It has long been no secret that mailings achieve significantly higher conversion rates than their digital counterparts. However, there is no patent recipe for the success of a mailing campaign. Rather, it is a combination of various factors that are highly dependent on your industry. Financial products, for example, require a serious letter, but for a pizza delivery service a picture-perfect postcard may be the better choice. Personalization also plays a central role in the success of a campaign – the more relevant the message and the incentives are, the higher the chance of a purchase. But high conversion rates alone do not make for success. Disproportionately generous incentives lead to high conversions, but usually do not generate a sufficient return on investment (ROI). To ensure that you exploit the maximum potential of your mailing campaigns in future, you should include the following questions in your planning.

What makes my industry?

Not every industry can count on double-digit conversions. Or to put it another way: For some industries conversion rates of 1-2% already represent a significant success. This is due to the fact that the average shopping basket height and the buying behaviour of the customers is strongly dependent on the industry. A furniture store, for example, quickly achieves shopping baskets in the 3-4-digit range, but customers generally buy new products only a few times a year. A conversion of 1-2% therefore already achieves a positive ROI here. A pizza delivery service usually generates much more frequent purchases, but the average shopping basket is relatively low. A mailing campaign usually only pays off from a conversion rate of 6%. However, the real conversions of most companies are between these two extremes.

Who can I reach efficiently?

Another important factor for the success of your mailing campaign is targeted segmentation. Single buyers convert significantly worse than multiple buyers. Use your customer information for letters, postcards, etc. to address relevant customers with the respective campaign. For example, send your sports fans incentives on fitness topics. Also make sure to address your customers personally. Personalized mailings with maximum relevant content quickly drive up conversion rates. Do not try to reactivate one-time buyers who have become customers through a 70% discount campaign.

Which fields of application are useful?

Personalized mailings are ideal for reactivating existing customers. For example, if your high-value customers are difficult to reactivate via online channels, letters and postcards offer a particularly profitable touchpoint in the final step of a reactivation campaign. It is important here that you address your customers personally with a personalised message. Tell your most valuable customers “We miss you” and round off this message with an exclusive offer. This way your reactivation mailings will achieve high conversion rates. Or send your most loyal customers a personalized birthday greeting card. An exclusive incentive can be easily wrapped as a gift here. With individual mailings you can strengthen customer relations and increase your sales at the same time. But personalized mailings offer even more profitable fields of application such as welcome messages, recommendation marketing, cross- & upselling, shopping basket dropout recovery, branding, event marketing and customer loyalty campaigns.

When is an incentive proportionate?

With incentives you want to motivate your customers to buy. However, it cannot be said in general terms whether percentage incentives convert better than fixed euro values. It is important that the incentive and minimum order value are in proportion to the campaign goal. Because high conversion rates alone are not decisive for success. In concrete terms: It is not profitable if you motivate customers to buy in rows with an incentive of 10 Euros discount on a minimum order of 20 Euros, but your ROI is close to zero in the end. Furthermore, your incentive should suggest exclusivity. So better use “DKWR1573” for your voucher codes than “winter2017”. If the customer has the feeling of receiving an exclusive offer tailored to his needs, he is much more motivated to buy. Test different incentives against each other in A/B tests to find out the best practice.

Which format is appropriate?

The choice of the format depends strongly on the industry and the respective field of application. If you sell financial products your mailing should above all, express trust and reliability. A personalised letter therefore converts much better than a postcard in financial transactions. If you want to draw the attention of top customers to the upcoming summer collection, a personalized self-mailer is a good idea, as you have more pages for impressions. If you have made a mistake when delivering to important customers, you should again rely on a letter with a personal message as an apology mailing. To find out whether, for example, the DIN A4 letter with insert converts better than without, you need to test different formats and combinations against each other in A/B tests. In the end, it is crucial that the format conveys your message in the best possible way.

Which design is best suited?

Inspire your customers with the design of your mailings to achieve maximum conversion rates. This is best achieved if the visual language is strongly oriented towards segmentation. For example, send dog fans personalized postcards showing happy dogs instead of generalized product images. Choose clear headlines and avoid long texts. Guide customers directly to the desired action. This should also be clearly formulated. The customer should be able to see at first glance what needs to be done. The design also offers a good starting point for A/B tests. For example, test product images (pet food) against mood images (dog owners playing with their dog) to optimise the success of your mailing campaigns and find out the best practice.

The numbers speak for themselves

Taking the above criteria into account, the postal channel achieves an average conversion rate of 3.7% according to our experience. US-American studies even speak of 5.3%! This is not least due to the fact that letters and postcards on the home desk last for longer periods of time and thus convert at a much later date. Of course, mailings are not suitable for every customer due to the additional costs for printing and port. Therefore, you should always make sure to send letters, postcards, self-mailers and the like according to targeted segmentation. Generalised mass mailings will not achieve high conversion rates. optilyz offers you the perfect solution for this. With our platform, you can use existing customer data for your mailings without additional effort. Furthermore, recurring mailings can be easily automated. For this reason the most innovative companies in Europe are already increasing the conversion rates of their mailing campaigns with optilyz.