When it comes to marketing, our goal is always to communicate as best we can to the recipient. And since we can’t reach out and personally get to know every single one of the hundreds (or thousands) of individuals on our list, we have to use the information we have on hand. And what’s that information called? DATA!
No, not the guy from Star Trek. We’re talking actual facts, figures and stats. Let’s do a little hypothetical, shall we? You’re Bob, the owner of a financial planning company that hosts monthly dinner seminars where you pitch your services to high net worth individuals. Hi, Bob! It’s great to meet you (and boy do I wish I was a high net worth individual). Just curious, Bob, where do you find these individuals that come to your seminars? You purchase a list? Awesome! Ok, so let’s say you purchase a list based on key demographics that you feel like are your ideal clients. You filter it for people over 40 years old who make over $150k a year and live within a certain distance from your office. Let’s say, for the sake of making this easy, you end up with a list of 100 people.
Of that 100 people, 25 are under fifty years old, married with teen children. Another 50 are over fifty years old, married with no children to care for. And the remaining 25 are single women over sixty five. Do you think that sending the same direct mail piece to a couple in their 40s and a widowed woman in her 70s is going to make sense? Yes, both audiences have a high net worth and live within the same radius, but that’s really where the similarities stop.
Instead, you should tailor the design of the piece to speak to each segment of your list personally. Talk about saving for college to the younger couple, how to make the most out of retirement to the older couples and how to ensure the assets in place are protected and will last for the oldest, single demographic. Using variable data, you can swap out headlines and imagery to better connect with each group. And better connecting means a better return on investment.
So let your data drive your designs in your next campaign.