4 Secrets for Marketers to Build Deeper Customer Connections

Building Deeper Connections with Customers

Successful marketing — and resulting sales — is a matter of building deep connections. Successful marketing happens when a company or organization (no matter the industry or sector) reaches out to its customers with a message that resonates with them and meets their needs.

The Harvard Business Review defines a partnership as the connection when “customers feel that a company relates to and works well with them.”

Persona vs. Person

You’re not selling to a persona, or to a company. You’re selling to a human. A person.

Your consumers are seeking authentic connections with the brands they purchase software and services from. It’s called human-to-human (H2H) engagement.

In our 2021 State of Sending survey, we found that leveraging H2H strategies combatted digital fatigue and drove revenue. The majority of respondents agreed that taking an H2H approach helped them achieve higher client retention rates (64%), build deeper relationships (63%), and close sales (54%).

The Challenges

Where to start? Every marketer has competition for these valuable connections. Your customers have only so much mindshare to engage with sales messaging from varying companies, especially in a world where 80% of our respondents agreed that their target audiences were experiencing digital fatigue due to increased digital efforts (ie an influx of email campaigns, social media chatter, and relentless news cycles).

The key for marketers is to increase brand awareness with customers and secure an ongoing sense of identification.

And this is where direct sending, or direct mail marketing, shines. Can you recall receiving a thoughtful, tangible gift in the mail? Perhaps it was customized swag or a handwritten note? These are examples of ”physical sends.” Far beyond impersonal emails and other virtual outreach appeals — a physical send, or direct mail gift or letter, provides long-lasting, memorable experiences in customers’ minds. We call these Physical Impressions™, and they create tactile, hand-in-hand relationships that bridge distances.

4 Reasons Why Direct Mail Delivers Deeper Connections

Yes, the “secret” is direct mail marketing. And no, this isn’t your direct mail strategy from eras past.

Learn how a modern-day direct mail strategy, powered by the leading Sending Platform™, can break through lackluster digital campaigns, nurture customer relationships, be personalized-to-scale, and can pivot your field marketing strategies through a Send and Deliver campaign.

1. Direct Mail Breaks Through the Digital Clutter

Customers crave authenticity. And 57% of them feel valued when they receive direct mail. Those deeper and authentic customer connections eventually lead to brand affinity. And we all know brand affinity is an essential element of the sales process.

“You can send emails, LinkedIn messages, and make dials all day long. But this is something unique and out-of-the-box that has such a high level of impact,” says Erin Guerre, an account-based marketing analyst with Sendoso client, HighRadius.

“A lot of these people,” adds Guerre, speaking of sales prospects, “have never received an item of direct mail before, so, to them, it’s a real surprise and delight.”

2. Direct Mail Nurtures Relationships

After you’ve gained that hard-earned brand affinity, now it’s about maintaining that customer relationship. Nurturing this connection through direct mail has proven itself in recent years. Direct mail typically yields a 13x higher response rate than email!

That’s where Sendoso’s leading-edge (Software-as-a-Service) SaaS Sending Platform is revolutionizing “sending,” or direct mail marketing. Direct sending not only secures new customers beyond first instances of interest and initial buy-ins, but it keeps them engaged in long-term relationships with strategic sends at key milestones in the customer journey. In optimal use, direct sending creates deep connections with customers that range from enchantment to joy.

3. Direct Mail (through a Sending Platform) Can Be Personalized to Scale

Have a high-profile client who loves a specific sports team? Do a little research, and thanks to our Amazon integration, send them a personalized gift to celebrate a team win right before they’re scheduled to renew your big contract.

Or perhaps you would like to send personalized gifts to scale to the decision-makers at big, prospective accounts? We’ve done that too, and the results can speak for themself within the ROI.

4. Direct Mail Can Ressurect Your Field Marketing Goals

A tried-and-true method of building relationships has always been events. Whether tradeshows, conventions, or industry-focused conferences, the adage of “it’s who you know, not what you know” will continue to ring true in all aspects of business and relational success. But how does one build a deeper connection in the instance of a virtual-first event?

Enter a strategic direct mail solution once again. From a virtual event, a video call, or a live webinar – people still wish for a durable element of delight, a bit of fun that extends beyond a digital screen. They want that human touch, and customized direct mailings of gifts like cup holders, phone mounts, and portable chargers can be persuasive enticements to increase attendance when those virtual events happen.

Even better, marketers can leverage direct mail during real-time virtual events with interactive giveaways and contests. By delighting participants and securing deep connections, this is the way to ensure future connections.

“I fundamentally believe in direct mail as a marketing tool … [and] sending platforms are probably one of the most critical technologies in my tech stack,” says Sendoso user Andrea Kayal, chief marketing officer of Electric, an IT company.

Start Building Deeper Customer Connections Today

No matter your industry, connect with Sendoso today. Learn how to deliver increased and improved customer connections through personalized sending and gifting.