Ian Davidson, president of Global Mailing Solutions at Pitney Bowes, hails the new generation of mail personalisation.
Successful marketing campaigns integrate both physical and digital communication, empowering recipients to respond using their preferred channel. Many of us still appreciate physical communication, and prefer the one-to-one relationship it generates. A considered, carefully-worded, timely, relevant and targeted letter is a breath of fresh air. Whilst email certainly has its place, 60% of us prefer direct mail over email or other mailing methods, and 67% of us feel direct mail is more personal than the internet (Source: Epsilon study).
Research shows that personalised documents can improve response rates by as much as 30%. It is common sense that if an organisation wants to attract or retain your business, it must take the time to find out your name, at the very least. But personalisation has moved on, and those businesses truly delighting their customers are integrating the latest digital and physical channels to create and maintain a long-term customer relationship through personalised content.
Thanks to the ability to capture precise, accurate data on everything from name, address and socio-demographic to buyer behaviour, location and propensity to buy at a certain time, both physical and digital customer communications can now be more tightly targeted than ever. This is the next generation of personalisation, as highly-creative design teams deliver bespoke, memorable communications to create real impact. Digitally, we have techniques such as hyper-targeted contextual messages sent to smartphones. But physical mail, too, is benefiting from new personalisation techniques. Those businesses not making the most of these techniques are missing some tricks. Consider these:
Envelopes can be printed with personalised colour messages and product offers: ‘Boost your internet power, Jack, as fibre-optic broadband is now available at 3, Acacia Avenue!’; or ‘You love Rioja, Melanie – don’t miss your chance to order our smoothest vintage yet – see inside now!’ Geographic references can be included in a letter or brochure, creating relevancy and demonstrating an empathy with the recipient – ‘Our new store is only 10 minutes’ walk from your home, James!’ Bills can be highly personalised and used as tools to maintain customer engagement Photos and images of particular interest to the customer can be printed on letters or envelopes Membership cards can be inserted into a mailing, each unique to the recipient Bespoke offers and printed vouchers can be included Calls-to-action can be tailored to the customer – businesses running campaigns integrating digital and print can drive customers to a personalised URL (PURL), which includes the recipient’s name in the URL and directs them to a personalised landing page with customised copy
One business investing in improving mail personalisation for its customers is CFH Docmail, one of the UK’s leading print and mail specialists. CFH has made a significant investment in its inserting, printing and reading technology, in order for it to provide high performance personalised mail solutions to its customers.
Solutions being implemented by the organisation include:
High volume inserting systems
A colour inkjet system for colour envelope printing An inkjet module for Business Reply Envelope Printing; and Integrity camera systems to create a secure environment
This configuration means CFH Docmail can be sure that each and every mailpiece is tracked through production and contains the correct, relevant information for the end recipient – particularly important when processing sensitive customer data. This accuracy ensures the mailpiece is timely, relevant and engaging, reduces the risk of error and maximises cost efficiencies.
Dave Broadway, managing director of CFH Docmail, said: ‘Investing in this technology will have a significant impact on our clients’ communications. Envelope personalisation will offer our customers exciting new options in how their mail is delivered. As a trailblazer in our field, we pride ourselves on offering ground-breaking new services to our clients to help them achieve their business goals. These new solutions help us maintain our position as a market innovator, and mean we can provide an even better service to our clients.’
CFH can now process customer communications with the highest levels of security, integrity and personalisation, demonstrating its firm commitment to innovation in mail processing.
Personalised direct mail is measurable, cost-effective, and powerful. Incorporating a few more personalisation tactics creates impact and boosts results, increasing open rates and response rates. It is time to get personal, and make the most of the tools and techniques we have at our fingertips to do this.
