The buzzword in marketing right now is customization. Creating a direct mail or email that has the ability to change photos, colors, text and names based on what the marketing team knows about that person through the use of variable data printing has been on the forefront of marketing for years now. Bulk mailings are quickly becoming a thing of the past because marketers have seen much higher return rates by customizing the marketing piece to the recipients’ preferences. Traditional bulk mailings receive a one to three percent response rate, whereas, one-to-one marketing campaigns receive on average about a nine percent response rate. Some have seen as high as 35 percent response.
Once the mail pieces are sent out, marketers can track how many hits they receive by utilizing unique URLs on the pieces. Many marketers will test different tag lines and pictures by assigning a different URL to those different variables to see which one had the greatest response. But at the end of the day, no one is able to know exactly who is responding unless a unique URL is assigned to each person that is being sent a direct mail and/or email piece. While this may be feasible for a small quantity of people, for a mailing of over 20 recipients, it can be an IT nightmare. That is, until one-to-one marketing changed the way marketers interact with the recipient.
This cutting edge marketing technique not only satisfies the data-hungry marketer, but it has also been proven to have a higher rate of return than any other technique. In an age of information overload where clients give an email or mailing piece 5 seconds before they decide to keep or toss, it is more imperative than ever to use advanced techniques to grab and hold their attention.
What is one-to-one marketing?
One-to-one marketing uses data files to personalize a recipient’s marketing in different ways so that their URL, website, email or mailing piece is customized to their preferences.
Why use it?
One-to-one marketing allows a financial institution to discover whatever information they would like from their current or potential customers. Although it works best on those that are already customers, it can be integrated with an external advertising and marketing campaign to create a sales tool to help approach customers in a way that has never been seen before.
The personalized URLs (PURLs) allow marketers to see exactly who is responding to their marketing. These are more than just unique URLs like www.bankx.com/tv, they utilize the person’s name to give them their own website. For example if Jane Doe received an email from Bank X, her personalized URL would be janedoe.bankx.com. Depending on what the objectives are of the campaign, this allows for easier follow-up. An example of this technique would be if we knew that Jane Doe currently holds a mortgage and checking account with Bank X who sends her an email requesting that she take a brief survey that asks her what other products and services Bank X offers that she may be interested in. Jane Doe clicks on the PURL in her email and goes to her website where she selects “Refinance my home” and then hits submit. The campaign can be set up to automatically send an email to her financial advisors who can look into her account and send her the best offer possible.
Because most clients don’t take the time to research exactly what they need, giving them the opportunity to answer a few questions and following up with products that they may want will increase the chances of converting the sale.
How to begin?
Timeline – It is important to have all pieces of the campaign in place before it goes live, this includes defining the campaign objective, data, creative, incentive, and follow up to responses. You don't want to rush the campaign, so start planning early enough to make sure that everything is done correctly.
Partner with a knowledgeable team – This is not a project that can be done in most financial institutions. The proprietary software is very expensive and takes a while to learn. Partner with a consultant who has a portfolio of campaigns and is results driven. They will be the key to bringing all of the integral players together, including, information technology, marketing, design, and customer service.
Project Goal – What do you want to know about your customers? Answering this question will allow the campaign to shape around that goal. While there are many things that marketers would like to know, writing a list of items and narrowing it down to a few important ones will help to shape the direction of the campaign efforts.
Creative material – Design matters. If the email, postcard or website isn’t appealing or is too text heavy, regardless of the incentive, it will be a turnoff to many customers, especially in the younger generation. Making something fun, attractive and easy to use should be a priority on the campaign.
Follow up - Asking the customers’ communication preferences between mail and email is a great way to cut costs. Many people prefer to receive emails. Likewise, there are going to be respondents that enjoy having a postcard or brochure mailed to them. Direct mail pieces can be customized, printed on demand and mailed when the customer asks for it, which will save time and money.
Response rate - Many financial institutions would like to take advantage of this technique, but are hesitant because of security implications. There are several ways of mitigating this including sending an email from the bank prior to the campaign letting them know that they will be sent an email or direct mail piece in a few days. Make sure to stress that the emails will never ask for personal information. With a personalized web page the customers don’t need to enter their information. Sometimes people need a little incentive to click through and email. Usually money is a high motivator, so a chance to win a $500 gift card should be enough to get a great response rate.
One-to-one marketing has the ability to get the answers financial institutions need to shape not only their marketing, but also the future of their business.
