It has started, in the USA of course with verified digital mail, now it is only time before…

The death of postal mail has long been in discussion since the Internet first kicked off in the early 1990′s. Well we all know that change even one as rapid as the Internet is not necessarily as fast offline as it is online. Sixteen years later and we are now starting to see some of the effects of the digitisation of mass and 1-2-1 communications. We have already seen the rapid decline of print with Newspapers and Directories now it is Australia Posts turn.

Australia Posts mail volume fell 4.2 per cent in 2009/10 and as AusPost is such a volume player this hit them hard with a fall of 66% for their annual profit. Australia Post has actually been doing quite well until recently compared to other postal services around the world until recently.

Thing is whilst Australia Post is seeing a decline in their mail volume and they start to look for ways to digitise their business their are already players out there competing successfully with new services.

So whilst the CEO of Australia Post, Ahmed Fahour (ex-NAB CEO) wants to change the direction of the AusPost Super Tanker into a nimble Frigate by;

“Everything that we can do physically to the best of our ability we want to offer digitally. We are looking to have an Australia Post shop online, sometime next year.”

And that is what I want to write about, you see I am sure that the Australian Government will continue to run AusPost as a Public Good for sometime yet. Even if Fahour gets to didgitise elements of AusPost and build in a Financial Services arm.

Australians love the internet, but do they love postal mail?

But what I think is really interesting is the opportunity which the change in behaviour of consumers and business using the Internet is creating. Australians love using the Internet, we may currently have slow connections compared to other countries but we have over 80% penetration of usage with Australians being online. This actually represents a 151% growth in the last 10 years.

So, this means that trend being a marketers friend shows that there is easily enough of the population online to start offering more services, and more trusted services, via the Internet at that. Even better, we also have the National Broadband Network looming large on the radar which will be 21st infrastructure that will drive real opportunity for Australians online at FTTH speed.

So, what could this all mean?

Well this could mean an opportunity for business and consumers to not receive any post to their letterbox or PO Box ever again.

It really is a game changer, you would not ever have to receive a paper based communication or flyer to a physical mail box again. All of your post could be delivered directly to a secure and permission based online post box. So, you would have complete control over who sends you marketing materials. Of course, the delivery of bills and services would still be a necessary evil.

So as we look out into what this new world of digitised trusted communications could mean is that what was once a given opportunity for Direct Marketers would be completely permission driven. The postal address for a consumer would not exist. This would have a serious impact on how direct marketers market today. In many ways it would be for the better for the recipients of the communications.

Has anyone done this yet?

Yes, in the USA there is a company which has started to do exactly what I have talked about. Zumbox, provide a secure and verified digital mailbox for business and consumers. No more paper based bills, junk mail or direct mail offers.

What is even more surprising is that the service is offered FREE to users in the USA. No charge. So they can compete head to head with the US Postal Service. Clearly, the are no barriers or vested interests that have tried to block the Zumbox business, thing is can our regulatory environment in Australia allow for a Zumbox service. I am sure that as we are a free market that the ACCC would have something to say about any barriers created by the natural monopoly that is the current Australia Post.

So, we believe it is really just a matter of time before services like Zumbox arrive in Australia.

Oh and how do they make their money, have a look here.

Hopefully this is food for thought about the changing nature of communications and direct marketing in particular direct mail marketing!

Great marketing today relies on a simple idea, which is great customer data. When we run direct marketing activities, it requires having up-to-date customer information and their interests or current purchase history do our messages are relevant and timely.

Business today has many different ‘pots of customer data’ in their business. In fact, it is all around their business is a wealth of customer information. The problem can be that this data is in all sorts of different formats, from business cards, emails, letters, faxes, to spreadsheets and many more.

And this leads to the question we get a lot from our customers, “We have a great business but we do not have a database for our marketing. Where will we get our data from?” All businesses have databases of customer information, every single one! They just have not loaded it to a central store.

Customers are often baffled when we let them know they do actually have customer databases. They just have not digitised them so their data can be used readily for their marketing and sales activities.

The problem is that these businesses like these, as yet have not actively gathered up this data from the different databases like, business cards, customer invoices, emails, websites etc, and stored this information in a central repository. So, all business do have databases, it is just not all have created a central database which they can store, update and manage customer data on.

Once we have worked through with our customer how to start identifying customer information the process of uploading data starts. This can be as simple as starting a spreadsheet or an access database to using an online database such as; Salesforce.com or highrisehq.com which are hosted in the ‘Cloud’.

Once the process of collecting information in the business has started the sooner the benefits will accrue from the use of the data. Does your business have its data in order?

Direct Marketing is the most successful when you create a communications piece which
not only captures attention but also creates action.

In the past, this was referred to as AIDA; Awareness – Interest – Desire – Action. Whilst with all theory and specialist practice things become more complex this acronym still works today at a high level.

So, why be Targeted and why be Direct?

Because you want your communications to be relevant (Targeted) to the recipient when
they receive and hopefully open the direct mail (Direct to the reader). By knowing who
you are sending your communications to, understanding what services they buy, or
interested in buying enables you to ‘target’ these customers.  This in effect backs up
the idea of AIDA: your target customer is; Aware of you, they are Interested in what
you sell, they Desire the services you have on offer, they take Action.

To be targeted you have to know or collected information about what your customers or
prospects are buying from you. By knowing what your customers are buying, you can then
look to a variety of ways to increase sales, convert new customers or build loyalty.

Then by being direct, you can achieve a couple of things, which are underestimated
today for effectiveness. By targeting a bespoke group of customers you choose, your
business can create a unique marketing Offer to these people you have selected.

In marketing terms, this is a ‘segment’ from your overall customer data, just like a
segment from an orange as an example.

Now with your chosen segment you can now look at creative ideas you believe or know
will have the greatest impact on these customers. For instance, these customers may
have been with you for a very long time so you may look to running a specific reward or
loyalty offer to them.

By knowing your customers, by creating a unique and enticing creative direct mail, you
are increasing the chances of the letter being opened and read.

This is the biggest battle silently taking place in letterboxes all over Australia. We
are fighting for people’s time to read our messages or offer. The hard part is getting
your customers to open the mail!

Nevertheless, by using great creative, colour and personalisation can all help get your

mail opened. It has been proven that by using information from your customers like,
product preferences, their first name and Offers which match their needs increases
response rates.

Like the best marketing this is all logical – the skill is working with a team that
understands how to apply the logic to your business and knows the in’s and out’s of
Direct Marketing.

So by being having a targeted segment and mailing list you can increase your response
to you campaigns by using direct mail to the customers, this way you are talking
directly to your customer.

Interested in running a Direct Mail campaign to build demand for your business contact us here.