While we’ve shifted a majority of customer marketing to digital channels there are still times when the best way to deliver a particular brand experience or message is by good old fashioned direct mail (DM).
It can be an impactful, highly personalised part of an overall customer journey, especially now we receive less of it, but somewhere along the way, have we forgotten some of the principles that make DM effective?
This week I received the welcome pack for an established retailer’s loyalty program. I’d registered online and as part of signing up, provided a sense of my favourite categories in the hope this data would be used to make my program experience more relevant. I opened the envelope with high expectations of a premium, data-driven experience and was underwhelmed.
The letter design was dated and had no personalisation outside of my name, there was no thank you for joining or welcome, just a generic “Here is your card and don’t forget to download the app” message.
The brochure read like the sales brochure and instead of opening on benefits relevant to my preferences, showed the points accumulation mechanic, which felt like it would take too long to gain any payback so I didn’t read any further.
Overall, what I’d hoped would be a personalised, engaging welcome, was a negative first touch, and I can’t be the only customer to have that reaction.
I considered my most positive DM experiences, and realised the most personal, relevant ones are often created by online-only brands. They’ve managed to unlock how to use the product delivery moment to deliver a positive brand experience.
I look forward to my packages from Net-a-Porter or Beginning Boutique, not only because I’ve got new shoes, but the unwrapping experience feels premium and personal touches are often included like handwritten cards or samples of relevant products, based on my past purchases.
It’s these experiences, alongside the amount of data we share with brands, that has increased expectations of what makes an effective DM. If the online brands have cottoned on to how to make this happen, then the more established brands need to catch up.
It isn’t hard for the loyalty program to turn its welcome experience into a positive one. Opening with a thank you for joining, welcoming me into the program, providing contact details to my nearest store or leading with benefits and an offer related to the categories I like, would be a step forward.
So, as we create complex data sets for automated and programmatic digital comms let’s not divert our attention from weaving these smarts into DM, otherwise we’ll miss a big opportunity to deliver impactful, relevant customer experiences into customers’ hands and homes.