How to get B2B direct mail marketing up and running in the cannabis industry

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Direct mail has lost its popularity in recent years simply because digital marketing is so much cheaper. Direct mail is not dead, however. In fact, it presents a unique opportunity for brands.

Whereas in the past people’s mailboxes were filled with commercials, they now only receive a few commercials a day. As a result, they are much more likely to look at these direct mail, which means the mailbox is a perfect place for your B2B cannabis brand to stand out and stand out.

The secret to making B2B direct mail marketing work for brands that want to connect with cannabis licensees across the supply chain is to understand that direct mail marketing today is very different from what marketers were before some years did.

Below are five things to consider in order to be a successful B2B direct mail marketer.

1. Use a high quality list

Your success in direct marketing is directly influenced by the quality of your mailing list. That means investing the time and money into creating a targeted list of valid, up-to-date information.

Any direct mail you send to an invalid address is money lost for your business. Therefore, only send to contacts whose information you have collected yourself or through a trusted provider such as the Cannabiz Media License Database.

2. Personalize your messages

A generic direct mailer sent to tens of thousands of people is unlikely to generate a reasonable return on investment (ROI). Personalization is key to getting the best results, but it can get expensive if you don’t have a solid strategy in place.

To make personalization affordable and effective, focus on niche audiences rather than individuals. Segment your audience into buyer personas and create a different version of your mailpiece for each persona. Swap the images, text, or offer in your mailer to appeal to any niche audience.

For example, if you build your mailing list in the Cannabiz media license database, you can segment by license activity, license status, employee role and much more to create personalized campaigns for specific audience segments.

3. Offer something of value

Direct mail is more expensive than most digital marketing investments, so it’s important to offer recipients something irresistible to motivate them to take action. Consider offering a discount or giveaway, and make sure the offer is targeted based on your list segmentation.

Always include an expiration date for your offer to create a sense of urgency. Recipients should act now to get the special offer, not weeks. Otherwise, put the direct mail aside and forget about it.

Unlike email marketing, where you can send reminder messages without spending a lot of extra time or money, direct mail reminders come with high prices. Make your offers time-sensitive in order to achieve the best results.

4. Integrate a tracking mechanism

Your direct mail investment should be traceable so that you can calculate your ROI and determine whether or not it has been successful. So be sure to include a special code that recipients will need to provide when replying to the offer in order to receive the discount, giveaway, etc.

Alternatively, you can add a special URL or QR code to the mailer that recipients must use to take advantage of the offer. The only way to get that particular url or QR code is if they received the direct mail so you can closely follow the results.

5. Take advantage of postage and production discounts

There are many ways to reduce your postage and production costs to make direct mail affordable for your business. Work with your printer or post office to make sure you get the best price per item for shipping.

For large mailings, your address file can be formatted in certain ways to get special postage discounts, and your mail pieces can be delivered directly to bulk mail facilities instead of your local post office for additional discounts.

Production costs depend on a variety of variables, but one guaranteed way to reduce costs is to choose a cheaper format for your direct mail. In recent years, postcard mailers have grown in popularity, while envelope and self mailers have fallen in popularity.

This makes sense because postage and paper costs have increased. In addition, the recipient behavior has changed. People are used to reading messages in digital formats very quickly, and these preferences have extended to offline communication as well.

As a result, concise copy postcards that incorporate a digital response mechanism (e.g. website, unique URL, QR code, etc.) are becoming more common.

Key takeaways for B2B direct mail marketing to work in the cannabis industry

B2B direct mail marketing can be very effective for brands targeting cannabis licensees. The key is to test what works with your audiences. Mailboxes are less crowded than ever. So shifting part of your marketing budget to direct mail can help your brand get noticed and increase sales.

Ready to start? Schedule a demo to see how you can use the Cannabiz media license database to build your direct mail marketing lists.