Comparing Retargeting by Channel

In marketing, the practice of retargeting can be executed via digital, email and direct mail. Curious about how they stack up? Learn the apples to apples (to apples) comparison of retargeting by channel.

Comparing Retargeting by Channel

Reaching your consumers after they have already visited your website through retargeting helps keep your brand in front of bounced traffic. The fact is, only 4% of website traffic converts. When you implement the practice of retargeting, you are staying top of mind by reminding your site visitors of your products and solutions. This can be done via display, email and direct mail. Let's compare how each channel measures up when it comes to some of the core components of marketing. 

Competition:

When it comes to email, roughly 270B emails are sent out each day, including businesses marketing to customers and prospects.

And as for display, consumers see 63 display ads per person, per day. With most companies retargeting online, consumers have become accustomed to ignoring display ads altogether.

As for direct mail retargeting, as a marketer, you are the only one who can send a personalized postcard to your website visitors.

Viewability:

With 107 emails received per person, per day, the marketing message is often lost in the inbox noise and ends up in the digital trash.

And, 50% of display ads fall below the fold, often costing twice the amount intended and a decrease in viewability.

Meanwhile, in the mailbox, viewability is near 90% for direct mail, with 2 pieces of mail received per person, per day.

Lifecycle Stage:

With email retargeting the timing element can be missed and the message isn't received when the consumer is ready to buy.

Digital retargeting often targets people who put items in the shopping cart, missing site visitors who are just beginning their research.

Retargeted postcards can be sent only to consumers who have demonstrated their stage through their engagement with your website.

Perception:

In terms of consumer perception, email retargeting is often considered quick, informal and oversaturated by recipients.

Unfortunately, the automatic nature of following a consumer from site to site can irritate online users and create a negative perception about the brand giving digital retargeting a bad rap.

Meanwhile, direct mail retargeting, from a perception perspective, is considered trusted and personal with 59% of US respondents surveyed saying they enjoy getting mail from brands about new products.

Reach:

Did you know the average user has 8 email addresses? Reaching them in the right email inbox can be tricky.

With the popularity of pop up blockers and upcoming third party cookie regulations, reaching consumers via display retargeting is becoming increasingly more difficult.

Direct Mail retargeting offers 1:1 messaging delivered directly to the home address of your website visitors - no SPAM folders or cookie blocking.

Win-Back:

57% of email addresses are abandoned because the users receive too many marketing emails. This, combined with high opt-out rates, makes it difficult to reach that customer or prospect.

Opt-outs and ad blocking tools prevent advertisers from reaching consumers online via digital retargeting, decreasing the chance to win back lapsed customers and prospect new ones.

Direct Mail retargeting offers 1:1 messaging delivered directly to the home address of your website visitors - no SPAM folders or cookie blocking.

Performance:

The proof is in the numbers. If the above detail doesn’t prove our point, check out the results below by channel.

• Email averages a 0.12% response rate.
• Display ads average a response rate of 0.3%.
• Direct Mail averages a 4.4% response rate.

Final thoughts: 

As you can see, when considering components like reach, viewability, competition, and most importantly, results...the clear winner is direct mail. This tried and true form of marketing continues to beat out the other channels. Bridge the gap between your website visitors and conversions with direct mail.

Sources:

https://www.postalytics.com/blog/direct-mail-vs-email/

https://thedma.org/

https://www.themailshark.com/resources/articles/is-direct-mail-dead/

https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/direct-mail-statistics/#gref

https://www.ana.net/mkc

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