Getting Great Results from Personalized Print

Personalized content is everywhere—direct mail, email, magazines, and even ads that follow you around the web. But as a marketer, how do you get there? Just dropping in data-driven content doesn’t guarantee success. Whether it’s print or email, here are three keys to remember when creating any personalized marketing campaign.

• Don’t rely on data alone. In a recent study, 51% of consumers said that personalized communications make them more likely to buy. However, that’s only after you’ve gotten down the basics. Ultimately, all of the elements—creative, messaging (including personalization), offer, segmentation, call to action, and incentive—need to come together to determine success. 
• Focus on relevance, not “personalization.” It doesn’t matter how “personalized” a document is. If it isn’t relevant, it is worthless. You can have the best residential landscaping service around, for example, but if your list includes a high percentage of people living in apartments or condos, your ROI will stink.
• Know, know, know your customers. Understand what makes your customers tick, then market to what matters to them. For example, the Millennial generation prioritizes experience over specs. If you sell custom bicycles, for example, capture their attention with the value of a family cycling together or how much faster their urban commute would be without getting caught in an automotive snarl.

Investing in your marketing database and developing an intimate understanding of your customers takes time, dedicated resources, and human resources, but it is one of the most important investments you can make.

Need some help? Let us help you develop your next personalized print or email campaign. 

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.


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5 Tips for Keeping Customers Coming Back

You want to keep your most profitable customers, right? Right! According to research by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company, increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.[1] You can double your profitability just by keeping the customers you already have. So how do you do that? Here are five tips for keeping your customers coming back.

1. Go holistic. The more you know your customers, the easier it is to know what to do to keep them. Start by tying together all the data you have on each customer to get one holistic view. For example, John W. Smith in your mailing database may also be Johnny Smith Jr. in your email list and J.W. Smith on Facebook. Most customers need help tying these databases together. If so, contact us, and we can help.

2. Make it easy.  Reduce barriers to communicating with you. Give people more options, whether it’s via chat box or Facebook Messenger. Make it easier to buy and make repeat purchases. Something as simple as pre-filling response cards and subscription forms can improve the customer experience.

3. Treat them like real people. Customers don’t like feeling like a number. Take what you know about them and personalize text and images, whether in print or email. Invest in expanding your database to include new variables that will increase relevance.

4. Listen. Are you only pushing information out and not listening to feedback? Respond quickly and appropriately to comments sent to you through email, your company blog, and even social media.

5. Take the long view. Forget the gimmicks and quick fixes. Prizes, sweepstakes, and “experiential events” can get results, but they are short lived. As one strategist has put it, “Get to the trenches, examine how your customers live and use your products, and then design a complete meaningful solution for them across all touchpoints.”[2]

There are no quick fixes for customer loyalty. It requires developing a strategy, making a commitment, and investing in an ongoing relationship with your customers that includes listening, as well as talking.

Need help? Give us a call!

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[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/jiawertz/2018/09/12/dont-spend-5-times-more-attracting-new-customers-nurture-the-existing-ones/

[2] “The Missing Link to Customer Loyalty” (CrowdTwist, 2014)

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.


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Magazine Ad Effectiveness Study Proves Print’s Value . . . Again

Have you ever considered starting your own niche magazines to connect with your customers and prospects? Build brand awareness and trust? If you haven’t considered it out of concern that magazines are passé, you might want to consider “The Print Campaign Analysis,” a study conducted by Millward Brown for the Magazine Publishers Association.

Millward Brown, an authority in the assessment of advertising impact, examined the data from nearly 100 ad effectiveness studies that the advertisers had commissioned. The report finds that print advertising results in the greatest increases in persuasion metrics (brand favorability and purchase intent) compared to other platforms.  It also found that digital platforms were most effective when combined with traditional media, such as print.

Top findings?

• Print ad exposures generated lifts that were 7% points higher than those for online and 3% points higher than those for TV.
• When it comes to improved brand favorability and purchase intent, print ads result in 11% lift, compared to 58% for TV and 4% for online.
• When advertisers used print in combination with other platforms, they were most successful in raising outcome metrics.
• Outcomes varied by industry. In the entertainment industry, in particular, print resulted in 18% increase in brand favorability (compared to 9% for TV and 5% for online) and 15% increase in purchase intent (compared to 10% for TV and 3% for online).
• Adding print to a TV schedule helped consumers recall the TV ads they had seen. Exposure to both TV and print in ad campaigns improved consumers’ ability to correctly associate the advertised brands with their respective advertising messages.

Once again, print proves to be a powerful channel both on its own and as an amplifier for digital channels.

Whether you are considering adding a niche magazine to your communications mix or simply evaluating the value of print channels like direct mail, this study should give you confidence that print works!

Think a custom magazine might be right for your marketing goals? Let’s talk.

Please give us a call at 440-946-0606
Or visit our website here for more information.


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