• Creating Customer Loyalty

    What does it take to create customer loyalty, the kind of loyalty that makes customers stick with you, even when their favorite sales representative, hair stylist or financial advisor moves on? Here are some tips from the experts. 1. Know your customer base. Customer bases are not homogenous. They are made up of different demographics, […]

  • Turning a Bank from “Stodgy” to “Personal”

    Do you always need lots of data to make your mailings seem personal? No. Take the example of MB Financial, a Chicago-based financial institution that used segmentation to achieve great results. It’s a formula that any company can follow to make its mailings feel more personal and increase conversions without personalizing them down to the […]

  • Want It to Be Personal? 10 Questions to Ask

    According to the research firm McKinsey, 76% of consumers say that receiving personalized communications is a key factor in prompting their consideration of a brand, and 78% say that personalized content makes them more likely to purchase from the brand again. That’s a powerful incentive to put time and effort into getting personalization right. “Personalization” […]

  • 5 Ways to Maximize Your Print Investment

    Have a limited print budget and want to make the most of it? Even if your dollars are limited, your impact can be significant. Start with focusing your efforts on the customers most likely to give you the best return. Let’s look at four strategies to help you make the most of your investment. 1. […]

  • What Matters More Than Products, Services, and Price? Customer Experience!

    When two companies offer similar products, what differentiates one from another? It’s more than the price. There is something even more critical when it comes right down to it. It’s the customer experience. While “customer experience” can be an overused buzzword, there is a lot of truth behind its importance. At lunchtime, for example, there […]

  • The Best Place to Get Data About Customers? From Customers Themselves!

    Just as making an outstanding meal takes the freshest, most flavorful ingredients, creating an exceptional marketing campaign starts with the newest, most accurate data. But what is the best way to get that data? You can purchase a mailing list and third-party data, but it’s always more effective if customers are willing to provide it […]

  • Silos Are for Farmers, Not Marketers

    Got a silo problem? If you’re like most companies doing targeted and personalized marketing, you do. You may have plenty of customer data, but it might be in different places (silos), and these places often aren’t talking to each other. As a result, your marketing is less effective than it could be.  Here are some […]

  • Be Authentic and Connect with Customers

    Increasingly, marketers understand the power of emotions. Product features and benefits are essential, but someone’s need, fear, or desire often motivates the actual purchase. Just look at some of the most iconic brands on the market. Johnson & Johnson doesn’t sell Band-Aids based on their adhesive properties. It shows a crying child being soothed by […]

  • Shoppers: How Brands Treat People Matters

    How brands treat people during national crises like a global pandemic impacts shoppers’ purchase decisions. This means that even subtle elements in your direct mail, email, and newsletter messaging matter—a lot. This is the finding of Global Web Index (GWI), one of the premier players in the consumer data industry. According to GWI’s report “The […]

  • Customer Retention Ideas That Don’t Involve Price

    Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, businesses have faced challenges due to the growing instability in brand relationships. Especially during the early days of the pandemic, buyers often switched brands due to changes in availability, logistics, and their own economic situations. This quickly challenged businesses’ assumptions about their customers’ loyalty and spotlighted their customer […]