Direct Marketing: Your Secret Weapon For Re-Establishing Customer Relationships

A good direct marketing campaign does three things well: 1.) It promotes the right product/service, 2.) It conveys a strong benefit and 3.) It persuades consumers to action.

Direct marketing also gives you a chance to deliver your best offer directly to the people who most need them.

In times like these, it’s important to remember that direct marketing is a good way to:

• Build and re-establish relationships with customers
• A/B test different offers
• Reach the right people, with the right message at the right time
• Increase sales

But a good direct marketing campaign requires careful planning and a firm grasp of direct marketing tactics and techniques. Knowing how and when to use direct marketing can help you achieve your business goals. But before you get started, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Maximize your campaign

A direct marketing campaign is unique. It can help you communicate directly to your ideal customers. Delivering meaningful, useful benefits will help your campaign get read and increase your response rates.

2. Zero in on the right target

Direct marketing lets you target specific segments of your audience. That means you can customize your message and speak to individuals — not generic groups. Just be sure to research your list (it and your offer will make or break your campaign). Once you know who you’re talking to, you can focus on their needs and pain points.

3. Settle on a budget and goals

A targeted direct marketing campaign can help you establish your sales goals and improve sales results — even if you’re on a scaled-back budget. Most companies can run direct marketing campaigns at a fraction of the cost of broadcast or brand awareness advertising.

4. Include both current and lapsed customers

Your current customers will be receptive to a mailing from you. After all, you know and understand their needs. You have a relationship. But you can also win back customers who have lapsed. Including these customers in your campaign gives you an opportunity to boost sales. Just be sure to keep accurate customer records.

5. Improve customer relationships

Direct marketing helps solidify or re-establish your customer relationships. The fact that you can personalize your letters and offers helps create a bond with your customer — and that increases their personal connection with you and your business.

Many companies build customer relationships by sending birthday cards, customer-only discount offers, invites to pre-sale events and more, just to show customers how special they are and how much they’re appreciated.

6. Grow your business

Communicating with the right people at the right time will give you your best chance for success. if you use effective direct marketing techniques, you can generate new customers and increase your sales.

7. Test, test, test

One of the best things about direct marketing is the feedback you get. Response rates can tell you about your customers' interest in your products/services so you can offer new products/services.

Direct marketing also lets you test new markets, track response data, measure the effectiveness of your tactics, and make necessary adjustments. Each time you run a direct marketing campaign, you need to thoroughly review the results. That information will be your guide and help you improve the success of your next campaign.

Whether you need an entirely new direct marketing campaign, fresh creative or data analytics, J&C can help you prepare for this new normal. As a direct response marketing agency, J&C is experienced in motivating customers to act. With new customer behaviors and new consumer patterns developing, direct response channels and tactics should be built into your re-evaluated marketing strategies.