Creating a Personal Experience for Your Customer – From Print to Digital

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These days, it’s easy for marketers to get stuck in a purely digital mindset. Judging by the top trending industry topics, you’d think today’s consumers did nothing but check their email and search for things on Google all day.

But while people are starting to spend more time on their devices than they are asleep each day (a little over eight hours1), that still leaves six hours left over for other things––including a daily ritual that savvy marketers haven’t forgotten about: checking the mailbox.

Direct mail, as it’s come to be known, isn’t really a fair title considering what it can do in the age of information. With the ability to personalize messaging and offers down to the individual recipient level by importing rich contact data into advanced print management systems, direct mail has now evolved into dynamic mail – a system that combines rich personalization and online accessibility to create a stronger bond between brands and customers.

Those familiar with direct mail campaigns likely know that some personalization is possible through Variable Data Printing (VDP) and the technology the printer uses to make it possible. But you may be surprised to learn just how far it can go in terms of customizing a message and offer to resonate with your audience.

Let’s explore some of the more advanced personalization capabilities VDP offers and how to connect the offline experience to an equally personalized and engaging online one.

Not just a name anymore

When most marketers think of “personalized direct mail” they think of it in its most basic form:

“Hi, Sally!” instead of “Hi, Valued Customer!”

Calling out recipients by name is certainly important, but today, VDP allows you to customize many more elements within your mail pieces. Depending on how much you know about your audience, you can target market segments or individual recipients with personalized text, images, backgrounds, colors, and more based on virtually any criteria you choose – from demographics to recorded behaviors like purchase history.

While you may want to start out simple––varying your pieces based on gender or region––VDP allows you to make a much more meaningful personal connection by targeting imagery to resonate with a particular segment’s lifestyle or interests in a subtle, yet powerful way.

Rather than blasting your list with a one-size-fits-all message or offer, you can target based on actual areas of interest at the group or individual level. Each recipient or group of similar recipients can be given an offer that is specific to his or her personal tastes and buying habits.

A powerful tool for boosting response rates and engagement

While direct mail response rates continue to outperform all digital channels combined by nearly 600%,2 personalized, relevant messaging has recently been shown to increase engagement and boost ROI even more than standard print campaigns, with 86% of consumers saying personalization plays a part in their purchasing decisions.3

What’s more, it’s estimated that response rates for personalized dynamic mail is at least three times greater than responses to a standard non-personalized piece. 

Tips for maximizing the impact of personalized direct mail

How you use VDP in your print marketing is only limited by your team’s imagination and how much you know about your audience. Here are a few ideas to start brainstorming:

  • Use images of products that individuals or groups of customers have bought in the past. Similarly, take advantage of personalized dynamic mail as a powerful cross-selling opportunity by promoting related products or services.
  • Incorporate photos, imagery, color and design elements that match the age and gender of each segment.
  • Use personalized postcards to promote several different offers at once based on purchasing history to reveal which products are more closely associated with others.

Using personalization to connect offline and online marketing efforts 

The line between physical and digital marketing has blurred immensely thanks to a few key tools you can use to invite your offline audience to engage online.

  • Personalized URLs (PURLs) are among the most common means of connecting print to digital. These are URLs linking to an offer’s landing page, website page, or anywhere else online you’re looking to drive traffic to for conversion or other marketing purposes. 

    Using advanced digital tools capable of utilizing prior browsing data, website cookies, purchase histories and other online user information, PURLs can seamlessly translate the personalized offline experience to the online space, calling out customers by name and presenting them with images, graphics, messaging and offers that reflect their individual interests.
  • QR Codes are another way to bridge the offline-to-online gap. Rather than forcing customers to type a URL into their smartphone, tablet or desktop browser, they can simply scan a unique image code with their smartphone camera, which instantly brings them to a personalized location online. The key here is ensuring wherever you’re sending them to is a mobile-friendly page.
  • Social media invitations are another powerful way to spur engagement online, particularly if you’re looking to build a community on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social platform. If you go this route, make sure to include an incentive to adding your page to their feeds. Exclusive deals and discounts are perfect for this.

Much like personalizing a mail piece, you can also personalize the online environment using the same rich data you’ve gathered from your audience. Today’s digital marketing tools offer simple systems for displaying personalized messaging, imagery and offers to speak directly to the individual’s interests.

Whether it’s a landing page built specifically for a particular person or smart content on your website pages that display certain messages based on user activity or lifecycle stage, there are many ways to make the online experience equally personalized.

Listen and analyze to make future improvements

VDP and the offline-to-online connection enhances your ability to track and optimize the success of your print efforts for future campaigns. 

PURLs, QR codes, assigned phone numbers for call tracking, and customer codes can all be analyzed to learn more about how your audience responds to your marketing materials, enabling you to craft more compelling messages and offers and increase response rates in the future.

Want to learn which direct mail technology is the best fit for your goals, audience and message? 

Download the Direct Mail Technologies Infographic

 

References:

  1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/francesbooth/2014/08/07/more-tech-time-than-sleep-time-evidence-shows/#5fc6ac4839f8
  2. http://www.iwco.com/blog/2015/04/14/dma-response-rate-report-and-direct-mail/
  3. http://www.gigya.com/blog/5-stats-that-prove-businesses-must-personalize-to-win-customers/
  4. http://www.talientaction.com/blog/2015/02/01/personalization-drastically-improves-response-rates

About the author

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Dawn Burke

Dawn Burke

Dawn was the Marketing Manager at Suttle-Straus. In her role, she managed all aspects of marketing and advertising, from website updates and content creation to conferences and events.
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Topics: Direct Mail

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