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Using Direct Mail Marketing for Customer Retention
According to the experts at Macromark, It’s always beneficial to prepare a direct mail marketing campaign geared towards acquiring new customers. New customers add to the awareness of your brand and reflect that there is a growing interest in the products or services you are offering to consumers. But it’s equally important to continue to sell additional products and services to your existing customers. What’s the point of acquiring a customer which many times come at a loss; if you can’t reap the financial benefits of the relationship? You are in business after all to make money.
Small businesses seem to understand the message that their existing customers come first. Sixty-two percent of small business owners (SBO) plan to spend the majority of their budget on customer retention, which is a decided shift from 2012, when more than half of SBOs used marketing dollars on acquiring new clients.
The shift is possibly attributed to the fact that just over half of all small business annual revenue is generated by pre-existing clients. That means that marketers should certainly be assessing how they can better focus their attention on the needs of their customers and anticipate their customers’ behavior.
Another possibility is that SBOs have come to the realization that there is a real advantage to have anyone show preference for a brand they have created. So once someone does become a customer, attention should be given so the benefits of the lifetime value and improved return on investment can be realized. In addition, focusing on existing customers who speak positively of your brand may indirectly trigger new interest through what is still the most powerful medium of marketing: word of mouth or in today’s World the strength and power of social media.
Macromark prepares and helps execute a number of direct mail marketing campaigns. We understand the value of customer retention and how to establish the relationship with the customer using direct mail.
Direct mail is a great tool for customer retention because it can be completely personalized, and not just with the customer’s name: you can offer them a special promotion that is consistent with their past purchases, suggest new ways of using your product that may be unfamiliar, or even provide tips that are relevant to your industry. All of these are meaningful ways to keep existing customers engaged with your brand.
Another proven method of customer retention is the creation of a loyalty program. About two-thirds of small businesses currently have no loyalty programs; this is an opportunity for other businesses to fill that gap and incorporate a program which can be a huge advantage for retaining customers. Loyalty programs track consumer purchase habits, which can in turn be used to offer special promotions, discounts, or coupons based on those habits through your direct mail marketing campaign.
Macromark conducts direct mail campaigns for both customer acquisition and customer retention, both of which are crucial to the sustaining and growing of a small business—or any business, for that matter. Acquiring new customers is always great and knowing that your brand is speaking to more and more people is a positive in itself, but customers that have already shown a liking to your brand need to be kept included just as aggressively as new customers need to be sought. Finding the right balance will allow your business to thrive.
Sources:
Nanji, A., “Small Businesses Focused on Existing Customers in 2014,” MarketingProfs.com, April 10, 2014; http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2014/24869/small-businesses-focused-on-existing-customers-in-2014.
“How direct mail can increase customer retention,” Royal Mail web site; http://www.royalmail.com/marketing-services-regular/choose-your-medium/how-direct-mail-can-improve-customer-retention, last accessed May 5, 2014.
David Klein