People love seeing their own name, and when you incorporate it into your copy, response rates go up.
If you aren't currently using personalization in your direct mail and email campaigns, you may want to think about trying it in 2006.
While response rates don't always go up, they usually do. Here are some easy ideas:
Personalization: Personalization means designating certain spots within your copy where the recipient's name will be placed automatically.
For instance, many emails will begin with: "Dear [Your Recipient's Name]."
The most powerful and effective use of personalization is, of course, in your own database. Try including your customer's first name in regular communications you're already sending, and you should experience a lift in response and relationship building. Prospects will subconsciously feel more of a connection with your message when you use their first name.
With traditional direct mail, it's now also possible to personalize in many places, such as:
- The greeting
- The envelope
- The title
- Within the copy
- The front cover
- The back cover
In a catalog or magalog, it's not only possible to personalize both the front and back covers, but inside pages, too. This will help keep your customers engaged 16 pages into your message.
Note: When there is no name available, make sure your prospect receives a non-personalized default version.
Tips:
- Make sure your data is correct - no misspellings!
- Use a person's name no more than 2 or 3 times in a communication
- Only use a person's real name when personalizing: john389@hotmail.com won't cut it!
- Make it read naturally. Don't force the personalization or it will be counterproductive. Don't say "Dear Mr. John Jones!" Say, "Dear John" or "Dear Mr. Jones."
Click Here for examples of successful campaigns in our Direct Response Library of Case Studies!