We’ve been helping businesses and organizations with their direct mail needs for more than 45 years, and we’ve observed a common tendency to focus almost exclusively on generating new leads. While uncovering new leads is an essential element for growing your business, mailing to your existing customers is also extremely important.
Let’s take a look at why sending repeated mailings to your existing customers makes sense.
- You Know Each Other: Knowing your customers and having them know you can be a big advantage. If you’re smart, you know what your existing customers want and like. You already know how to reach them. Familiarity overcomes a recipient’s resistance to your mailing. They don’t need to decide if they trust you or if your mailing is worth reading. That alone can boost responses.
- Less Expense: You don’t have to spend time or money on a new list when you mail to existing customers. If they’ve done business with you before, you already have their contact information. On top of that, in-house lists generally out-perform rented lists.
- Better Targeting: If you’re keeping track of information about your customers, you can segment your list according to past purchasing patterns. That allows you to shape your messaging to a customer’s preferences.
- Better Testing: When you are recording the results of a mailing with a new client, you may or may not know what moved them to respond (or not respond). You’re starting from scratch. With existing customers, on the other hand, you have previous data against which you can compare results. That can make it easier to identify changes that improve response.
- Reward Loyalty: When you mail to existing customers or clients, you can show your appreciation by making them special offers that acknowledge their constancy. And guess what that does? It increases their loyalty. They get a good deal. They feel good about you. And you have a customer who will stick with you even longer.
Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that repeatedly mailing to existing customers without treating them properly (ignoring their needs or treating them like strangers) could actually work against you. Repeated mailings that miss the mark don’t generate loyalty. Staying in touch with customers and offering them value and recognition is what really works.
