Summer time is a low response time for most marketers. While your prospects are enjoying the sun at the beach, use the silly season to plan eye-catching campaigns for the next season! A one-to-one integrated marketing campaign that includes direct mail keeps you in front of your customers.
From their experience in direct marketing, many marketers found that geomarketing in particular is a reliable tool when it comes to creating relevant and targeted communications for a local target audience.
The following tips are not only helpful for creating holiday campaigns, but for any one-to-one communication you want to put special emphasis on.
1. Integrated Marketing Approach: Your customers’ search for Christmas presents (or anything else basically) is likely to start online. So why not use an integrated marketing approach and follow-up website or online shop visitors with a personalized direct mail postcard including a relevant offer! Maybe integrate a voucher they can redeem in the nearest branch.
2. Build Desire: Depending on your campaign you should consider starting promoting your offers some weeks in advance. For example, you could give customers that purchase something in-store a coupon which they can redeem during the holiday season. This keeps you top-of-mind when the holiday season starts.
3. Make Your Direct Mail Stand Out: Some seasons are known for increased direct mail volume – such as the holiday period. To stand out from other direct mail pieces you could use heavy stock, classy finishing, special sizes or colors. (Read more about designing successful direct mail postcards)
4. Build a Connection: Personalization is a marketing imperative these days! As a special feature you could integrate a personalized map. Nothing beats convenience and proximity when it comes to buying Christmas presents during the most stressful time of the year!
5. Start Early: Why are we talking about Christmas campaigns in the middle of summer? Well, especially when there is a fixed deadline involved, like an event or a holiday, it helps to plan campaigns well in advance. It gives you time to design them well, test alternative offers, and thoroughly test that all the components of a multi-channel campaign are working properly together. Don’t leave it until the last minute—deadlines always loom up sooner than you think!
See Geomarketing in Action
A group of shopping outlet malls in the UK wanted to increase footfall and boost sales by targeting lapsed customers from their extensive database. Learn how their direct marketing campaign drove traffic to their three stores.