5 Reasons Why You Should Personalize Mail in Your Direct Marketing

The decision to personalize mail to your target audience should be a no-brainer. Just think about opening your own mail.

Are you likely to open something that looks like a form letter? Probably not. But what about something that looks as though it was sent to you and you alone?

Hand over that letter opener, and let’s see what’s inside! In the following article, we’re going to discuss a few of the challenges of sending personalized direct mail as well as discuss the benefits that make it worthwhile. Let her rip!

Challenges of Personalized Direct Mail

Some marketers may choose to avoid personalization because they’re intimidated by it. It’s far simpler to create one message, send it to everyone, and see what converts.

Or so the thought process goes. Many also may choose not to do it for the following reasons:

• They don’t understand how it works.
• They’re unsure what to customize to their recipient.
• They feel it is too expensive to add.

These are excuses and not very good ones, especially when you consider the following reasons for doing it!

1. Personalized Mail Helps Tailor the Message

Marketing expert Tracey Sandilands of the Houston Chronicle notes the secret to successful marketing is to know your audience and target them with your messaging. No cookie-cutter requests.

Personalize based on the user’s preferences (how do they like to be reached?). Study their past shopping behaviors (are they impulse buyers at mostly brick-and-mortar locations or do they prefer online deals?). Consider relevant demographics (age, gender, background, etc.).

These are all effective at getting your letters opened. They’re also important for email marketing campaigns.

2. It Improves How the Customer Experiences Your Brand

Giving your prospect what they want, improves the total experience.  The Netflix personalization system is largely credited for the company’s growth from mail-order business to a billion-dollar power player in the entertainment industry. CEO and Founder Reed Hastings has managed to build a model worthy of emulating by other marketers.

You log in looking for romance films, but you have a tendency to watch only movies with strong female leads. In Hastings’ system, you’re served more and more content with those type of ultra-specific parameters.

Before Netflix, you just checked out the “Romance” genre. Now there are subgenres that get to the heart of what you really want. It’s a marketer’s job to have that specific of an understanding of their audience segments so the personalization “problem” takes care of itself.

3. It Grabs Attention

What? A postcard tailored specifically for me? I’ve got to check this out!

Direct mail that calls your recipient by their name and that is relevant to them will stand out amongst the rest of the mail and get their attention, which in turns gets read and generates a higher response!

4. People Enjoy It

When people see you’ve taken the time to reach out to them in a way that resonates, they appreciate it. Most direct mail is boring and not relevant to what the prospect needs or wants.  Be different, stand out and be noticed.

5. It Leads to Higher Conversion Rates

Prospects are more open to what you’re selling when it fits them specifically. That’s because you’re actually addressing their pain points instead of trying to just sell them something.

Of course, multiple direct mail lists are necessary to pull this off. Check out this guide to learn more about lists that convert.

Personalize Mail to See the Results for Yourself

Technology has made target marketing easier than ever before. It’s enabled marketers to personalize mail with a largely automated process that’s totally worth the investment. Contact Modern Mail & Print Solutions today to learn more about how you can make it work for your business.