If you think that print marketing and direct mail are the poor relations of your digital channels, think again… In our omnichannel age, there’s a real thirst for the quality and personalisation that comes with printed pieces. And with competition for student recruits fiercer than ever, you can’t afford to miss out on one of the most high-impact mediums in education marketing.
A lot of brands make the mistake of thinking that young people won’t ‘get’ mail: they won’t like it, and they won’t respond to it. But they’re just as likely to respond to mail as any other age group. This offers educational institutions a great opportunity to gain share of voice. By taking a creative stance and producing materials designed to stand out on the doormat, you’ll boost brand awareness, prompt online searches, and encourage more applications.
Because when a printed piece carries the quality you want to be known for, people are keen to learn more.
Direct Mail Proves More Popular Than Ever
According to the latest research from JICMAIL, mail engagement and effectiveness is at its highest level in a year: 95% of mail is engaged with, and 30% drives commercial outcomes for advertisers! Furthermore, open, read and retention rates have grown for the third quarter running, while door drop lifespan grew by over 10% to 5.7 days.
The JICMAIL Attention Study also revealed that:
- Mail is a high-attention channel. The average direct mail item generates 108 seconds of attention across 28 days; business mail 150 seconds; partially addressed 64 seconds; and door drop 46 seconds.
- Mail attention is linked to commercial effectiveness. There’s a x2 to x3 multiplier for time spent with commercially effective direct mail items, and a x3 to x5 multiplier for door drops.
- Mail generates over five minutes of website usage. On average, by items prompting digital traffic.
We’re not saying that direct mail ought to replace your digital efforts. But it is proven to work exceptionally well alongside your online strategy – particularly as our attention is split across too many digital devices, ad-blocking is abundant, and digital fraud is rife.
As you enter peak season for receiving next year’s applications, it’s important to tune into the bountiful benefits of multi-channel marketing.
Multi-Channel Marketing Gets Results
According to a recent survey, 72% of consumers would rather connect with brands that implement a multi-channel marketing strategy. Little wonder then that an integrated approach to your education marketing can lead to improved response rates, increased brand exposure, and a more cohesive customer experience.
Despite most fulfilment happening online, mail is hugely effective in driving digital traffic. Mail will capture audience attention and drive action, driving applicants to deeper, detailed information and registrations. So, a multi-channel strategy is critical for hitting recruitment targets. But, as the JICMAIL Attention Study observes, the content between digital and direct mail should differ in its focus:
“The rich content potential of mail should be complimentary to that found online, not duplicative. With mail providing the initial stimulus, content should look to inspire action… while the information offered online should be additive and in-depth.”
When you’re trying to attract new intakes, it’s all about capturing attention in fresh and inventive ways. While you may use mail to:
- generate awareness
- encourage admissions
- invite enquiries
- promote open days
Consider also how you might include attention-grabbing features like:
- augmented reality (AR)
- scannable codes
- gamification
to capture the imagination and engage your target audience.
Direct Mail for Education Marketing
The student recruitment process is critical to get right: with fierce competition across universities, colleges and corporate training programs alike, how you choose to connect with potential new recruits really does matter.
Direct mail lends itself perfectly to personalisation – allowing you to target students with unique, highly personalised messaging. To make yourself stand out from the crowd, also think about using:
- special print finishes
- die cutting
- personalised URLs or QR codes
If you’re keen to drive recipients to specific landing pages or online content for a seamless digital experience, URLs and codes perform brilliantly.
How KPM Group Can Help
If you want to achieve more applications to your organisation, we can maximise the power of direct mail for your education marketing. We’ll help your mail to move quickly, integrate with your digital channels, and drive more traffic online.
Our services include:
- Data management
- Personalisation
- Direct mail
- Fulfilment
- Postage
So, whether you want to increase student enrolment, promote an event, or communicate important updates, we can tailor our education marketing services in a way that enhances and reinforces your digital campaign.
From letters and postcards, to brochures, invitations or magazines, we’ll help you to reach prospective students, parents or alumni, and get the results you’re after.
With an in-depth understanding of the print and direct mail needs of academies, schools, colleges and universities, and more than 20 years of experience in the education industry, we know how to get the most out of whatever size budget you have to work with.
Learn more about the successful direct mail campaigns that we’ve delivered for educational institutions facing the same challenges as you.
Book a Free Postage Audit
Postage can account for about half the cost of a typical mailing campaign, so it’s important to analyse your mailings regularly. Are you are getting the best postage rates and delivery times?
Understand the available options and gain insight into small changes that could make a big difference to your budget. We’ll include recommendations for improvement and next steps.
Get in touch to book your free postage audit.
01322 663328
