While some organizations write off direct mail as a thing of the past, smart marketers still leverage this channel to unlock better results. In fact, 70% of marketers reported improvements in direct mail performance in the last 12 months. And when combining direct mail with digital marketing, 60% of marketers reported increased return on investment (ROI).

Direct mail offers your members a tangible reminder of your association and stands out as a more personalized form of communication. This guide will help you integrate direct mail into your strategy so you can effectively use it to drive online member engagement.

1. Send personalized invitations for virtual events.

Leverage direct mail to invite members to virtual events, webinars, or forums. While invitations to these opportunities may get lost in their inboxes, physical registration reminders can reinvigorate their excitement for your events and encourage them to get involved.

Ensure your direct mail invitations include the following elements:

• Member names and personal details. Use your association’s first-party data to personalize invitations, grab members’ attention, and make them feel more valued. Adding members’ names and references to past interactions shows you care about members as individuals and may inspire them to sign up. For example, you may segment your members and send different invitations for past event attendees and those who haven’t attended an event yet.

• Clear instructions. Walk members through how to sign up for your event. These steps may include navigating to your event registration page, inputting their contact information, choosing the correct event session, providing payment information, and adding the event to their calendars.

• A link to your event registration page. Simplify the sign-up process by adding a link or QR code that directs members to your event registration page. Consider creating a unique link for direct mail communications to track how many registrations came from this channel.

Make your virtual events accessible to ensure members have a positive experience. Fíonta’s digital accessibility for associations guide recommends asking for accommodation requests during the registration process to identify any needs you can fulfill to increase accessibility, such as captions, sign language interpreters, or alternative media.

2. Promote exclusive online content.

Help members get the most out of their memberships by using mailed communications to direct them to exclusive, members-only content. Highlight the benefits of different offerings, such as:

• Research reports. If your association conducts or compiles industry research, this information can help members explore and apply current trends to their work. For example, your association may create a report about emerging healthcare technology, inspiring healthcare professionals to revamp their organizations’ tech stacks.

• Educational courses. Online courses can help members build relevant skills and improve in their roles. For instance, a software developer association may offer courses on different programming languages to help members expand their horizons.

• Member directories. Members can leverage directories to network with others in the industry and form valuable new connections. They may search for a specific person they’d like to connect with or use filters to narrow their search down to a small group of promising individuals.

• Online communities. Offering a centralized online hub for members to engage with each other can build community and boost participation. Members can share posts, discuss industry trends, and spark connections.

In your direct mail, include a clear call to action (CTA) that motivates members to access these resources. For example, you may say something like, “Unlock industry insights with our newest research report!” or “Build your professional network with our robust member directory.”

3. Encourage members to fill out surveys.

Survey members to collect data on their needs and preferences. As Deep Sync’s marketing data guide explains, qualitative survey data can “supplement your collected quantitative information and add more context” to members’ behavior.

Add a link or QR code to your mailings that directs members to your survey. Whether you’re collecting feedback about a future project, past event, or the general member experience, your direct mail communications should inform members about the survey’s content so they can decide whether they’d like to participate.

For instance, a survey about a recent event may include questions like:

• On a scale from 1-10, how would you rate your event experience?

• What did you enjoy most about our event?

• Is there anything you disliked, and why?

• Would you recommend our events to a colleague or friend? Why or why not?

• How can we improve the event experience in the future?

After compiling the survey results, let members know how you plan to implement their feedback. You may even follow up with another direct mail communication detailing the improvements you’ve made due to their valuable input.

4. Drive renewals

Track membership expiration dates to send personalized renewal reminders encouraging members to continue engaging with your association. Use membership management software to organize this data and alert you when to mail these reminders.

Leverage identity resolution to combine disparate identifiers into single member profiles; this process can help your organization more effectively target members for renewal. By combining offline identifiers—including postal addresses—with online identifiers—such as mobile ad IDs (MAIDs) and IP addresses—identity resolution helps you reach members with the same messaging for effective omnichannel campaigns.

For example, you may send direct mail and serve social media ads to members up for renewal using the same messaging to increase awareness and the chances they’ll follow through. That way, you can treat members as the same individuals across channels—rather than blasting generic messages to all members—and boost ROI.

5. Incentivize member referrals.

Encourage members to refer colleagues to your association. Since 88% of people trust recommendations from people they know more than any other channel, referrals are a powerful way to grow your member base.

Leverage direct mail to inform members of your referral program and how they can participate. Offer a unique referral link hosted on your website to track referrals back to each member. These links may look something like this: healthcareassociation.com/referrals/daniel-smith.

Provide incentives for successful referrals, and clarify these incentives in your mailings. For instance, for every referral a member brings in, you may offer them a coupon to your online store, money off their membership dues, or discounted event tickets.

Track direct mail success with metrics like conversion rate, website visits, and ROI. You may also survey members about your direct mail efforts to see what content resonates with them and where you can improve your strategy. Then, you can make strategic changes that ensure your direct mail efforts support your online marketing success.