the driveway.
Your brand can add to this experience by connecting with your consumers in their mailbox. Through situational targeting, relevant and respectful content reaches the hands of consumers at a time and place where they are most likely to make a buying decision.
And because the home is a sacred, safe place, it’s important not to overstay your welcome. Programmatic Direct Mail does this by managing frequency to maintain user experience. Your customers will only receive one piece of mail every 30 days, at most.
In Conclusion
As you think about different ways to meet the 4 Es of Marketing and become a “first place expert,” consider Programmatic Direct Mail. It is a seamless way to integrate real-time online intent data with impactful direct mail — and master those 4 Es.
To learn more about Programmatic Direct Mail or PebblePost and how it can complement your marketing efforts, please reach out to us at hello@pebblepost.com.
