Social media continues to prove itself as a great way to enhance your company’s online presence, whether it’s helping boost your website’s SEO ranking or providing brand awareness in a very frequented part of the internet. But, here’s the even better news: not only can social media help improve your digital marketing strategy, it can help enhance your direct marketing strategy as well. See our tips below:

Use Social Media To Build Excitement About An Upcoming Direct Mail Offer

Social media is a great way to build anticipation around an upcoming direct mail send, especially if what is being sent stands to make customers excited. Whether it’s providing information about a new product or sending an exclusive promo code or discount coupon, social media is a great way to let customers know they should be keeping their eyes peeled for something from you in their mailbox. A great way to alert them is through targeted paid campaigns on social networks.

By offering a preview of what customers will be receiving from you, it not only brings your name top of mind, but also primes customers and leads alike to be more open and receptive to what you’ve sent them, and presumably want them to take action on.

Mine Your Social Pages for Customer Reviews and User-Generated Content

As all business owners know, client testimonials are powerful and persuasive. While bad online reviews can certainly be damaging and require careful responses, good online reviews can be extremely valuable, especially when it comes to influencing potential customers.

Many social platforms, such as Facebook, make it extremely easy for people to write reviews about or leave comments about a business. So why not take some of the glowing reviews from your company’s page and incorporate it into your next direct mail campaign? Not only does it lend credibility to your business, it also promotes your social account-—a win-win.

In addition to collecting positive feedback from real customers, social media also provides an unparalleled opportunity to collect UGC (user-generated content). Social is a great way to source original photos of your product or service that customers are sharing (and hopefully tagging you in!). With permission, you can use these photos to enhance your next direct mail campaign by offering a real-life look into how people are enjoying what your company offers.

Take Learnings From Social and Apply Them To Direct Marketing

Unlike putting together a direct mail campaign, social media campaigns require comparatively low lift when it comes to time and money spent. That’s why it’s a good idea to use social media as a testing ground to see what your audience will respond to.

Whether it’s split testing creative—“Should I include a picture of the little boy playing the trumpet on the cover, or the group of kids playing the drums?”—social media reactions can help you get a sense of how people are perceiving your campaign. While picking up the mail that’s in your mailbox is certainly different than browsing your social media platform of choice, social media can act as a great canary in the coal mine as far as gauging what content or positioning your audience will respond to.

Cross-Promote Your Marketing Channels 

The first step to a customer following your social media account is knowing you have a social media account. One of the best ways to build this awareness is through direct mail marketing campaigns. Whenever you send existing customers or potential leads anything in the mail, you should view it as an opportunity to also promote your online presence. You would never forget to mention your website somewhere on the mailer you’re sending, right? If you take that same mentality and apply it to promoting your social media channels, you’ll start to garner a quality social audience.

Conversely, you can use social media as a way to get more people on your mailing list. Many businesses use their social profiles to promote an acquisition module or landing page where interested consumers can fill out their contact information. At the very least, your social profile can be linked to your website, where people can easily navigate to in order to learn more about what your company offers.

Have you used social media to complement a direct marketing initiative? Tell us about it in the comments below.