For the past few weeks, I’ve been sending you our new ‘Direct Mail Superheroes’ email newsletter.
But the likelihood is that you probably haven’t seen them.
Because, the chances are, it has probably landed in your junk folder or has become one of the hundreds of emails that clutter up your inbox.
It’s the modern-day challenge for marketing teams.
The engagement of email marketing is dropping quicker than the pound, Zuckerberg’s algorithm is slowly increasing the cost to reach your audience on Facebook and new platforms like TikTok are introducing ad platforms that will either be incredible or terrible.
But whilst some companies run around like crazed budget-holders trying to find agencies to buy fluff, chase the shiny object or get sucked into over-promises – other companies are investing in the only thing that matters …
… the customer.
Amazon are the obvious example of this.
In fact, Mr Bezos himself recently said:
“The No. 1 thing that has made us successful by far is obsessive compulsive focus on the customer as opposed to obsession over the competitor.”
Anybody (IE, everybody) that has been an Amazon customer knows exactly this – the order process is seamless, the confirmation email holds just enough information and the delivery process is dreamy.
Amazon are an operations business, and their focus on the customer ensures they deliver a highly convenient customer-focussed experience.
But for businesses in their “experience” space, what does being customer focussed look like?
Well, a great example are, Augustinus Bader.
If you’re not familiar, they sell premium award-winning face cream that activates and orchestrates the body’s innate regenerative processes.
Recently, to mark a brand-new cream they had developed – they wanted to introduce this to their existing customers.
Some brands would have sent an email campaign, ran some PR and added it to their website – but what Augustinus Bader did was focus on delighting and prioritising the customer.
What did they do?
They decided to send each of their customers a 7ml pot of the new cream in a branded box along with a personalised handwritten card.
- Was it the easiest option? Definitely not.
- Was it the cheapest option? Definitely not.
- Would their competitors have done it? Probably not.
But my prioritising the customer and thinking “what would the customer want” – they knew that it was worth the pain, the investment and the time to personally write a card and mail cream to their thousands of worldwide customers.
What happened?
Their customers jumped on social media to thank them, it generated orders and it undoubtedly won customers for life.
They decided to invest in their customer relationship for the next ten years, not just focus on a ROI over a 14-day period like most businesses.
Here’s the thing, your biggest goal should always be retaining customers – it’s criminal to go to the effort of winning a customer, but then losing them on their second, third of fourth purchase.
The most effective way to do this is to obsess over delighting that customer.
Sending them a handwritten card post-purchase, to introduce them to something new or even to send them a Christmas message is the simplest and most low-cost way to have a profound impact.
And if you want some help to make that happen, then it’s our superpower.
You know where we are when you need our help