Love is in the air, and as we roll towards the most romantic day of the year, we’re sharing a few tips for wooing your prospects inspired by Valentine’s Day and romance. From making a great first impression to showing how much you care – or reconnecting with a lost love, these romance inspired ideas will help you forge a connection with your prospects during this magical time of year.
The Meet Cute
You see it so often in the movies the couple has an incredibly cute first meeting that sets the tone for their entire relationship. Every time you send a new piece to a fresh prospect you have the chance to set the tone and make a connection that will resonate long after that piece or item is gone. Your direct mail pieces can boost the impression you make and increase your prospect’s awareness of your brand long before you successfully close a deal.
Make a great first impression by correctly targeting your prospect and then sending them a piece that appeals to their particular preferences and needs. Using variable data printing methods and taking the time to design a piece that resonates allows you to tailor your message and ensures that you do make the right impression on each prospect.
Show your Adoration
Shower your prospect with your attention and let them know how much you care. A suitor who makes a token effort and moves on may not be as appealing as one who sticks around and pays attention. Woo your prospect with personalized marketing efforts and with direct mail pieces that get and keep attention. Whether you come up with a fun interactive piece that your prospects won’t be able to part with, provide a coupon for a tempting offer or extra or use technology to resonate and entertain, making more than a bare minimum effort will yield better results.
A single postcard, flyer or other piece isn’t enough; if you want to truly resonate you’ll need to make a concentrated effort to connect regularly. Like any relationship, wooing a prospective customer will take some time and work on your part, but will be well worth it in the end.
Getting to Know You
Revisiting your buyer persona and target demographics regularly allows you to correctly target your efforts. Sending out a postcard or other mailer that is not aligned with the buyer’s personal preferences and needs won’t benefit you in any way. You’ll pay the same amount of money to mail your un-targeted piece, but collect far fewer leads.
Getting to know your customer is about more than thinking of reasons they’d like or enjoy your product. You need to know the basics – age, gender, income level, relationship status and location. Digging a little deeper to uncover their needs, wants and fears can yield additional information that can further streamline your approach. The better you know someone, the easier it will be to meet their needs and form a connection, in romance and in direct mail marketing.
Personalize your Approach
Are you making your prospects feel special? Do they know they’ve captured your attention and that you think of them as unique individuals? If not, your missing out. Personalization and customization continue to be driving forces in digital marketing, but can give you a big advantage when it comes to your direct mail campaign as well. According to HubSpot, personalization has a huge impact on the buyer’s journey and is a leading marketing trend to watch in 2017 and beyond.
Incorporating personal touches into your marketing efforts is easier than you might think. Checking and rechecking lists for accuracy, incorporating customer names into materials whenever possible and even switching the language you use to include “you” and “yours” can help personalize your efforts.
Simply mailing a piece at all helps you forge a more personal connection; according to a recent piece in NPR, Americans still send over 6 million greeting cards per year, despite the digital options available. No matter what format you’re using, your piece is arriving alongside those greeting cards that forge a personal connection. Mail still matters, and people have a positive reaction to receiving actual, physical pieces, particularly those that are interesting, useful or relevant in some way. The piece you choose also creates a tangible link between you and your prospect; if they hold onto your piece, store it or display it, you’re making a personal connection that can help advance your relationship.
Let them Know You Care — Take the Direct Approach
Some people just can’t take a hint; those flirtatious glances, the longing looks and long conversations just aren’t getting your point across and you’re going to have to spell it out. Let your customer know how you feel with a special offer – and make sure they know exactly what you are offering. A clean, clear call to action eliminates any chance that they’ll miss your message. They may not say yes, but the direct approach can yield surprisingly good results.
Celebrate Togetherness
Ardently pursuing someone, then making no effort once you’ve “caught” them is a recipe for disaster in a relationship. Only taking the time to connect while you are pursuing your prospects will fall flat as well. Don’t overlook your current, loyal customers in your rush to acquire new ones.
It costs far less to market an offer, new product or service to an existing customer than it does to acquire a new one. Overlooking your loyal customers in favor of courting new ones could be impacting your bottom line. Reaching out to existing customers is surprisingly easy – offer them a reward or incentive to purchase something they’ve already shown they like – and watch your revenues go up.
Reconnect with Lost Loves
Right up there with connecting with an old flame on Facebook after a decade or two, reconnecting with a customer you’ve believed to be lost can be incredibly sweet. Going through your rolls once in a while and recourting customers who’ve turned away could help reactivate them. It might be as simple as sending out a special mailer with a tempting “come try us again” message and an offer they won’t be able to refuse.
Will someone who has moved on even pay attention to your message? Most of us – about 80% — open all the mail we receive. Include a tempting offer on that envelope and slip it in the mail; with any luck, the “one that got away” won’t be able to resist opening it and taking a peek inside.
Give a Gift
What do we do (most of us, anyway) on Valentine’s Day? We give – chocolates, cards, flowers, tech toys and more. Recognize the holiday with a themed mailing and offer something sweetly appealing to your prospects, whether it is a free gift, a special promo or a fun sample of your newest products.
Your gift could be something that can be redeemed at your site or in person, or the piece itself. Postcards and other mailers that double as useful items, from rulers to refrigerator magnets have a higher perceived value and may be more difficult for the recipient to throw away.
Approaching your target market like prospective dates can help you come up with fresh new ways to get in touch and think up innovative new ways to connect. We’d love to help you get inspired this Valentine’s Day and make a fresh new connection with your target prospects. Contact us to learn how easy it is to forge a strong connection and make a lasting relationship you’ll both enjoy.