If you are conceptualizing your next direct mail campaign without considering personalization, let us stop you there. In an effort to escape the stale and one-dimensional channels of yesteryear, marketing is becoming more integrated, and advertising more embedded, in society than ever.
Why? No one is paying attention anymore. We’re too busy burying ourselves in our smartphones, TVs, and laptops — around 11 hours a day, in fact. (If this sounds familiar, get checked out for FOMO.)
If you want your customer’s attention then you need to grab it by personalizing your campaigns! Doing so creates a relationship between you and your potential consumer, which authenticates your intentions and encourages them to try your service. Here are three reasons why variable-data printing is one great way to do just that:
Broad Messaging and Mass Marketing Doesn’t Cut It
There are literally hundreds of marketing and advertising methods at your disposal — but using all of them in an attempt to target everyone is the least effective way to capture your audience.
Dedicate time to discovering who your target market is so that you don’t waste time on the general population — instead you spend time investing in your customer’s population. Seth Godin explains that your message is more likely to spread organically by doing this.
Once you know whom your target market is, use variable data printing to capture their attention. The specificity created by VDP enhances your connectivity to the consumer, thus increasing your chances of winning over their hearts (and business).
People are Skeptical of Advertising
The global average of trust in recommendations from peers increased 6% (from 78% to 84%) from 2007-2013 while magazine ads only increased by 4% and newspaper ads dropped 2%. Why would you believe what a company has to say about its own product when you can read what everyone and their mother review in an “unbiased” way online?
How is one message with one unidentified audience supposed to have any authenticity or impact? It’s not! No wonder no one pays attention to bland advertisements.
To combat this, demonstrate to your audience that you have a direct connection to them so that you can establish trust. Mention their town, their school, their volunteer group—something of meaning that is hyper-local and specific. Establish a relationship through association to ease their judgment and open their ears.
Snail Mail is Making a Comeback
It’s no secret that email marketing and social media are essential to any well-rounded marketing campaign. What about direct mail? 10 years ago that question would have gotten the cold shoulder, but today direct mail marketing is making a comeback in a big way.
Why? 98% of consumers retrieve their mail daily and 54% are reading their postcards in hopes of finding pieces sent specifically to them. Email inboxes are filled with generic newsletters and coupons and it takes time to sift through it all. But it’s easy to pick out a good-looking postcard with your name on it (literally) and a photo of your dream vacation spot.
Take personalization up a notch by adding a PURL (personalized URL) that takes your customer to a landing page on which they can enter a raffle to win that dream vacation by simply submitting their information. Lead capture, complete!
Get Personal
Variable-data printing can allow you to break through the daily advertising clutter and reach your target customer. You will maximize your ROI by customizing your mail pieces because you’ll be getting the right message in the right hands at the right time, increasing your chance of a powerful impression and, most importantly, action.
Learn more about our variable data printing services.
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