Locating the Power of Geomarketing in Direct Mail

There’s a scene in an episode of the TV series “The Office” in which the boss, Michael Scott, drives his rental car into Lake Scranton because he misinterprets the GPS instructions. “The machine knows where it’s going!” he insists.

Call it a life lesson if you’d like: Machines don’t always know best, not even many years after that broadcast. A paper map, though, provides spatial awareness, a “big picture” of surroundings and prominent features a digital device (and the consumer) might miss.

In a direct mail package, maps have been a pretty common element for many years. They should always make it as easy as possible for a prospect to find you and do business with you. But their effectiveness in doing their job varies widely.

At a minimum, as the mail piece gets read, considered, and then saved or acted upon (or tossed into the recycling bin), its map should:

• Include crossroads and nearby highways
• Designate major landmarks
• Use directional indicators
• Be printed in a high level of detail
  without pixelation

The static maps found on many postcards, folded self-mailers, and letters are limited in their ability to drive action. And that’s not ideal. Because of their experiences with digital channels, consumers now expect relevant and targeted messaging based on segmentation factors like physical location, as well as others (demographic, behavioral) that’s collected from or provided by them.

VDP Map Tech: The Game-Changer

With geomarketing, location-based data can be tapped to create personalized and relevant campaigns. According to numerous studies, a combination of innovative print and hyper-personalized data increases engagement as well as response rates and ROI in direct mail.

Variable data printing (VDP) pulls dynamically-generated addresses and map images from a file and inserts them onto a template based on a variable piece of data they’re matched to in your print files before the preflight stage.

All of these elements — customer and company or organization; the best route between them; travel distance — can be displayed on the map. And the addition of a QR code can instantly provide exact directions from the phone’s location to the destination or other nearby desired locations.

The Benefits of Personalized Maps

If you’re a printer, why should you consider variable maps? Because geomarketing gives you a competitive advantage in how it improves the direct mail campaigns you create for a client. Here are some of the benefits:

• Higher Customer Satisfaction: Relevant, data-driven mail — when done well — produces a greater ROI, and makes it more likely that additional campaigns will be planned.
• Printing Maps at Scale: Running large campaign jobs with maps saves time and money, and makes similar campaigns more affordable.
• Target Clients in Multiple Verticals: Customized maps drive prospects to the door of many industries with a physical presence, such as retail, healthcare, education and government, real estate, events, financial services, and many more.
• Enhance Omnichannel Marketing: When scanned, QR codes included on the mail piece can link to digital directions or additional location-based information.
• Improved Campaign KPIs: Personalized maps engage and convert more, especially when paired with regional or local images and relevant messaging.

How to Get Started with VDP Maps

Printers and marketers who integrate digital maps with a direct mail campaign should carry out these tasks to be successful:

• Invest in Data: Ensure you and your partners have accurate, robust data as well as software that can support dynamic mapping.
• Educate Your Clients: Use samples and case studies to make the case for using VDP maps in a campaign. Also highlight custom options like logos.
• Optimize Printing & Mailing Processes: Streamline and automate your production workflows to handle large amounts of data, and rapidly respond to each change from each unique mail piece to the next without significantly slowing down.
• Measure & Refine: Track and analyze your response and adjust your strategies to improve performance.

Printers that take advantage of data and printing drive better results for their clients. Geomarketing and VDP maps can transform your ordinary direct mail into a high-performance marketing channel.