We all know that personalization works. In fact, research from InfoTrends found that 84% of consumers said that personalization made them “much more likely” or “somewhat more likely” to open their mail. Even so, one of the secrets to success is not to rely on personalization alone.
Personalization gets you in the door—it grabs attention. But the most successful marketing efforts synergize personalized printing with additional elements. Let’s look at some of the most common, industry-wide techniques that marketers combine with personalization to turbo charge results.
1. Segment first. High response rates are most often the result of layering personalization over an already highly targeted, segmented audience. A home furnishings company, for example, might target first-time homeowners. A lawn care company might send specials to existing customers who recently purchased a high volume of grass seed.
2. Add the extras. Marketers often start with unusual design elements, such as oversized postcards, clear envelopes, or lumpy mail to attract attention and get people to engage initially so the personalized messaging can be read.
3. Touch more than once. Effective campaigns send multi-touch campaigns to reinforce the message and remind people to respond. Personalized follow-up e-mails are commonly used.
4. Incentivize. This technique is common in applications using customized landing pages, especially campaigns for lead generation or information gathering. To motivate recipients to respond, marketers might offer a gift or monetary incentive, such as a restaurant gift card or entry into a sweepstakes.
Personalization is a powerful tool, but it’s not a magic wand. Just as we don’t expect athletes to carry their team to glory all by themselves, you shouldn’t expect personalization to carry the load alone, either. Like all marketing elements, personalization works best when it is part of a collective effort.
