Personalization

It wins every time. And I’m not talking about putting someones name at the beginning of a letter otherwise the exact same as the other 5k you are sending out via bulk rate.

Sitting down and writing a specialized message to the person you want to speak with will work one thousand times better than simply sending a huge mailer and looking for the 2% return. 2% is such a joke! Since when did failure with 98% of your audience represent a decent job? To me, that’s a failure. Yes, there is an ROI, but it is still a failure in terms of maximizing your return.

Sincerely, it’s time to consider taking the money you spend on such a campaign and investing it in more personalized marketing. Honest marketing. Marketing that is meant to show that you do understand your customers and why they do business with you. It’s not that difficult of a premise. But it is that difficult to make it happen in organizations that rely on people eager to replicate and maintain.

Replicate and maintain with decreasing returns.

Replicate and maintain with decreasing returns.

Replicate and maintain with decreasing returns.

This is failure. Sooner or later, the ability to maintain is all but gone as better marketers have passed you by, forming and reinforcing the relationships you long ago neglected. I’m not speaking toward DM as a whole, simply pointing out that continuing the status quo without regard to the thousands of possibilities for differentiation is ridiculous. Stop, look at your objectives, and build something worth while.