I spend a lot of time thinking about how retailers can drive more traffic to their store—after all, it's a numbers game. The more people who come through your door, the more you sell.

While email marketing is an imperative these days, I don't think direct mail is dead. But many companies have made the conversion to only marketing online, and there's a significant drop in the number of retailers and overall companies sending marketing pieces through the post office.

I know mail is expensive, but it shouldn't be completely abandoned. Here are four creative and targeted ways to use direct mail this holiday season:

1. Send out a handwritten invitation to your top 100 customers, inviting them to a VIP shopping night or special event (and think about offering a free gift for stopping by).

2. Create a postcard highlighting the five reasons why your customers should stop by the store this holiday season (you can print 2500 postcards for only $298). While you may choose to only mail 500 of them to your top customers, you can keep the balance on your store counter and ask other (non-competing) stores to place it on their counter.

3. If you have converted your store newsletter to 100% digital distribution, think about printing 500 copies and mailing them.

4. Create a one-page color flyer and promote your five hottest sellers, or the five most-anticipated holiday products or five great stocking stuffers (you can print 500 full-color flyers for only $50).

Do you have any other ideas that you're planning on using this season? Let me know, I'd love to hear about them.