Personalising based on… Personal data
Direct mailing based on personal data is one of the most common forms of personalisation. Precisely because you technically only need a name for this, this method of personalisation is very accessible.
In practice
The right name in the right place, that is what it is all about. Think of a beautifully designed envelope landing in your letterbox with the message "Hey An, your promo of the week!" along with a tailored offer based on your purchase behaviour or profile. Very simple, very effective.
Personalising based on…
Next best offer
Based on interests and purchase behaviour, you can take personalisation to a higher level. The great advantage of this method of personalisation is that you send truly relevant information to your customers. Real customisation, you could say. Because if you know someone's purchase behaviour, you can respond to it by suggesting new, similar products, for example. That is what one-to-one communication really means.
In practice
Think of personalised offers for the purchase of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). A national supermarket chain, for example, does not send ordinary promotional print with offers to its customers. No, the brochures were personalised based on purchase behaviour. Standard offers are supplemented with tailor-made offers. This way, the offer that lands in the letterbox immediately has a relevant character. While household A says "Look mum, we get 25% off the cornflakes we always buy", household B exclaims "Yay, 2 + 1 free on our favourite shower gel!"
Dynamic pricing strategy
Use the optimal price for your articles, taking into account customer behaviour and changing market or business situations. Together with you, we develop a dynamic pricing strategy for your communication that enables you to optimise your sales, turnover or profit (for example with personalised discounts or intelligent coupon solutions per customer).
Personalising based on… Sending "on the right moment"
The secret here is to communicate when others are not communicating, or simply to communicate at the right moment. Think of your customers' birthdays, Valentine's Day, or come up with original hook-in days that are relevant to your business.
In practice
A clothing store finds it important to treat its customers in a personal way. And that also means gifts when a customer has a birthday. A personalised direct mail to the rescue. "Hey Lotte, congratulations on your birthday! We have a little gift for you. Here is a €10 discount voucher, especially for you! Enjoy it!" Nothing more, nothing less. We can assure you that Lotte will pop into the store one of the following days or weeks! The emotional and relevance aspects are perfectly and effectively combined in this example.
Personalising based on…
Personas
Personalising based on personas. The last-mentioned concept may sound familiar. Just briefly: personas are fictitious persons that you as a company create for the purpose of your sales. You give him or her a concrete name and develop a detailed description of this person. This ranges from demographic data, personal information, to interests. This way, you as a company can better empathise with your target group. When starting a campaign, you always start from the question "What would name persona do, want, buy, …?" This way you create campaigns that are tailor-made for your persona(s). You then link your own customers to the right persona. This way, you can also perfectly use personas to personalise.
In practice
This is Tim. Tim is a persona created by a car dealership. The car dealership linked various characteristics and interests to Tim. Tim is a young man between 30 and 40 years old, has a family and a well-paid job. Tim bought a car at the dealership 5 years ago. The company recently launched a new, luxurious family car. With a new direct mailing campaign, the company wants to contact all their Tims to introduce them to the new family car. The direct mailing starts with the fact that "you have had that car for 5 years now, and isn't it time for a new one?" Since we know that Tim has a well-paid job and wants to take good care of his family, it is realistic that he will consider purchasing this new family car. And considering it means a potentially warm contact for the company. Mission accomplished! Thanks to well-defined personas and a smart direct mailing.
Mix & match
You read practically only positive things about direct mail above. Does that mean you should go all-in for print? No. Marketing is not a black-and-white story, not an either-or story, but a nuanced and-and story. We start from an omnichannel strategy, where print and online are combined within the intended one-to-one communication. Data management is at the basis of our services for setting up marketing automation systems, where your customers automatically receive individualised messages at the right moment in the customer journey.
