How to Use Direct Mail to Reach Your Inactive Customers
Over the last five years, “growth” has become the buzzword of choice for marketers around the world. Acquiring customers has become the top priority for many of the world’s leading companies, as well as many small businesses.
What many marketers forget is that growth alone isn’t enough to sustain or develop your business. The cheapest, smartest and most effective way to grow your business is to focus on retaining the customers you already have.
One of the best ways to retain customers is with direct mail. Mailing direct custom postcards to top-performing customers, regular customers and inactive customers alike can be a great way to close new deals and increase retention and revenue.
In this guide, we’ll share three strategies for reaching out to inactive customers and active but underperforming customers using direct mail to increase revenue, build stronger customer relationships, and develop your business.
Segment your customers based on purchasing activity
Mailing existing customers is a great idea, but if your company is constantly in touch with its active customers they’re unlikely to respond to a direct mail campaign. By segmenting your customers, you can customize the message they receive.
Segment your existing customers into several categories: customers that engage in steady business with you, customers that work with you but could be more active, and previously active customers who’ve since lapsed.
This allows you deliver a different message to each segment. With existing customers, you can focus on retaining their business. With underperforming customers, your direct mail postcards can encourage them to expand their business with you.
Offer discounts and bonuses to reactivate inactive customers
Customers become inactive for a variety of reasons. Some may choose a competitor with better pricing or a product that better suits their needs. Others may simply fail to keep ordering your product or service due to a change in priorities.
A great way to reactivate old accounts is by reaching out to inactive customers with a special offer or deal. Learn what’s preventing them from doing business with your business and target your offer to their specific needs.
If a customer switched to a competitor because of price issues, reach out and try to reconnect by mailing them a discount offer. If they became inactive because of poor service, reach out with a promise to better deliver the service they need.
Focus on adding value to your existing customer relationships
The best business deals create mutual value – value for your customers in the form of increased satisfaction or results and value for your business in the form of a new deal and increased revenue.
One of the best ways to grow your business is by marketing to your existing clients and customers with the goal of increasing the scale of their business. What can you offer to existing customers to make doing more business with you appealing?
If you operate a service business, offer additional services to save time or help your clients succeed. If you operate a product business, promote complementary items – items that match a customer’s existing purchases – in your direct mail postcards.
How can your business improve its customer retention rate?
Retaining customers is one of the most important aspects of developing a successful business. Without retention, even the most effective customer acquisition methods can be nothing more than a waste of time in the long term.
From brochures and postcards promoting complementary products to sales letters listing your latest services, how could your business improve its customer retention rate using direct mail?
