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Customers: Perpetual continuity

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After many conversations with some of our marketing friends, almost every time their first port of call is the question around existing customers. Something which many businesses can easily miss a focus on keeping existing customers engaged. So much attention is focussed on new business, that once a customer has been gained, they almost go by the wayside.

Customer retention or loyalty as it’s called by some is a progressive art form. However, the crux behind it is communication, remember communication is two ways. The art of listening will always provide insights, that sometimes you don’t want to hear, however, the deliverer of feedback might be looking for the right signals to open up. 

The culture of your business or organisation is so critical to building the persona which enables growth and retention. This culture and personality are at the heart of your brand, it’s worth remembering that a brand just isn’t your logo, visuals, font and straplines. A brand is so much more than this, personality and how you engage, through voice, actions and tone. This is linked to non-verbal communication and even starts to touch on Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), which is the science of your actions and how they influence your audience.

So where do you start? We are all at a point where we will need to build, further engage, reinforce our message and sell ourselves in the best light. Here are our top tools which help communications on your customer journey

  • Ensure that you use small tools such as review cards, which have an open language which allows constructive feedback. A simple card which can be inserted in with an order of products, or with the bill if you’re a restaurant. These also come in useful when you have low days, looking back and reflecting on what you have achieved.
  • Ensure you use multiple channels to communicate with, remember Visual Auditory kinaesthetic learning styles which people take on things in different ways. So a good mix of digital, physical and face to face marketing. Linking these tools is essential to provide the best longevity and take up.
  • Have a communications plan, be regular, utilise social media, do physical items which add value. Using a varied mix of communications will reap rewards as customers will remember the one, some or all of your communications.

Where can we help you? If you don’t have a plan, we can point you in the right direction of skilled practitioners who can help you formulate a plan. If you need to find ways of understanding how you engage, we can advise you on some good reading on understanding people. If you need specialised support with NLP, we can recommend a few people. If you need to enhance your brand position, again we know the right people to unpack your brand messages. As a print and graphic solution provider, we can help you develop physical resources to engage and develop a relationship, at whatever level you need.

If you are reading this during the Covid-19 lockdown, now is a great opportunity to start planning for the future. Yes, failing to plan is planning to fail. So why not start your planning, we’ll happily do Facetime, Google Hangouts / Google Meet, conference calls whatever you want to help you formulate your plan.

Crowning reasons why Direct Mail is still King!

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Long before radio, television and digital marketing, direct mail ruled.

Ask a senior relative about mail order catalogues and they will probably remember the Littlewoods catalogue first published in May 1932, they went on to change shopping across the millennium. Look to the current day, the one that regularly arrives on my doormat is Screwfix, guaranteed with all the usual methods to encourage further engagement.

Today direct mail has received a bit of a bad reputation. The term “junk mail” isn’t exactly a compliment! Some refer to direct mail as an “old” form of advertising, thinking of direct mail as antiquated or off-target. However, when carefully crafted, directed to the right recipient through good use of learned data or other metrics can deliver results which outshine other methods.

The fact is, many companies do use direct marketing. According to recent studies, almost 60% of total mail volume was comprised of direct mail pieces.

Response levels to direct mail continues to be strong every year, generating leads for businesses across a range of industries. Whilst any data set can be described as statistics, the level of these customer response rates to common marketing methods give some cause for reflection.

1.2%  Online Displays
0.6% Social Media
0.8%Paid Search
0.35% E-mail Marketing
6.0%Direct Mail to a recipient

Why is Direct Mail Effective?

Direct mail is easy.

Direct mail marketing is easy to process. In an age of digital noise, the tactile presence of a physical mailing is feeding your recipient’s non-digital senses. Engaging touch, even a little bit of smell and physical actions of handling an item. Helps the recipient process more, in an efficient manner. One study found it takes 21% less cognitive effort to process physical mail.

Direct mail is interesting.

Almost half of Millennials thrive on the unique experience of physical mail.

According to the leading industry experts, 18-21 year-olds’ response rates to direct mail are as high as 15%. Utilising this within a carefully crafted marketing strategy, utilising a clever progression of other marketing touchpoints millennials are more than likely to engage and respond!

Direct mail is memorable.

People who spend time with physical marketing materials have a stronger emotional response and a better memory of these engagements. A fascinating message goes a long way too when you develop your campaign with direct mail, the longevity increases. Creating colourful, memorable messages, with good written and visual content can start a great fast-tracked progression. 

A good example of this is; IKEA as a global player in retail fully understands how to engage through clever mailings. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is writing a book on all the methods which IKEA have illustrated through their campaigns. From cleverly words press advertisements through to engaging pop-up mailers for LACK side tables, the postcard perfectly demonstrated one of IKEA’s clever design concepts. IKEA’s postcard allowed users to experience the simple assembly of the LACK table, which left a deep, memorable impression.

Just one example of IKEA’s unique approach: https://youtu.be/18lZImt1L9Q 

Achieve Face-to-Face with appropriate Direct Mail

Emails are increasingly getting well known for having low open rates, as many users have inboxes brimming at the seams with un-opened mail. When you use direct mail, some will offer you one-on-one attention they wouldn’t give to any other medium. Ask any seasoned marketing expert and they will be the first to tell you direct mail because it stands tall in a digital generation.

Apart from the many catalogues that fill our mailboxes between Halloween and Christmas, most of us receive very little traditional mail. When you make your piece of direct mail stand out from the rest of the mail and get noticed; using a unique design, shapes, different enclosing methods, along with personalisation to maximise the impact.

If you need help creating the perfect direct mail piece that will stand out, we can help you every step of the way.

Find out more about building a connected marketing strategy with print catalysts and digital integrations, sign up for our white paper at http://eepurl.com/gIVF7v 

Building your presence

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Turning prospects to customers is the art of marketing. Understanding the needs, wants, desires of your potential customers is the key to harnessing the right results. Print is one of the under-spoken about tools in the marketing toolkit, so let us unpack it a bit more.

Ask any marketer about the customer journey, and you’ll get a wealth of knowledge and they will all agree on the vast number of touchpoints it takes to influence a customer to say yes.

A useful premise to remember is marketing is educating your customer about your “Product”. Ask any educator about how people learn and they will tell you about Visual Auditory and Kinaesthetic learning styles. Everyone one is different, to how they learn and what they respond to. This does mean that any marketing strategy needs multiple touchpoints of different content medias which engage with potential customers.

Of course, the relevance of this is essential. Knowing and understanding your customers is key. A useful place to start is by creating a pen portrait or profile, think about; age, background, family/home life, work/income, social circles, any other relevant factors.

Touchpoints:

  • Websites – yes you’re reading this blog.
  • Social media – we can guess a social platform directed you to this link.
  • YouTube 
  • Events /tasters/roadshow stalls (face to face) – ensure your audience go away with the right physical call for action, from sign up cards, flyers or something more substantial like a brochure.
  • If B2B, then business networking can also help you build trust with your potential customers too. See our blog on getting you remembered 
  • Partner promotion – cross-marketing can be very powerful when the right partners are identified and a mutual win-win is achieved.
  • Print advertising, can be very effective when placed in the right publications and combined with editorial material to back up the advertisement content.
  • Direct mail – let your creativity run here, the objective is to create an item which will engage for the greatest amount of time, which has total relevance to the recipient. See our blog on Direct Mail
  • Poster or banner placement, this is the drip feed to the conscious. Again creativity is key, challenge people to look twice, use wordplay to excite the reader. Think about placements in more unusual places to catch people’s eyes.

It’s worth looking at the retention of information span of any touchpoint used within a marketing strategy. Digital communications tend to be more “instant” of the minute whilst print is renown for having a longer user engagement lifespan. The impact and the potential cost and the resulting in a return on investment. Assessing these factors should drive the priorities within your marketing plan, or the mix you use to drive your audience to engage more with your business or product.

Revisiting the customer pen portrait will also provide key indicators towards the tone of voice (language) of your communications, along with a visual style which they will respond to. This will also form part of your brand proposition and identity. If you need further assistance on building this further we can direct you to relevant specialists.

Word of caution, critical friends are essential at this point, getting individuals who understand your product/business to review you customer pen portrait, quiz your understanding of their habits, will significantly aid you in getting this right. Equally asking key allies to review independently or ask questions blind which will help you confirm these essential marketing points.

So how does print engage with this, we are experienced in supporting small businesses, ensure that your products visual identity matches and works with your audience. We’ve got substantive experience in tailoring promotional materials to fit your budget and ultimately your price point. We have loads of tools for promotional print, from the obvious to the more subtle for brand awareness. Print is a tool that can drive traffic to your other communication channels to improve the customer journey for your potential customers. Along with solutions to help you sign and brand your “place” to ensure maximum visibility.

Whilst as a printer, we’ll happily guide, support and ask questions to ensure your marketing buck, is getting you the best bang, we don’t do marketing strategy or other media. We’re fortunate to know many professionals who can help you. These professionals are the full source professionals who work across different media to maximise the impact and delivery of your marketing messages.



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