Personalization has been proven as an effective way to get your message through to your target audience. Customers respond favorably when they receive a personalized message, as witnessed by the increased response rates that happens when personalization is used. But whereas consumers like personalized communications from companies they do business with, they also want control over their personal information.
An ‘InfoTrends’ study found that…
- just 10% of consumers reported feeling that they had complete control over the personal information collected about them;
- 66% of respondents expected businesses to collect and use their personal information to tailor products, services, and promotions to their needs and interests
This means that consumers are willing to share their details if they feel they are getting something in return. As a consequence, marketers must create campaigns designed to help consumers feel comfortable sharing their information.
How To ... ?
Start With What You Know
Like with other campaigns, start with what you know about a prospect to establish a connection. Then use that connection to create a campaign to yield more information about the prospect.
For example, let’s say you own a chain of cafés in a city. Your goal is to find out all you can about your clients and use that information in your marketing efforts. This type of information can include their favorite food or drink, their social media preferences, their birthday, and the location of your café that is their favorite.
Even if you just got your customers’ names and addresses you can create an engaging and personal direct mail campaign.
Personalization
You can start by creating a personalized direct mail piece that includes a personalized map from locr showing the nearest locations of your café in relation to where the prospect lives. This map can communicate a connection with the prospect and demonstrates that you have a “relationship” with them.
Create a Connection
In the direct mail piece, invite the recipient to visit a personalized URL (pURL) to take a survey. Offer them an incentive like coupon for a free drink if they take the survey.
When the visitor comes to the site, you can ask him or her a series of questions. What is your favorite drink? What’s your favorite snack to go with your coffee? Are you a to-go person or a eat-& drink-in person?
All of these questions will provide data that you can then use in your future campaign. For example, your next mailing can include a personalized map with driving directions from the prospect’s home to the café they specified as their favorite. You can also include a discount for their favorite beverage or food item.
The Takeaway
The goal for these campaigns is not just to increase sales, but also to increase customer retention and to gather as much information as you can about your prospect so you can use it in other marketing campaigns.
Click on the images below to read about other success stories where locr customers used their campaign results for marketing activities.
Find the full InfoTrends Study here.
