Direct Mail Personalisation: The Key to Success

Making your customers feel important and letting them know they are valued by your business is crucial. Personalisation gives customers a feeling of familiarity that develops into an individual connection. Not only will they feel appreciated, but your ROI and response rates will feel the benefits as a result.

Direct mail personalisation is the key to your success, with direct mail campaigns helping you to become your customers’ friend by writing a meaningful message that will genuinely resonate with them.

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What do customers value most?

According to new research, after the coronavirus pandemic impacted on businesses and the economy, it became even more important for brands to build new customer journeys. Following a year of uncertainty, 65% of consumers say a brand’s trustworthiness is their top reason for referring them to a relative or friend.

As the pandemic has changed people’s lives and circumstances, establishing a personal customer relationship is more important than ever before. Personalised mail can make a customer feel your brand cares about them and their well-being.

Brands must focus on solving the problems faced by their customers, as this could result in the sale of services or products. Plenty of brands have begun to alter their approach to fit the “new normal”.

Any changes your business has made such as more online purchasing options, additional payment methods, or Covid-safe shopping precautions; must be promoted to keep your customers up-to-date with what you’re doing to help them through the crisis.

Sending mail tailored to personal interests and needs shows that you care, thus improving your business image.

How can you make direct mail stand out?

If you want to create the desired image for your brand and relay the relevant messages, the design of your direct mail is vital. Even if you have the best words ever written, your mail could end up in the bin if it looks dull and doesn’t grab the attention of your audience.

Don’t use long blocks of unbroken text, as it could alienate the reader. Make the layout more interesting by opting for a bold heading, subheadings and punctuation, so the paragraphs and sentences are not excessively long.

The colour scheme, page layout, size of the text and use of illustrations or photographs can all combine to make your direct mail stand out from the rest. The tone of the content, degree of personalisation and customer involvement complete a direct mail experience that can empower your business.

How many consumers enjoy personal marketing?

A massive 91% of consumers say they’re more likely to shop with a brand that provides personalised information and offers relevant to them. According to market research, 71% of consumers are frustrated when their shopping experience is impersonal, while 70% of millennials are tired of brands sending “irrelevant” marketing mail. When it comes to engaging with marketing messages, 72% of consumers would engage only with personalised messaging, according to research by Smarter HQ.

When brands use inferior marketing methods, it can deter customers from making a purchase, with 63% of respondents saying they will stop buying from brands that don’t use relevant personal marketing.

Research among marketers reveals 98% believe personalisation advances a brand’s relationship with customers, making it their top priority. In addition, 79% of retailers say they will invest more in personalised marketing, recognising its value.

Where does this work well for businesses?

When you think of 21st century marketing methods, you may think of things like social media, text message and email marketing, or other cutting-edge advertising means. However, despite digital marketing strategies, the tried and trusted method of direct mail marketing is still going strong.

Industries that rely heavily on direct mail marketing include estate agents, car dealerships, fast food takeaways, charities, advertising agencies and medical professionals, such as physiotherapists and veterinarians.

As an example, vets will often send out a personalised leaflet or card, wishing a client’s pet a happy birthday, with a reminder their booster inoculations are due, or publicising a complementary treatment, such as arthritis care for dogs.

Which companies successfully use direct mail?

Some successful examples of personalising the customer experience include the memory foam mattress company, Casper, which started out more than £70,000 in debt after investing in the product. Today, the company is worth £7.8 million after employing some hugely successful personalised direct mail strategies.

Although the product is available online, the company realised any company run solely online can appear impersonal. They adopted a fairly simple direct mail campaign, sending potential customers, who had expressed an interest on their website, a personalised marketing shot in a brightly coloured envelope, with the message inside written on high-quality, eye-catching paper.

Their message also grabbed the attention: shoppers could try the mattress for 100 days before making a commitment to buy, thus reducing customers’ hesitation. Once the design of the direct mail had grabbed the attention, ROI was high because the offer was too good to pass over for many prospects.

Nestlé thought up a brilliant personalised campaign to promote its chocolate bar, Kit Kat Chunky. It printed up a Royal Mail style card, telling the targeted householder, “Sorry we couldn’t deliver your parcel.” The card added, “It was too chunky to fit through your letterbox!” and enabled the customer to go and collect a free chocolate bar from their newsagent.

The eye-catching red flyer was simple and direct, giving Nestlé the chance to offer direct mail services with a personal touch that treated their audience individually to a chocolate bar. The company reported a surge in purchasing as a result of the campaign.

Direct mail professionals

Let Selectabase help you deliver the personal experience with our Create and Post services.

Whatever you want to send, we have the specialist equipment to manage it. Please contact us for more details of our products and services.