In an advertising world primarily driven by digital marketing, many businesses try to reach their audience through social media and email campaigns. However, companies often struggle to break through the noise when focused solely on digital marketing.

To create a pleasant user experience, many online platforms like Google and Facebook use algorithms to filter out content deemed “unrelated” to their interests.

These ever-present and ever-changing algorithms challenge marketers to create new content to appeal to their audience and get through the platform filters. 

Due to this ever-changing digital arms race between platforms and marketers, many businesses are turning back to direct mail to reach their intended audience.

Direct mail offers better opportunities to reach new markets, such as homeowners, without the added challenge of getting through the walls erected by third-party platforms. 

No Promotions Tab

A new feature that shook the marketing world in recent years was the creation of the Gmail Promotions tab. This tab would filter out content from a user’s inbox and sort email campaigns into a separate tab.

As a result,  90% of commercial messages sort into the promotions tab, and many go to spam folders. Only 0.3% make it to the user’s primary inbox. Unless the user clicks on the promotions tab, they will never see these email campaigns.

Unlike email marketing, mail campaigns have no systems or tabs to filter out content. Print ads are sent directly to the customers’ mailboxes in addition to their personal mail.

This way, customers who receive your company’s ads are at an equal standing to their own mail; without a machine to decide whether or not they should see your ads.

Relevant: How Internet Users Block Digital Advertising

No Third-Party Quality Ranking

Another way that online platforms filter content is through the process of ad ranking. This process, often seen in sites such as Google ads, ranks an ad’s quality based on the landing page, estimated click-through rate, and relevancy to the search query. 

The bidding system also plays a significant role within the confines of this ad platform. Even if your company has the best-optimized ad for your service, you are always at risk of a corporation outbidding you or spending more money to appear higher on the search results page.

And this can happen at any time, with little to no warning. One minute you’re number 1, the next minute… you’re not. And you may need to double your ad spend to return to the top.

Unlike Google ads, direct mail is not ranked or filtered by a third party. Your ads will rank equal amongst competitors in your prospect’s mailbox, thus creating a greater chance for your prospects to engage with your company without costing a fortune. If your ad works – it will be seen.

Relevant: The Competitive Side to Online Advertising

No Algorithms or Bots

One of the main causes of stress for marketers that advertise on social media are the constantly changing algorithms that favor different forms of content.

Without optimizing your digital ads to suit each new algorithm change, your company misses out on new prospects.

However, various modifications often require a new plan and redesign of your online campaign, which costs your business time and money. 

The mailing system does not have any changing algorithms at all. If your mail delivers to an interested prospect, they will respond. In this system, your audience receives your company’s ad without algorithms or bots to filter out your message. You are basically guaranteed an opportunity to succeed.

Relevant: How Online Algorithms Hurt Small Businesses

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