Customer Retention, Loyalty, and Win-Back With Direct Mail

As a business owner, you probably spend a lot of time and effort searching for ways to acquire new customers. But there’s actually more value in focusing on the customers you already have.

Knowing this, it’s vital to focus your marketing efforts on reaching these customers. Direct mail can help you do just that-retain existing customers, inspire their loyalty and even win back the ones you’ve lost.

Direct Mail Campaign for TAG Development franchisee of Subway and Auntie Anne’s in Greensburg, PA.

Retaining Customers with Direct Mail

Retention is a good starting point for a direct mail campaign. Repeat business both drives incremental purchasing and spurs more recommendations to others from these frequent customers. Not to mention, it costs less to retain customers than it does to acquire new ones.

Imagine you own an outdoor-gear store. Your customers like to go on adventures, so use direct mail to remind them of the fun they’ve had while using your products.

35%Targeting customers who have purchased from your business in the past can boost sales up to 35 percent.1

In this case, it might be helpful to appeal to their senses with beautiful outdoor imagery to recapture the sense of accomplishment they might have felt in association with your business.

Chances are, you already have some information about your customer. The key to creating mail that drives your customers to buy again is knowing your audience and providing information about the products or services they care about. If a customer has purchased cycling gear in the past, you probably want to show them the best you have to offer in cycling apparel or bikes, rather than, let’s say, winter jackets and snowboards.

In order to retain customers, make sure your direct mail is targeted, has a time-sensitive offer and a strong call to action. This will strengthen your brand connection and motivate repeat visits.

 

Gaining Loyal Customers with Direct Mail

Direct mail can also help with creating loyalty. Because while returning customers are great, it’s your superfans who purchase frequently and spread the word about your business.

Let’s say you own an apparel store. It would be important for you to showcase the latest styles and create a customer base that comes back each season. These loyal customers are valuable because nearly 80 percent of an organization’s revenue is generated by the top 20 percent of customers.

Mail can be a cost-efficient, effective and measurable way to keep in contact with your customers and grow your base of loyal customers. Create mail that makes them feel appreciated and rewards their loyalty.

Use these three ways to refine your loyalty mail:

  1. Assess available data to create the right messaging.
  2. Choose a motivating reward that targets your most passionate fans and inspires them to act.
  3. Integrate with existing marketing to guide customers to your website or social media to redeem offers, make purchases or sign up for your company’s newsletter.

That’s why building a loyalty program can drive sales and reward your biggest fans. A simple brochure can act as the perfect entry point: part content, part exclusive offer.

Show them what you have to offer and give them an incentive to become a loyal customer.

A URL can lead customers to your website where they can redeem the offer, join your program and-more than likely-make a few more purchases along the way.

Winning Back Customers with Direct Mail 

You know those customers that shopped once and then disappeared? You can win them back with direct mail.

For example, if you own a home decor store, you wouldn’t want to lose a customer’s business after they only purchased one item. Ideally, they would come back when decorating their entire home. Customers leave your business for a reason, so just letting them know about your new stock of picture frames won’t be enough.

Using direct mail to reach lapsed customers can be highly effective in grabbing customer attention, sending specific messages and reaching a highly targeted group of customers. To do this, you need to send a message that grabs customer attention, addresses the reason they left and then makes it easy for them to return.

Personalized messages that show you want to understand why they left can be very effective.

Including a Business Reply Card will motivate customers to respond to a short survey in exchange for a reward.

You can also ask about their shopping experiences and leverage this feedback to improve your business and better identify customer issues in the future. After gaining a better understanding of why your customer didn’t return, you can remind them of what they’re missing and then provide an incentive to win back their business.

In Conclusion

There are many tactics for converting the customers you have with direct mail. You can remind customers of their visits, offer loyalty incentives and gather the information you need to improve their experience. By using direct mail for retention, loyalty and win-back, you can inspire customers to continue coming back, again and again.

 

 

1.“Holiday Marketing Case Study: Boosting Flower Sales with Direct Mail.” USPS Delivers, www.uspsdelivers.com/holiday-marketing-case-study-boosting-flower-sales-with-direct-mail/.

 

Mailers-EDDM’s, What Are They and What Can They Do For Your Business?

Welcome,

Today’s blog will consist of some marketing information about EDDM’s (Every Door Direct Mailers) that could be beneficial in your industry. First off, EDDM’s are a designed and printed piece that is then mailed to an area of either residential homes, commercial businesses, or both. They usually offer a discount, coupon, or simply serve as an informative piece to raise awareness about a new local business or cause. Surely, anyone reading this have received EDDM’s at some point or another within their daily mail.

EDDM’s can be either extremely useful in raising brand awareness and attracting new customers, or they can fall flat and not get the response intended. Some will produce mixed results. The advantage of spending a portion of your marketing budget on EDDM’s is that you are already in the hands of your intended customers once they pick up the mail. It is here that you need to make the biggest impact!

Have you ever grabbed the mail, saw the EDDM  <insert crumbling paper sound here>

then promptly tossed it straight into the garbage like we have? Probably. Let’s think on that for a second. Why did you do that?

Was the offer/discount not up to your standards? Didn’t need the service(s) listed? Hate the “junk mail” in your mailbox? Or is there something more to it than that?

Psychologically speaking, (and admittedly we are not psychologists here at 77, however, we have done tremendous amounts of research on the psychology of marketing) images and the overall visual appeal of the design are what immediately attract the eye. The human eye reacts in certain ways to specific images, colors, and fonts subliminally sending signals of interest to the brain which determines whether or not we’ll scan or read through something. These subconscious reactions pertain to web pages, brochures, social media posts, and almost every single marketing piece of your business. This is also likely one of the main reasons EDDM’s get tossed so quickly. A hastily designed mailer without attractive offers or professionally looking images stands less of a chance of hitting it’s mark than something that is put together creatively. Put all of this together and what many businesses, including some of the larger corporations with the budget to consistently flood homes with mailers, don’t understand is…people want to relate! They need a reason, or at least an identifiable image, to understand the business and the offer that is right in front of them in their hands.

If we see a stock template design (you know it when you see it,) a stock image (example: a photo with dopey white guys that don’t work for you in suits shaking hands in a board room that isn’t yours,) unattractive logo design (multiple color variations and /or a complicated design that is hard to understand,) we are OUT! It’s gone within seconds. This is something often discussed in detail behind closed doors at 77 about a great many marketing techniques. If it looks like the company didn’t take the time to create unique and aesthetic pieces to attract our attention, what are they going to do for us or our business that differentiates?! It’s a valid question, and many consumers feel this way.

EDDM’s need to be simplified, identifiable, yet powerfully visual with a superb offer in order to have the most potent impact on it’s intended customers. An EDDM also needs to match the same branding look and feel as your website, social media pages, or other printed hand outs and business cards. Everything needs to be flush. The offer should be quite visible and leave no room for confusion. Some ideas of identifiability for the images could include:

  • your product viewed from a different perspective others may have never seen
  • your team
  • A “WOW” image, something that will draw the eye to immediately
  • your office space
  • or even the process of production or service you offer

Without giving away anymore of 77’s inside trade secrets  😉 we’ll end this blog with simply saying if you, or a business you know, has any questions about a current direct mail program, or interest in starting one, give us a call. We’ll be happy to put you directly in touch with the customers you are looking for, find the best ways to get the most returns…and make it as attractive as possible!

Analyze. Create. Achieve.