The best way to transform a new customer into a loyal customer is still print in most cases. Experts and study findings confirm: Placing information directly in the consumer's hands strengthens brand loyalty.
Printed direct mail is now rarely considered essential when conceptualizing and planning campaigns. Marketing decision-makers often rely on online channels to address customers directly, which doesn’t actually make sense, as printed direct mailings achieve a significantly higher ROMI (return on marketing investment) compared with their digital counterparts.
This made itself clear at an event titled “The Ultimate Direct Mail Workshop” in London in June 2024. Here, marketing director at fashion brands Live Unlimited and Ro&Zo Lauren Mason explained, among other things, why the company began to focus on direct mail twelve months earlier: “From being a digital-first brand we wanted to find a way of having some sort of physical presence with the customer and having something she can touch – while expressing our appreciation for her.”
She said that her company was scared about the costs at first, but initial test runs delivered very positive results. “At Live Unlimited, it drove really high average order values and retention rates really increased,” Mason emphasized. The results at Ro&Zo were even more impressive. “We acquired customers at really low cost – it was actually cheaper to acquire customers than by using digital,” ensured the marketing manager.
Activation potential
Olaf Hartmann, expert for haptic brand communications, explains why print is better capable of activating customers compared with digital advertising, with insights from brain research. These studies show that information perceived together with haptic stimuli is processed at a deeper level and more likely to be remembered. They boost readers’ willingness to take action. “Haptic forms of advertising trigger a higher activation physiologically, and that’s a crucial edge not to be underestimated.”
Besides its activating power, credibility is also one of print’s strengths, Hartmann emphasizes. In a digital world, where fake news and information overloads are becoming rampant, the credibility of brands is key. “On the one hand, the role of print in an increasingly digital world is at the higher end of the quality scale, where the focus is on value, and on the other hand, where the goal is to boost consumers’ willingness to spend and buy. But print products also have a major advantage over digital media in performance communication: You can’t just click and close them. And when you engage with them, you do so very deliberately.”
Lasting impression
According to the 2023 CMC Print Mailing Study, print mailings themselves prove to be effective advertising and reliable sales drivers in economically challenging times. 73 percent of respondents indicated that they find physical mail more personal and authentic than digital communication. “This emotional aspect establishes trust and draws the interest of potential customers,” explains the one-to-one marketing specialist from the O/D Group, Max Spies, commenting the results. Personalized contents and high-quality design can also increase customer appeal and leave behind a lasting impression.
The CMC study attributes an average conversion rate (CVR) of 5.4 percent to advertising letters directed at existing customers of online shops, classifying them as reliable response bringers. The use of response boosters (print-on coupons, scratch-off labels, QR codes, enclosed paper coupons) increases the CVR by up to 33 percent. Furthermore, after reading a print mailing, about one-fifth of existing customers visit the advertised online shop. Finally, with an average shopping cart value of 82 euros (before returns), every euro invested in print mailing yields sales of 9.01 euros, corresponding to a return on ad spend (ROAS) of 901 percent.
The “Print Mailings” direct marketing guide from Deutsche Post explains critical areas when planning, conceptualizing and implementing effective advertising letters while also presenting several best practice examples as well as expert opinions. Professor for marketing and sales at FHDW in Hanover Torsten Spandl recommends print mail for brand building and reinforcement and as a medium for reminders: “People who have received print mailing three, four times will respond more positively to additional touchpoints in the customer journey. They also have an interesting effect on the conversion rate: In digital, the rate is much lower; no wonder with the flood of information caused by over-circulated newsletters, social media posts, banners, etc.” In addition, print mail attracts more attention than advertising messages glanced at briefly on smartphones while on the go. They remain present longer in households, partly because enclosed coupons or codes are often redeemed weeks later.
The best of both worlds
To summarize, it can be said that the activation potential of print is superior to that of any digital channel when it comes to customer loyalty. Haptics also make all the difference here, with Olaf Hartmann outlining the optimal way to take advantage: “If you harness this activation potential, using print impulses to lead the target group to digital channels where audio-visual contents can provide more in-depth information, you get the best of both worlds.”
Yours,
Knud Wassermann,
Editor-in-Chief "Graphische Revue"