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COVER STORY
Do you send the same material to
all your customers via the same
communication channel, or do
you mix and match the message
and the medium to suit the
preferences, needs and interests
of each customer?
There is clear and growing
evidence that organisations that
personalise communications
improve both marketing
effectiveness and customer loyalty.
New research by the University of
Cambridge Judge Business School
1
,
published online in the
Journal of
Consumer Psychology
, shows that
the likelihood of someone making
a charitable donation depends
on whether they feel better or
worse off than others, with the
obvious implication that if a charity
can tailor a mailing according to
whether a recipient feels ‘superior’
or ‘inferior’, it can maximise the
chances of a successful outcome.
To make its point, the study uses
the example of a slogan produced
for the American Cancer Society’s
Relay for Life campaign – ‘Making
strides toward a world with more
birthdays’. Because this message
focuses on giving ‘the world’ more
birthdays, the report states that
it is likely be more effective in
reaching those who feel relatively
better off than others, as they tend
to give for altruistic reasons i.e. to
‘give back’ and be a better person.
It adds that the chances of
raising funds from people who
feel generally worse off would
be improved if the wording was
changed to ‘Making strides toward
giving you more birthdays’. This is
because people who feel inferior
in some way are more likely to give
in order to benefit themselves – to
give ‘oneself’ more birthdays, in
this example.
Co-author Eric Levy of University
of Cambridge Judge Business
School said: “Given that most
charity advertisements focus on
‘benefits to others’ rather than
to oneself, the study suggests
that many of these ads may be
ineffective in motivating people
to give when they are feeling
worse off than others. So charity
managers should seek to ascertain
if their target audience feels worse
off than others and, if so, say
something like ‘help improve air
quality so you can live a healthier
life’ rather than ‘help improve air
quality so people around the world
can live healthier lives’.”
Personalisation
Such an approach might be seen
as intrusive, even presumptuous.
Yet there is growing evidence in
the business world that tailoring
messaging to reflect what is
known about a customer’s buying
habits, lifestyle, income, interests,
preferences and other variables is
welcomed by consumers, principally
because it makes contact from
businesses more relevant.
In a recent survey by Ricoh
Europe
2
, almost two thirds (64%)
of consumers said brands could do
more to tailor their communications
to their needs – and 80% said they
would be willing to share personal
data including salary and health
details to enable this.
The survey also highlights
the risks of not personalising
communications. Almost two thirds
(65%) of respondents said they feel
less loyal to a brand that sends
them irrelevant information, with
63% saying they would spend less
and 57% withdrawing their custom
completely.
Targeted communications also
have major positive benefits,
including better response rates,
closer customer relationships, less
waste and cost savings. What,
then, is stopping organisations from
personalising communications?
One factor is the complexity of
managing personalisation without
the software and equipment
needed to automate processes.
This is where output management
solutions can really help.
Output management software
Output management software
(OMS), like solutions offered by
Neopost (see below), centralises
and automates part, or all, of the
processes required to produce
digital and hard-copy customer
communications, including
Add intelligence and relevance to your customer communications
with Neopost output management software
Time to get personal
10 things you can do with output
management software
1. Contact customers via their choice of channel.
2. Digitise your business – at your customers’ pace.
3. Maintain visibility & control.
4. Consult audit trails for proof of delivery.
5. Design mailings to comply with Royal Mail discount specifications.
6. Personalise customer communications.
7. Boost productivity.
8. Reduce print, paper and postage costs.
9. Centralise communications.
10. Maintain a consistent corporate identity.
