When faced with a purchase decision, customers want to buy from people they know and companies they trust. Earning your customers’ trust takes time and effort. One of the ways you can start and even build your customer relationships is by sending direct mail.
According to The Future of Direct Mail 2022: Marketer and Consumer Insights, 61% of consumers have a positive outlook on receiving mail. And of those, 66% took action on the mail they received. Direct mail works and continues to deliver a high ROI for those who use it correctly.
Here are 9 ways to build your credibility with customers through direct mail:
1. Make It Personal
Direct mail is a personal form of advertising. You are delivering your message in a tangible form to someone’s mailbox. It’s not an advertisement for the masses but will be seen by an individual. This is a great opportunity to build a relationship with your potential customer by personalizing their direct mail piece.
Start by adding the individual’s name. Next, use what you know about them to create a personal experience. If they’re a dog owner, highlight your dog products. If they’ve recently moved in, welcome them to the neighborhood. Personalizing shows intentionality. It also shows that you put a little more effort into the piece, and you are serious about wanting to work with them.
2. Give Important Information
Don’t assume the individual knows what you are talking about. Make sure you include all the information they need to know in order to make a decision. If you make them look for information in other places, you will lose their attention. Your information should be clear, easy to understand, and easy to see. Don’t hide critical information in a disclaimer at the bottom.
3. Support Your Claims
If you happen to be the best, show off your ratings, reviews, and awards. If you’re the most cost-effective show price comparisons between you and your competitors. Your target audience is smart, and they will do their own research.
If you make big claims and don’t offer data to support it, you will destroy any trust you have earned. This doesn’t mean you need to include a full report, but adding a few facts and figures can go a long way in building credibility with your customers.
4. Easy Online Access
Some of your customers will want to know more, so make it easy for them to find exactly what they’re looking for by including a URL or QR code. Seeing the same information in multiple places and formats enhances its validity.
It’s also difficult to include everything on a direct mail piece without overcrowding it. Include essential information on the direct mail piece and add a link for additional information and FAQs online.
5. Make Recommendations
As mentioned before, customers want to buy from people they know and who know them. Use your customer data to show you understand them. You can make recommendations for new products and services based on their past purchases.
If they’re a prospect, you can recommend products and services based on the changing of the season or upcoming holidays. For example, you could recommend the best products and services to winterize their yard. Another example might be highlighting everything they need for the ultimate 4th of July backyard barbecue. Offering useful advice and solutions positions you as an industry expert and someone your customers can trust and rely on.
6. Share Customer Testimonials/Reviews
People want to know if it works and if your product or service is worth the cost, so share customer testimonials and reviews with them. You can include screenshots of reviews or quotes from testimonial videos on the mail piece. Then, include a QR code or URL for the customer to watch the full story or read more reviews. This also provides social proof that people are using your product.
7. Celebrate Milestones and Loyalty
Deepen your relationship with your current customers by celebrating milestones. Send a card in the mail with a free gift for their birthday or a thank you note for being a loyal customer since 2017. You can offer a discount, free gift, or credit to get something in your swag store for reaching a certain spend tier. These are simple gestures, but they let your customers know you know who they are and you care.
8. Consistent Branding
Though direct mail is a different marketing medium, anything you send should still reflect your brand. Whether it’s an invoice, flyer, or thank you note, use your brand colors, fonts, and messaging. This creates consistent touch points that send a unified message. It also subtly shows your customer that you know what you’re doing and have it together which adds another building block of trust.
9. Clear CTA & Easy Next Steps
Always offer a clear call-to-action and easy next steps on your mail piece. If you don’t include this, customers can be confused as to why you sent them something in the first place. This can sidetrack your customers as they try to figure out what you want, causing them to forget about everything else previously stated. The lack of clarity can also cause frustration, and you can completely lose their attention.
How should you ask? Ask them just like you would in person. Remember you are addressing an individual in your mail piece. Providing clarity and easy next steps reassures your potential customer that you’re someone who knows what they’re doing and can be trusted.
Direct mail can be a powerful tool to communicate with your customers and increase your credibility. Just remember direct mail is sent to individuals, so think about what their experience will be like receiving the mail piece. Are you addressing an individual? Do they have all the information they need to make a decision? Is your call-to-action clear and easy to follow? Is the information and offer relevant to the person you are sending it to?