IDM Award in Direct Mail - Online

An IDM qualification powered by Royal Mail.

If you are new to direct mail, or looking to improve your understanding and make the best of mail for marketing, this qualification is what you are looking for.

During your Award in Direct Mail, you will:

• Learn how to use mail for marketing success
• Gain a clear understanding of how mail works alongside other channels
• Understand the importance of using data to improve your targeting and optimise your mail campaign
• Be clear how to build a business case for mail and learn how to measure the success
• Learn how different audiences interact with mail so your mail can be relevant to different audiences
• Understand how to maximise creativity in mail
• Get a complete understanding of how to plan, target, create, measure and implement mail campaigns

Module 1: Using mail for marketing success

• The different types of mail and their role in communicating with prospects and customers
• How and why does mail work?
• The key considerations when working with mail

Module 2: Where could mail have a role to play in my customer journeys?

• The role of the customer journey in enhancing customer loyalty
• The different ways mail can be used in the customer journey
• Getting mail to work alongside other channels

Module 3: Using data for effective mailing campaigns

• What is the most effective data to ensure right people, right message, right time
• How to brief database analysts and evaluate output
• How to find the appropriate, ethical and compliant data sources for your mailing

Module 4: Planning your mailing campaign

• How to start building a plan
• How to define your objectives
• How to develop your campaign strategy

Module 5: Measuring the effectiveness of mail

• How to gather and interpret various campaign metrics
• How to use test and learn strategies to create actionable insights quickly
• How to increase results and reduce costs to optimise performance

Module 6: Audience response to mail

• How different age, life stage, affluence, and interest groups interact with mail
• How segments influence your audience planning
• How to identify the people most likely to respond

Module 7: Creativity in mail

• How creative works best in direct mail
• How to confidently brief a piece of direct mail to creatives as part of a multichannel campaign
• How mail and digital work together in an integrated way

Module 8: How to produce a mail campaign

• How print formats can bring creative ideas to life
• How to work with suppliers in the print and mailing supply chain and the key steps for mail production
• The key processes to get the right data to your print provider

Module 9: Responsible and compliant mail marketing

• How legislation impacts on mail
• How to achieve an ethical, consumer-first approach to mail marketing
• How to reduce the impact of mail on the environment

Module 10: Writing the business case

• What a business case is and how to structure it
• How to prepare a business case, including forecasting and budgeting
• How to evidence the effectiveness of mail using a business case

This Award is a practical course designed to develop your understanding of direct mail, guiding you step by step in discovering and learning how to make the best out of mail, how to use it alongside other channels, and how to ensure you know how to use data to enhance and optimise your mail campaigns.

Throughout each step, you will find practical applications aimed at demonstrating what the best practices are and deepening your understanding of the examined concepts.

This is a practical course in which you will find numerous templates and exercises for you to put what you learn into practice from day one.

This course is designed for the following people:

• Younger professionals with little or no knowledge of how to incorporate mail into their marketing campaigns
• Professionals wishing to upgrade their skills in the mail channel
• Professionals with less than five years in their marketing roles
• Digital practitioners with few skills in print media