Offline: New Customer Acquisition with Direct Mail with Dylan Jenkins (episode 151)

by April Buencamino-dy

Since 1999, Dylan Jenkins has been helping mail-order and eCommerce businesses to recruit new customers through direct mail. Having worked with hundreds of brands to perfect their cold recruitment campaigns, Dylan is now Vice President of Sales at Epsilon Abacus, the premier data cooperative for catalogue and multi-channel retailers.

Dylan Jenkins Epsilon Abacus Offline Marketing

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Reasons for Trying Out Direct Mail

There are plenty of reasons to test direct mail. 

One, everybody is into digital marketing, and you have to fight for your own space. And even from a consumer perspective, digital has become a confusing and noisy channel. 

Two, not all customers are in the digital world. Some are even actively trying to get out of the digital world because of the overwhelming feeling they get.

Last, personalization and accuracy of data selections have evolved for direct mail. You can really get your brand message across through direct mail, which is sometimes a challenge for digital.

With all that being said, Dylan says direct mail is not a replacement for any channel. On the contrary, you should use direct mail in conjunction with your digital channels. The key is to understand how they can work together.

What is a data cooperative?

A data cooperative is a group of individuals who pool their data together.

In the case of Epsilon Abacus, it’s a group of retailers coming together to share information for better decision-making.

Aside from this, these retailers also get together to better understand consumer behavior, and this is under the premise that no consumer is unique to one business.

Improving Customer Retention and Accelerating Customer Acquisition

Direct mail can be a powerful tool for improving, both customer acquisition and retention.

Direct mail can help you attract new customers because it allows you to reach a highly targeted audience, unlike other marketing channels that might have a wider audience.

For this same reason, direct mail can also help to retain existing customers by providing them with personalized offers that can lead to increased loyalty.

Direct mail lets your brand stay top of mind, but it’s vital to ensure that your messaging is relevant and personalized to the recipient. By using data and analytics to understand customer behavior and preferences, such as what you get from data cooperatives, you can create more targeted and effective direct mail campaigns.

Improving the Results of Direct Mail with GDPR

GDPR, or General Data Protection Regulation, governs the way businesses can use, process, and store personal data.

GDPR, has not only made data quality better but has also made targeting better and improved direct mail.

The GDPR safeguards individuals’ private information and prevents it from being used in ways they do not consent to, translating into improved targeting.

Insider Tips

If we’ve inspired someone to take their first step with offline marketing – what do they need to know to give themselves the best chance of success?

There are many brands that have used direct mail successfully and continue to do so. Study these brands, such as Boden and Charles Tyrwhitt, check out different resources such as Royal Mail and Market Reach, and learn and understand how you can also do direct mail for your business.

Once you’ve started of course you’ve got to ‘keep optimising’! So what’s your favourite way to improve offline marketing performance?

For Dylan, it’s testing. Test one thing and see how it makes a difference against your controlled variable. It’s through testing that you’re going to learn.

If someone listening wants to learn more about offline marketing is there one cheap/free resource you’d recommend?

Dylan has two recommendations:

Crystal ball time – what’s coming up in the next 6-12 months that we should be getting ready for in offline marketing?

Hopefully, costs will come down in the next 6 to 12 months, but aside from this, Dylan says one thing to look at is TV. It’s becoming a thing in the States, and it’s what businesses should watch out for.

Interview Links

Dylan on Social media:

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