Your Top 5 Marketing Objectives – Solved!

When the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) surveyed a range of consumer brand marketers to understand their customer acquisition objectives, marketing strategies, and media buying decisions, results made it clear that there are new rules for consumer sentiment and brand loyalty. Customer satisfaction is now a marketer’s number one marketing and advertising priority.

According to IAB’s research, 59% of respondents invested in online marketing campaigns, prioritizing a mix of all media. Brands leveraged a mix of search, display, social, video, OOH and audio. 41% indicated they invest their advertising budgets in offline media – with the majority spending on direct mail and print.

But is mail worth the investment? Marketers agree direct mail provides an acceptable customer acquisition cost (CAC) and delivers quality, high lifetime value (LTV) customers. The offline channel is well suited as an anchor platform for direct marketing programs because it can support the integration of digital marketing efforts (including CTV|OTT) for a more targeted and profitable marketing strategy.

If your growth goals mirror the IAB research, keep reading to learn how you can use an integrated strategy to reach your top marketing objectives.

Top 5 Marketing/Advertising Objectives

Drive customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction has a direct impact on marketing share. And, today’s consumers are not focused on engaging with a brand on one channel, but rather on their own preferences and expectations to purchase on their timeline and channel of choice. A CMO Council survey found over 85% of global consumers admit a blend of both digital and physical channel experiences is their preferred way of interfacing with brands, and even more say multichannel touchpoints are critical to satisfying their needs.

Take a moment to think about your ideal customer and your potential customer. The needs, habits, interests, demographics and purchasing behavior of this target audience should be driving your direct marketing strategy. Chances are high they interact with a variety of marketing channels throughout their purchasing journey. By determining which channels and messages have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction and conversion, you’ll be able to form a genuine connection rooted in trust.

Case in point: After a successful launch into the mail channel, a top-ranked meal delivery brand wanted to integrate its digital campaigns with mail to continue to improve brand experience and prospect engagement. The multichannel strategy increased sales by 35%, reduced the campaign’s overall CPA, and lifted year-over-year sales by 67%. “Direct mail is now the centerpiece of our integrated marketing strategy,” announced the brand’s CMO.

Identify high value audiences

Top performing customer models come from a strategic blend of optimal customer subsets, relevant consumer characteristics, first-rate modeling techniques, and in-market testing to identify your best audience. Not only are you reaching a high value audience by integrating print with your digital marketing strategy, but you are leveraging a medium that has a significant impact on purchase decisions.

Prior to developing any customer models, identify your campaign KPIs and metrics. It may seem obvious, but understanding your campaign’s “why” (objectives, initiatives, workflow and benchmarks), and how you will determine success, will set the stage for your modeling approach. Once you’ve established what makes your customer base unique, you can start the predictive modeling process to identify your high value audiences.

Case in point: An auto insurer continued to test customer models to ensure the campaign was optimized for scalable growth – an industry best practice. The insurer tested a proprietary model, plus 20 other list sources, against the control. The proprietary model was the top performer and beat the control by two times, validating itself as the insurer’s best and biggest audience – and increasing sales rate by 133%.

Increase customer leads

ANA data shows direct mail response rates and return on investment are higher than some of the most popular digital channels. Therefore, it is common for brands to utilize direct mail marketing early in the buyer journey to increase brand awareness and drive lead generation.

The data science capabilities, such as postal to pixel and reverse-append, even allow you recognize your anonymous online audiences for print and digital retargeting campaigns. Then, keeping your leads engaged through additional digital marketing touchpoints like social media, SEO, email marketing, etc. will continue to move them further down the funnel. You can also use modeled audiences and acquisition campaigns to educate and influence new prospects on your product or service.

Case in point: Looking for scale in a highly competitive market, an insurance brand tested direct mail to gain brand recognition and drive sales leads. The inaugural campaign immediately established the validity of the mail channel, producing a 1.85% lead rate and providing thousands of new leads and hundreds of new policies.

Increase customer retention/loyalty

Not only are you 70% more likely to sell to an existing customer, but it is more profitable for you to sell to a repeat customer than acquire a new one. Unfortunately, brand loyalty is harder to secure with today’s consumers than in the past. Through CRM segmentation and trigger-based campaigns, you can integrate your direct mail and digital marketing strategies to deliver the relevant and personalized messaging your audience values to build long-term customer relationships. 

Form a genuine connection with your audience and find out what it is about your brand that keeps them loyal. Perhaps your marketing goals are best met when you integrate direct mail with social media marketing. There are a variety of new marketing tools available on today’s top social media platforms, such as social listening, polls or other real-time interaction opportunities, to help you identify possible brand influencers and referral opps from your biggest fans. Then reach out to this select group to cultivate a meaningful interaction. Ask them to be a part of your product development process or to participate in market research to gather a better understanding of your your target market’s pain points so you can provide a valuable solution when they need you.

Case in point: Rather than target past customers with a one-size-fits-all program, this specialty brand leveraged its CRM data to segment and retarget both past customers and new leads with personalized direct mail. This strategic retention program now delivers the highest ROI of all the brand’s direct mail campaigns. It has also increased revenue-per-policy by 21% and multiplied the customer lifetime value by eight times.

Drive first purchases

When it comes to making a first-time purchase, a consumer must trust a brand and its offering. This rings especially true as consumers become more selective in times of uncertainty or financial strain. Adding direct mail to your marketing mix has two advantages for achieving this marketing objective: it is delivered by the most trusted brand in the U.S., and consumers trust print more than digital advertisements. Therefore, more than 60% of DTC brands rely on the mail channel to reach new audiences and drive first purchases.

Think about short-term and long-term business goals. At the end of they day, much of a brand’s success relies on new customers making first-time purchases. Well executed search engine optimization may lead them to your website, but what drives your conversion rates? No loyal customer exists without that initial sale. While you might be searching for the ultimate guide to ensure that your qualified leads make that coveted first purchase, the best marketers are consistently adjusting marketing plans to release new products and services that are high-quality and valued by their target market. Our best piece of advice to drive first-time purchases and have a positive impact on your bottom line is to allow room in your marketing budget for continued testing and innovation.

Case in point: Looking for added growth channels, an identity theft brand decided to test direct mail ability to expand audience reach. Since launch, channel performance has been through the roof - converting over 2 million first-time members. The CMO now views the channel as “irreplaceable,” as it generates 40% of its annual sales and has driven more than $500 million in revenue.

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With so many strategies for entering into the mail channel, building a predictable and profitable program can feel overwhelming for even the most robust marketing teams. Direct Mail 101: How to Grow and Scale with Direct Mail, is a great e-book resource. Inside you'll find seven short how-to guides to help build a targeted and valuable program. Click here to download a free copy to learn from the channel's top performing brands. Our team of strategists are also available to help you determine if direct mail is right for your top marketing objectives. Contact us today to learn more and get your free quote.