The right direct marketing strategy will help you build loyal relationships with customers and make it more likely people will turn to your business when they need a product or service you sell. These days, many shoppers are tightening their belts and trying to do more with less money, making coupons and direct marketing a winning combination. Not convinced? Here are just six of the reasons you can’t afford to leave coupons out of your direct mail campaigns.
Customer Tracking
Sending coupons to customers creates extra opportunities for tracking their behavior. If you send two or three different offers, you will be able to see which offer generates the greatest return on your investment. Including unique tracking codes in each mailing makes it easy to collect data without asking customers to fill out surveys.
Targeted Campaigns
Using coupons makes it easy to target your campaigns to specific groups of customers. Want to promote a baby product to new mothers? Design a coupon with pastel colors and pictures of items associated with child care – rattlers, pacifiers, or baby bottles, for example. Selling professional services? Capture interest by designing a coupon with your target audience in mind. Someone in need of a bookkeeper would probably respond better to a conservative design than one with a lot of different colors and font styles.
Increased Loyalty
Repeated contact with customers – if they have given you permission to contact them – helps build loyalty. Use your direct marketing coupon campaign to reward people for their past purchases, share birthday wishes with your most valuable customers, or offer special perks to a segment of your list.
Customer Retention
If you don’t go out of your way to remind people that your company exists, they might buy products or services from your competitors. Coupons are a valuable tool for retaining existing customers and asking past customers to give your company another try. Tailor your direct marketing offers to consumer behavior for the biggest impact.
Brand Reinforcement
Do you know any advertising jingles by heart, even if you haven’t heard them in years? It’s hard to forget those catchy commercials for Meow Mix and Kit Kat bars. Mailing coupons is much more affordable than producing and airing a jingle. You want customers to be able to quickly identify your brand every time you send a mailing. Reinforce your brand by using these design elements consistently in your direct marketing:
- Slogans/taglines
- Logos and pictures
- Background and text colors
- Text styles
High ROI
Because mailing coupons is so affordable, it typically has a high return on investment. Target your customers carefully to increase their chances of redeeming your offer, or else your mailing will not be a success.
Many business owners believe they will lose money by mailing coupons, but there are many good reasons to incorporate coupons into your direct marketing strategy. If you target your offers correctly, you will give customers a reason to visit your store and remain loyal to your brand.
