Weather-triggered marketing for direct mail

When is the “right time” to drop your direct mail piece?

What’s the best time to drop your direct mail?

I get asked that question a lot. Here’s the simple answer: when the recipient is already thinking about your message or experiencing the problem you can solve.

Retailers do it all the time. After all, it’s not just coincidence that you get an offer for rubber boots on the third day of thunderstorms, or ice cream coupons during a heat wave. Auto retailers see a surge in shoppers when warm weather arrives, so they build on that.

“Sure, it works for email marketing, but…” Believe it or not, timing for direct mail isn’t hard. There are lots of tools (Skymosity is one tool I find exciting in the marketplace) that help you drop your mail during the best conditions. And weather isn’t the only variable. Holidays make sense, and so does the news cycle, as long as you choose a story that is likely to last awhile.

It’s not complicated. You can dive right in with marketing automation (for example, use your online tool to drop your ice cream coupon as soon as the weather hits 85 degrees) or simply look at the long-range forecast to select prime time. Just get your direct mail, printer or fulfillment partner involved early, so you’ve got your materials ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Had a good experience tying your campaign to current events or seasons? We’d love to hear the story through LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, or contact me.

Steve Falk

sfalk@primedata.ca

289-802-0584 (until 8PM EST and on Saturdays)