Why Direct Mail is an Essential Cannabis Marketing Tool

It’s easy to think that all modern marketing is digital, but smart marketers know that the reality is more nuanced. When your marketing plan includes the right mix of varied techniques, you’re more likely to attract a broad array of qualified customers. For a cannabis business, this means creating a strong marketing plan that balances the advantages of digital with traditional marketing tactics, including direct mail.

Finding that balance is key, since each marketing tool brings its own advantages and limitations. For instance, there’s no doubt that digital technology has given marketers sophisticated tools, such as real-time audience and ad optimization, retargeting, audience engagement, and more. But digital marketing is not a magic bullet on its own. Its limitations include paltry open rates, digital clutter, and endless competition.

A smart approach is to supplement digital spends with other tactics that can do things that digital can’t. This is why direct mail is making a comeback. Ironically, it’s the boom in digital marketing that has helped make direct mail much more attractive. The reason is clutter. Before digital took off, physical mailboxes were jammed with offers and promotions – so much so that often individual messages were lost in the jumble. But no more. U.S. direct mail volume has decreased significantly, going from a peak of 103.5 billion pieces in 2007 to 66.2 billion pieces in 2021. This means that each piece of mail now has less competition to get noticed.

That old clutter problem? It now exists in email inboxes. If you doubt it, check your own inbox and spam filter. There’s no doubt that both are much more crowded than your physical mailbox. Overall, it’s estimated that consumers are exposed to over 4,000 ad messages per day, but less than five pieces of direct mail. The rush to digital has left a relatively unspoiled space in the mail, a perfect place to connect with customers. Other advantages of direct mail:

• Direct mail is opened at higher rates than digital advertising. A big problem with digital marketing is the miniscule open rates of emails and digital ads (0.1% to 0.6% on average). By contrast, direct mail enjoys open rates of 4% to 10%. Even more impressive: 42% of customers and potential customers see the direct mail they receive, increasing brand exposure for direct mail advertisers.

• Direct mail has a long lifespan. While email has a lifespan of minutes or hours, direct mail is kept in the home for an average of 17 days. This gives an advertiser’s message repeated opportunities to get noticed, increasing brand awareness and the opportunity for purchase.

• Direct mail is more shareable. Unlike email that goes to one person, physical mail goes to a household. This allows the mailing to be read by more than one person in the household, increasing the reach of each message.

• Advertisers can access targeted prospect mailing lists. Mailing lists are solid, effective marketing tools, featuring much more than just the consumer’s physical address. Data houses also have extensive information about the consumer, allowing advertisers to use mailing lists that closely match the profile of the advertiser’s ideal customer.

• There are fewer limitations to get in the way. With email, lists can be purchased, but that can be risky for an advertiser. This is because consumers usually opt-in to receive emails from a company. People whose email addresses are acquired by a third party and sold to an advertiser have not opted-in to receive email from that advertiser. This means that an email sent to a purchased list is often considered spam, and can result in significant reputational damage and wasted dollars for the advertiser that sent it. Direct mail provides no such obstacles.

If you’re ready to unleash the power of direct mail to attract new customers in a cost-effective way, contact Green Leaf Marketers and we can get started today.