In the digital age we’re living in, it’s all too easy for emails to be missed or ignored. Even the most well-planned email campaign can get left unopened in a cluttered inbox. To get their message across, more and more marketers are turning to direct mail The most effective direct mail campaigns are personalised to their target audience.
According to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), personalising your direct mail can improve your Return on Investment (ROI) by between 300%and 1000%.
How Can You Personalise Direct Mail?
By using a process called variable data printing (VDP). This allows text and image elements to be changed from one print to the next without disrupting the print run.
This means companies can use customer data to personalise direct mail with the following data;
- Name – Everyone likes to hear their own name. According to the journal Brain Research, your brain’s activity spikes when you hear your name. People like to be addressed on a personal level, so this kind of basic personalisation often increases responsiveness. When it comes to personalised direct mail, addressing your customers by their correct name is vital. Its important to use data services to ensure your customer data is sorted and translated onto print correctly.
- Gender – Customising your mailshots according to gender is a great way to increase response rates. It’s widely seen that men and women respond better to different colours you use on your mail pieces. Likewise, you may change what products or services you’re promoting depending on gender. A local gym may target men with a weights class promotion, whilst targeting women with a new yoga class.
- Age & Income – If you have the data available, segmenting your audience based on their age and income can be very effective. For example, a travel company may segment their customers into age groups, and target each segment with different holiday packages depending on price and suitability. It’s an easy way to ensure your marketing message is targeting the people that are likely to be interested in your product or service.
- Buying Behaviour – One of the most effective forms of personalisation is using customers’ past purchases to create a targeted promotion. It’s important to make logical connections between past purchases and assumed interests. It’s often effective to target buyers with related products, or products that complement the previous purchase.
How Does Personalisation Improve ROI of Direct Mail?
- Response Rates – When a piece of mail is addressed personally to a customer, they are more likely to start reading the mail’s content. To go a step further, if the actual content of the mail is personalised, it’s much more likely that the reader will engage with the mail’s call to action (CTA). If a company can use data to target customers based on past buying behavior, they’ll be in a good position to place relevant product promotions through their mailbox. Whether the CTA is signing up to a new gym in their area, or renewing a magazine membership, personalisation can improve engagement.
- Loyalty – Tailoring your direct mail marketing to each of your customers doesn’t go unnoticed. If a targeted campaign resonates with a customer, they’ll hopefully remember your brand the next time they need a related product or service. Brand loyalty is an absolute must in any competitive market. Harvard Business School found that new customers are 20-40% costlier to acquire than old customers are to retain. How can you improve customer retention and loyalty? Make your customers feel special, and reward them with personalised direct mail promotions. Not only is it cheaper to retain customers than acquire new ones, but repeat customers spend 67% more than first-time customers. Loyalty is paramount.
In the short term, intelligent personalisation of your mailing can improve response rates. In the long term, intelligent personalisation of your mailing can improve brand loyalty. If personalising your direct mail campaign can improve response rates and brand loyalty, it will undoubtedly lead to a substantial return on investment. Perfecting your personalised direct mail is not easy. This is where Snapmail’s personalised direct mail services can help. With our expertise in data management and personalisation techniques, Snapmail can help manage and fulfill your next direct mail campaign, for maximum ROI.
Contact us today for a free no obligation quotation. For more information please use our contact form or call us on 020 8492 5858 and one of our mailing specialists will be in touch soon.