Digital Tag
Clients
September 20, 2023

Finding the Perfect Balance

Finding the Perfect Balance

Optimal Impact: Balancing Direct Mail & Digital Marketing

In an era dominated by screens and digital interactions, the power of direct mail might seem like a relic of the past. However, as marketers navigate a landscape filled with virtual noise, there’s a growing realization that a harmonious blend of direct mail and digital marketing can create a symphony that resonates with audiences on multiple levels to create an optimal impact. This article dives deeper into the art of finding the perfect balance between these two unique approaches to help create a more effective and engaging marketing strategy.

The Strengths of Direct Mail

Direct mail’s tangible appeal remains unmatched in the digital age. The physicality of a well-crafted mail piece has the potential to captivate your audience in a unique way. The tactile experience of holding a beautifully designed brochure or a cleverly folded mailer engages multiple senses, leaving a lasting impression that mere pixels struggle to replicate. Moreover, direct mail offers a canvas for creativity that’s hard to match in the digital realm. Eye-catching visuals, interactive elements, and even the scent of printed materials can evoke emotions and trigger memories, forging a stronger connection between the brand and its audience.

The Power of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing, on the other hand, brings an arsenal of precision tools to the table. Data analytics provide unparalleled insights into consumer behavior, enabling marketers to tailor messages, timing, and delivery channels to specific segments. Real-time tracking allows for quick adjustments, ensuring campaigns are optimized for maximum impact.  Interactivity is another jewel in the digital crown. Engaging content formats like videos, surveys, and interactive ads draw users into a two-way conversation, transforming passive observers into active participants. The ability to gather instant feedback and respond in real-time enhances customer engagement and satisfaction. 

Achieving An Optimal Impact: The Perfect Balance

The magic lies not in favoring one approach over the other, but in seamlessly integrating them to harness their combined potential. Here’s how:

1. Unified Branding: Maintain consistent branding across direct mail and digital platforms. Colors, fonts, and messaging should align, reinforcing brand recognition regardless of the medium.

2. Data-Driven Personalization: Leverage digital insights to personalize direct mail content. Tailor your message based on online interactions and preferences to create a sense of familiarity and relevance.

3. Multi-Channel Engagement: Direct mail can serve as an entry point to digital engagement. Include QR codes or personalized URLs that lead recipients to landing pages, social media profiles, or interactive content, extending the conversation into the digital realm.

4. Tracking Across Channels: Implement trackable elements in direct mail, such as CallRail numbers or scannable QR codes. This allows you to monitor responses and conversions, connecting your offline efforts to online results.

5. Nurture with Care: Combine the nurturing power of direct mail’s tangible touch with digital’s timely follow-ups. Send a direct mail piece and follow up with a personalized email or retargeted digital ads to keep your brand top of mind.

Conclusion

In the search for marketing balance, the debate between direct mail and digital marketing becomes irrelevant when we recognize the inherent value of both. Rather than pitting them against each other, let’s embrace the collaborative relationship they share. By harmonizing the sensory appeal of direct mail with the data-driven finesse of digital marketing, we unlock a strategy that resonates deeply with our audience.

Next Steps

At White Whale, we’ve implemented this combined approach for numerous clients and campaigns. Each of them telling us that the additional touchpoints keeps our efforts top-of-mind with our audiences and leads to further interactions that ultimately lead to action for an optimal impact. Ready to transform your marketing strategy? Contact us today to create an optimal impact and perfect balance between direct mail and digital marketing for your brand’s success.

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Clients
June 5, 2023

Why Bing Ads Deserve Your Attention

Why Bing Ads Deserve Your Attention

Advertising across multiple platforms- or cross-platform marketing- is an important tool when growing brand credibility and increasing visibility. However, knowing the right platform to expand to can be confusing if you don’t know where to start. While Bing might not be the first platform that comes to mind when you think of digital channels that you can advertise on, it might be the perfect addition to your digital strategy to reach new and unique customers. This search engine has the benefit of being the platform that backs up Alexa, Cortana, and Microsoft Office- all products that are used by millions of consumers daily. Further, the audience is generally more mature, affluent, and educated than audiences of other search engines such as Google. Learn more about Bing and its unique audiences, product integrations, and ad types to see if this might be the right platform for your campaign!

Audience

In March of 2019, almost half of the United States ran a search powered by Bing every month – that is 126 million unique users performing 6 billion searches. While some of these searches may not be loyal to only Bing, Bing boasts 100 million daily active users in 2023. But who are these users? Bing’s audience averages 45 years old. 50% of their users have a college education, 46% are more likely to be married, and a third of their users have a household income over $100k.  With Bing, you have the potential to reach more of these customers due to less competition. Since there are fewer advertisers on Bing than Google, generally, advertisements have a higher clickthrough rate, and eventually, a better return on investment. Further, Bing allows you to create your target audience through demographics including age, gender, and location. At a granular level, Bing allows you to run ads at a specific time in different time zones- regardless of your location.

Product Integration

Everyday business apps such as Microsoft Office, Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams all are integrated with Bing as their supportive search engine. Reaching over 1.2 billion users without even trying. If you have ever used the search bar or clicked on a keyword to search within a Word document or email, you have used Bing!  Alexa, Cortana, and Facebook Portal are all common voice assistants that can be used in your home, from your computer, or from your phone. Cortana, the glowing circle on a Windows taskbar, uses Bing to help answer any questions that are typed into the bar or asked verbally.  On an even larger scale, Alexa is put into over 100 million households to help control lights, play music, and answer questions. Where does she get those answers? Bing! Next time you ask Alexa what the weather is, you can thank Bing for telling her that is going to rain. (Don’t forget your umbrella!) Microsoft Advertising has a unique advantage over other platforms due to the dozens of search engines that are partnered with Bing. Sites like Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN are partially powered by Bing, giving advertisers the advantage of having an ad served across multiple engines through one platform.

Ad Types

Bing offers multiple ways to market on their platform. Their ad types include text, dynamic search ads, product, audience, app install, and responsive ad searches. Depending on your product type, target audience, and budget any of these channels might be the place to start with your new ads.  One of the most popular options, the dynamic search ad, is an expanded Text Ad that is automatically targeted at relevant searches based on what is shown on the website. That means that when you search for “pizza” your first result is likely a pizza place where you can order a hot pizza, rather than a definition.  Want to do more than just a search ad? Bing offers a Responsive Search Ads that allows you to make more ads with less guesswork. By providing 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, Bing automatically designs the best ad to help you generate the best leads. Bing offers a wide range of ads and targeting options, allowing you to tailor your campaign precisely to your specific audience demographics and preferences. Depending on your needs, you might want to use all these cool ad types, or maybe just one or two. Your campaign is fully customizable to you.

Why Bing Ads Deserve Your Attention

While Bing might not be ranked the first search engine in the world, it has a significant audience that is worth your time. With over 100 million users, the support of multiple products, and various ad types, Bing is a platform worth including in your digital marketing plan to help you reach your potential new customers. Whale wants to help you reach those customers with compelling creative messaging that is suitable for any platform here!

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