Getting Personal

February 20, 2013

Build a solid customer database with these step-by-step best practices.

Want to generate more leads and increase your ROI? Get personal! Personalized printing, especially in an integrated, multi-channel campaign that includes personalized URLs, QR Codes, and other channels, can reap huge benefits.

Let’s look at the results of three real-life campaigns:

• An agricultural products manufacturer combined personalized postcards, personalized landing pages (via personalized URL or QR Code), alongside high-value incentives, to achieve a direct mail response rate of 54.8%. In addition, 33.8% of recipients stopped at its booth or one of its partners’ booths at the show.

• A childcare company used personalized direct mail, personalized landing pages (via personalized URL or QR Code), and personalized maps to achieve an ROI of 2,200% based on new enrollments and an average childcare service length of four years.

• An environmental hygiene company used personalized direct mail, personalized reminder postcards, and personalized URLs (allowing prospects to get more information and request a free sample) to achieve a response rate of 12.3%. More than 200 sales appointments were scheduled.

But results like these don’t just happen. They take good planning and strategic execution. Here are five best practices that can help ensure that your results will be extraordinary, as well.

1. Traditional marketing rules apply.

Start with great creative, snappy copy, and compelling incentives. Personalization gets results, but you still need to implement the basics of great marketing.

2. Focus on relevance, not data.

Data is just data — it’s a number or a piece of information in a spread-sheet. Use your data to speak to the recipient in a way that means something to them. You want them to say, “Hey! That’s me!”

3. Segment your list first.

Unless you are mailing to a highly targeted audience to begin with, try focusing on one segment of your list at a time. Target your message to that portion of your audience, then build the 1:1 messaging on top.

4. Pre-fill any forms.

Not all personalized communications use forms, but if they do, pre-fill them. This reduces barriers to response.

5. Integrate personalized printing into a multi-channel strategy.

Using multiple channels to communicate with customers reinforces your message over time. This is a proven strategy that increases effectiveness, increases response rates, and builds your brand.

Lead generation using personalized printing is highly effective. Building in best practices makes it even more so.

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