No! But also yes.

No, because direct mail marketing still works and should absolutely still be an important part of an effective marketing plan. But also yes, because you have to begin to include online search marketing, if you haven’t already done so.

Both direct mail and online marketing need to be integrated to complement each other if you want to get the most out of your marketing dollars. A failure to integrate may not necessarily cripple your marketing (though it could), because each marketing medium has value in and of itself. But they can never be as powerful separately as they can be together.

Here are three steps to integrating your direct mail and online marketing:

1. Use postcards to send traffic directly to your website.

The great thing about postcards is that your competitors can’t advertise on your postcard. So if you capture a prospect’s attention with your card, you have their exclusive attention. This means you can urge them to contact you directly. If people search for your products or services online, they might find you but they’ll also find your competitors, even if your page ranks highly. But when you send a postcard with a tempting offer, you are the only business on their mind. And they are more likely to go straight to your website or call you. This is a huge advantage, because many sales are lost due to the ease of “shopping around” on the Internet.

2. Use web forms to collect information.

When a prospect arrives at your site, you know they are interested. But they may not be ready to buy quite yet, so it’s important to get their contact information so you can follow up with them. When asking someone to fill out their information online, it’s important that they know your site is secure. This eases any doubts they have about releasing their info. But maybe more important is to offer them something of value in exchange for their contact information and the time they take to fill out your form. This could be a discount or a helpful newsletter  something that really adds value to their life. Once you have their info, it should then populate your database of prospects so you can follow up with them using a series of preset emails and/or postcards and phone calls.

3. Enable Google Remarketing to follow-up with prospects.

Google Remarketing is a tool that allows you to display ads repeatedly to people who have been to your website but maybe not followed through with filling out their contact information or ordering something. This is great because it means that the prospects you produced with your postcards or online ads are not lost forever and neither is your initial investment in getting them to reach you.

Once you add the Google Remarketing script to your website, it tracks visitors after they leave your site. Your ads will then take display priority with these prospects on the Google display network. This includes millions of sites, including big names like Dictionary.com and CNN.com. Also, because you are only charged for ads that are clicked on, you can potentially benefit from free exposure across the display network.

Using direct mail campaigns, web forms, and Google Remarketing together is a great way to increase the awareness of your business and brand and follow up with leads using the most cost-effective media available. Combining direct mail and online marketing is the only way to maximize the response and effectiveness of your marketing. By doing this you are leveraging the strengths and weaknesses of each to create a stronger overall marketing campaign, which means more sales and more revenue.

To learn how to avoid fatal marketing mistakes, download a free report here.