Everyone has felt it at some point. Depending on the individual and how heavily you rely on video meetings, Zoom fatigue may have set in just months or even weeks into the coronavirus pandemic.
To be fair, it’s not just a Zoom thing. Zoom just happened to be the platform that most people turned to when COVID-19 hit. This applies to any video conferencing platform, whether Teams, Google Meet, Skype, or even FaceTime.
The Zoom Fatigue Reality
While it’s easy to casually joke about another day packed with video meetings, Zoom fatigue, also called virtual fatigue, is very real. In fact, Stanford researchers have identified four primary reasons why people become fatigued:
- The intensity of close-up eye contact.
- The self-criticism caused by constantly seeing yourself in real-time.
- Limited mobility during video meetings.
- The increased cognitive demands of video communication.
This can cause a number of problems that affect a person’s happiness and productivity, including exhaustion, apathy, difficulty concentrating, relationship problems, irritability, and muscle tension and pain.
Direct Mail to the Rescue
More than a year into the pandemic, it’s obvious that remote working isn’t going away, which means video meetings and Zoom fatigue aren’t going away either. From a marketing standpoint, direct mail could provide the welcome break people desperately need as part of a larger digital detox.
According to an IAB study of direct brand media planning and buying decisions from 2019-2020:
- The top marketing/advertising objective is to drive customer satisfaction, ahead of acquisition.
- Nearly two-thirds of marketers are using direct mail, more than any other offline marketing channel.
- Budgets for personalization increased from 46 percent in 2019 to 56 percent in 2020.
One study participant commented on the value of integrating direct mail with online advertising, saying, “We have experienced firsthand the performance benefit of reaching consumers who browse our site online with a relevant piece of direct mail. We recognize the value of providing a physical reminder that they can share, discuss, and consider on their own terms.”
If the goal is to boost customer satisfaction, especially when consumers are weary of video meetings, why not take advantage of a proven advertising medium to deliver a personalized offline experience that’s integrated with your online strategy?
Going one step further, a 2019 study on neuromarketing techniques from the USPS and Temple University found that direct mail is more memorable and easier to understand, elicits a stronger emotional response, and makes a product feel more desirable and valuable than digital advertising. Given the current state of Zoom fatigue and screen fatigue in general, one could reasonably expect direct mail to deliver even more impact.
How to Raise Your Direct Mail Game
As your audience’s eyes glaze over another video meeting, this could be the perfect time to feed their desire for offline interactions and push the envelope with your direct mail strategy. For example:
- Use variable data printing to personalize each mail for each household based on the information in your database.
- Go beyond traditional mail formats to incorporate emerging technologies such as virtual reality, voice assistants, and mobile QR codes into your strategy. You could even take advantage of USPS promotions and save 2 percent on postage!
- Create Informed Delivery campaigns that increase exposure by sending households a digital preview of the day’s mail via email.
- Increase engagement with a multi-sensory brand experience by sending kits, free samples, promotional products, and other 3D items.
Zoom fatigue caused by a year of social distancing has people craving interactions away from their devices. Direct mail has the ability to feed this craving while delivering measurable results for your brand.
Contact Digital Dog Direct to unleash the power of direct mail and help your audience overcome Zoom fatigue.
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