A CX-Friendly Way to Approach and Engage New Customers

The first touchpoint — it’s the gateway to a unique customer experience (CX). It’s also integral to adding another consumer into the sales pipeline. Yet it can be tough to break through all the clutter and encourage potential buyers to engage with a brand.

How much noise distracts consumers from taking the first step and giving a brand their attention, though? PPC Protect suggests the average person can get inundated with up to 10,000 ads daily. And that’s on top of the roughly 120 emails that working adults receive in 24 hours.

In other words, brands are bombarding consumers, with information coming at them from all sides. However, there’s still one avenue to grab their attention: direct mail.

Delivering Amazing CX Can Start Outside the Digital Sphere

Direct mail can be an effective lead generation solution for brands that want to bypass the problems of offering only digital touchpoints. After all, it’s simple for people to ignore emails, DMs, and other online interactions. However, that’s not the case for something like direct mail. Up to 90 percent of direct mail recipients read or scan what they get in their physical mailbox.

Take greeting cards, for instance. Individuals who know and trust each other exchange greeting cards. So when companies use greeting cards to connect with customers, they send a much different message than if they pushed out yet another text or email. Cards — particularly those that include personalized messaging — can elevate the brand-shopper relationship from the very beginning. As a result, consumers feel more tethered to the brand from their first interaction, which also means their CX starts on a friendly note.

Informing a Direct Mail Marketing Strategy to Encourage Tighter CX

Like any marketing strategy, your company shouldn’t dive into direct mail without solid plans when ushering a prospect into the sales journey. This requires some upfront planning.

First, look at your website’s past conversion data. For example, let’s say someone fills out an online form. Your typical process might be to connect digitally. However, you could overlay direct mail on top by mailing a handwritten greeting card to them as well. A greeting card sets a precedent and allows you to send future cards further down the CX line (e.g., when the customer makes a large purchase and deserves a thank you).

Besides website interactions, investigate past purchase behaviors to see whether direct mail could attract lapsed buyers. It might not be worth sending cards to every shopper. Nevertheless, customers who have spent a certain amount of money with your brand might be worth the effort and financial outlay. If they return to your company, you’ll reconstruct your relationship while upping their lifetime value.

And if you’re considering marketing to an untapped audience instead, use direct mail as a test-and-learn opportunity. For example, send cards to a targeted demographic based on your research on those consumers’ likes, dislikes and lifestyles. Just make sure that your cards align with your brand image. That way, consumers who accept your offer to engage will see your company as promoting an authentic identity.

Launching Your First CX-Enhancing Direct Mail Campaign

Thankfully, embracing direct mail tactics to engage customers and prospects doesn’t have to feel tedious. When you’re ready to deploy a direct mail campaign focused on bringing people into the fold, keep these tips in mind:

1. Prioritize certain recipients and tactics.

You don’t have to mail cards and notes to everyone. It makes more sense to concentrate your resources where they will have the biggest impact. For example, you might want to examine the CX journey of your biggest fans. Determine which consumers you’d most like to turn into brand advocates, and use that information to send them mail at the right point in their journey.

2. Test and test again.

Testing is part of any solid marketing technique. Remember that direct mail might be an “offline” approach, but it can lead customers to online interactions that you can track. Case in point: Your direct mail piece could include a QR code that drives recipients to a particular landing page. But how does the messaging and design influence how many people use the QR code and their subsequent journey on your website?

3. Tweak your campaign for success.

Depending on your direct mail goals, you’ll probably measure various data points (e.g., foot traffic to your retail store or promo code redemptions). It’s also essential to analyze the correlation between those data points, the direct mail it was tied to, and other marketing messages. When you find something that works, stick with it until it no longer produces the same results, and file those lessons away for later. On the flip side, when something fails to produce results, keep iterating.

Customers aren’t shy about supporting the brands that give them a memorable CX. Instead of hoping your brand makes it past the digital clutter, use direct mail as a refreshing way to introduce your company to would-be buyers. You might be surprised at the positive response you receive.

Kim Totty is the interim marketing director at Hallmark Business Connections, the business-relationships unit of Hallmark Cards.