In this digital age, email and social media marketing campaigns are all the rage. However, companies that only market online are doing themselves a disservice.
That’s because direct mail (DM) marketing campaigns are still invaluable when it comes to reaching the widest possible audience.
In this article, we’ll explain how to build customer loyalty through direct mail automation and the benefits of fostering engagement and growing brand recognition via mailers.
Customer loyalty is the relationship between a business and its consumers. Strong customer loyalty signifies trust, whereas weak customer loyalty signifies hesitation on behalf of the consumer to continue supporting the business.
How can direct mail help? According to data from the USPS, 77% of households look at their mail as soon as it arrives.1 That means branded envelopes immediately elevate your product to the front of their minds—and that’s before they’re even opened.
Of course, there are a variety of different ways to harness the power of mail. Your business could choose to send any of the following:
As with digital advertising, it’s important to set goals before you make your choice. For example, if your goal is to spur a purchase, it may be more effective to send a postcard with a discount code than a personalized letter. Conversely, if your goal is to retain repeat customers, it might make more sense to send a personalized letter.
To make the best choice, you’ll need a deep understanding of your audience.
Email is great for sending the same message to a wide demographic. But what if you want to differentiate your message based on household size, income, number of children, etc.?
Direct mail is an ideal solution for targeting specific customer segments.
Beyond demographics, investigate customer metrics like:1
These can help you create a tiered campaign, giving the highest rewards to your most engaged customers.
To further ensure you’re reaching those consumers with the right messaging, it’s also important to understand and take into account the different kinds of loyalty—active loyalty and situational loyalty—and the different kinds of associated consumer behavior.
Active loyalty, for instance, involves the most emotionally-invested consumer. These consumers are the most loyal, choosing your company based on reputation over cost-benefit analysis. In fact, the 43% of adults who fall into this category support their favorite brands through routine and special purchases.3 They also promote business through word-of-mouth.
Situational loyalty, on the other hand, refers to consumers who play a much more passive role in the business-consumer relationship, choosing to purchase products mostly when the time is right. For example, a couple with a newborn may initially buy products from a diaper company with fervor but may cease buying products once the child no longer needs diapers.4They will make special purchases but may not shop habitually.
Taking into the account the difference between these two consumer types in your direct mail marketing can help you know what type of offers would be best to put in front of them to make them more likely to convert.
Rewarding your customers for trusting your business is a smart play, but how do you stand out?
This is where direct mail has the edge over emails. After all, a consumer may receive close to a hundred emails a day. It’s easy for invites like this to get lost or ignored in the shuffle. But with direct mail, you can guarantee that they’ll be able to see your offer and consider it for themselves.
A rewards program tells your consumers that you value their loyalty to their brand and want to offer a special deal or discount as a show of appreciation. It’s a win-win scenario. You’ll be able to convert more consumers, and your consumers will have a reason to spend more money on your products and services.
Direct mail can actually be a better trust-builder than digital marketing. This is because direct mail marketing is associated with more personalization. It’s much more personal to send a letter than an email. A physical mailer really goes a long way in building customer loyalty. It shows consumers that you care enough about them to send them direct, personal mail, which can increase customer retention and overall customer experience.
Although it may not seem like it, personalization factors in a big way when it comes to building brand loyalty.
The best way to ensure high response rates is through personalized mail to each recipient. No company understands this better than Poplar.
A leader in direct mail marketing, Poplar makes personalized direct mail possible—no matter if you’re mailing one letter or a million. So, when should you take advantage of these personalized mailers?
Birthdays are a great example of when to send personalized mail. Everyone appreciates when their birthday is remembered and celebrated—even in the form of a DM card. So, with direct mail, you can send a “Happy Birthday” message to show your customers that you care about them as well. It feels personal and makes them more likely to engage with your business.
But birthdays aren’t the only times you can send a personalized mailer. Try sending specialized cards for various holidays or anniversaries to make your customers feel special and show them you value their business.
Direct mail is even more powerful when used in conjunction with other marketing strategies. To this extent, direct mail can be used as a precursor to other marketing campaigns or as a follow-up.
For example, suppose your marketing campaign primarily utilizes email marketing. Once a situational loyal customer shows interest in a special deal by opening an email, you can send them direct mail detailing the specifics of the promotion.
While most people open their mail on a regular basis, that doesn’t mean that all DM campaigns are created equal.
To choose the right time window for your mailers, consider questions like the following:2
The answers to these questions will help you set an appropriate mailing calendar.
As we’ve already covered, brand loyalty is important because it signifies trust. That said, loyalty marketing is important for more financial and concrete reasons. Let’s take a look at the hard-data reasons why customer loyalty is important:2
Customers who aren’t loyal have little to no emotional investment in a company. As a result, a new customer or even a repeat customer may only purchase a company’s products out of convenience or might not patronize the business at all.
However, this doesn’t mean consumers aren’t interested in your business. It simply means that customers have yet to find reasons to be loyal.
While the right mailing campaign can convert even the least loyal customers, there are even greater rewards in fostering deep connections with your existing customer base.
Although direct mail may seem like outdated technology, the truth is it still serves an essential purpose in modern marketing campaigns.
By building trust, allowing for specialized messaging, and supplementing existing marketing strategies, direct mail can greatly increase customer loyalty.
That said, why trust your direct mail marketing campaign to just any company? With Poplar, you know what you’re going to get: the industry’s leading direct mail marketing service.
If marketing begins with your mailbox, marketing begins with Poplar.
Sources:
1. USPS Delivers. Creating a Loyalty Program? Start with Direct Mail. https://www.uspsdelivers.com/harnessing-the-power-of-direct-mail-to-grow-customer-loyalty/
2. Eagleeye. The 4 types of loyal customer you need to know. https://www.eagleeye.com/resources/blog/the-4-types-of-loyal-customer-you-need-to-know
3. Sproutloud. 6 Best Practices for Your Direct Mail Campaign. https://sproutloud.com/insights/direct-mail-marketing-strategy
4. Qualtrics. What is customer loyalty? https://www.qualtrics.com/uk/experience-management/customer/customer-loyalty/
5. SEO Design Chicago. Is Direct Mail Marketing Still Effective? https://seodesignchicago.com/marketing/is-direct-mail-marketing-still-effective/
