Whatever happened to the annual toy catalogs? They would arrive in mailboxes addressed for the adults but targeted at the kids. Bright, colorful pictures on thin, glossy pages that were just waiting to be marked up so children could tell their parents exactly what they expected to receive this holiday season. And then suddenly, these catalogs stopped showing up. Marketing tactics changed as we entered the “digital age” and marketers never looked back. Or so we thought.
Three years ago, Amazon started sending out a holiday toy catalog they call the “Amazon Holiday Wish Book.” The Wish Book is a blast from the past that’s “still got it” even after years of being out of commission.
Direct Mail is Good for Digital!
As Amazon’s execution of their annual Holiday Wish Book clearly shows, mail can easily be integrated with the digital space. The eCommerce giant is bringing the classic catalog to the modern-day. Not only does the 2020 Wish Book contain coloring pages, stickers, and other activities for kids, it also contains many channels for adults to jump from the physical book to the Amazon website or app. QR codes will direct you to gift ideas similar to the items presented on the physical pages. Additionally, if you want to find the online listing of an item shown in the book, you can simply scan the image with the Amazon App.
It is no surprise that direct mail is a supportive friend to its digital counterparts. A study conducted by PFL found, “the vast majority of study participants, 84%, report that direct mail improves multi-channel campaign performance.” Why? Consider this: you are adding another “touchpoint” to your multichannel campaign, but this is the only one that can touch you back.
Going Backwards
Why did retail giant Amazon decide to go back in time and invest in a physical catalog? The simple answer is mail works. To go deeper, think about your own experience with digital marketing. In recent years, studies have claimed most Americans encounter as many as 10,000 ads a day (Forbes). Additionally, the inbox is not the new mailbox. USPS shared that 37% of Millennial respondents said they received marketing emails “way too often,” and 22% said they received “a few too many” (USPS).
The terms “screen burnout,” “digital clutter,” and “digital fatigue” have popped up with the exponential increase of time spent on web-enabled devices. With an oversaturation of digital content, browsers are becoming numb to digital ads and starting to ignore most of the ones they encounter. When face time with a screen gets too overwhelming, a mail marketing piece breaks through, allowing marketers to still make an impact when screens go black.
Direct Mail: Dying or Reborn?
Mom blogs are raving about how fun the Amazon Holiday Wish Book is for their kids. Parents can be found asking where they can opt IN to receive their own catalog in the mail. Amazon, a company that conducts all of its business through an online platform, looked to market offline; and they did it well!
What we are seeing is not the death of mail but rather the rebirth of smarter, more targeted, mail. The future of mail can look a lot like what Amazon has created: seamlessly intertwined with digital platforms.
Article was written by Cynthia Lin, Digital Marketing & Digital Print Specialist at Universal.