Direct Mail Retargeting is one of the most powerful channels available to marketers. It uniquely combines the strengths of physical marketing – high response, strong one-to-one engagement, longer shelf-life – with precise timing and targeting, driven by a website visitor’s behavior and intent. The creative should take full advantage of this combination by blending best practices of Direct Mail response design plus the knowledge of your visitor’s intent.

These high-level recommendations can help you prepare a design that leverages the strength of this unique channel, that goes beyond digital or traditional direct mail design.  Following these will help you create an effective postcard that drives the maximum response.

• Focus the creative on the mid-to-late part of the buyer journey/sales funnel. The recipients are already aware of your brand and have expressed interest by visiting pages on your website. The job of the card is to now bring those visitors back to your business with a stronger intent to buy.
• Don’t remind the visitor that they’ve been to the site. Retargeting is a commonplace tactic, and it also risks offending or creeping out the visitor, and has not shown to lift results.
• Use messaging that tells your story and reminds them why they visited the site. Cards that look like print ads – with a big image and an offer – have proven less effective than adding compelling copy elements that engage the recipient.
• Have a very clear call-to-action and offer. This is direct response marketing, and you need to tell them what to do next.
• Structure the layout to take advantage of both sides of the card. Your visitor may see the addressable side first, which is how the USPS sorts the mail.

Because creatives will differ for each client, we can’t speak to every scenario here. For more insight, read our Blog Article on Planning a Direct Mail Retargeting Layout, which includes 10 Tips to Create an Effective Layout. 

Also, see the Design Guide article in the FAQ and Resources section.