Post written by Kat McDaniel, Chief Innovator at MEDiAHEAD | Marketing Portal Guru | Variable Data Promoter | Analytics Advocate | Explorer

Personalization using data is much more than simply addressing a piece of direct mail.

By using your data and analytics, and segmenting customers, marketers can craft a personalized piece of direct mail that speaks to the customer. This usually generates a much better response and ROI.

Years ago we encouraged one of our customers, the YMCA, to let us analyze their yearly campaign to attract new members in January.

They dropped hundreds of thousands of postcards after the holidays, hoping to encourage people to adopt a healthier lifestyle and participate in the many programs they offered.

We analyzed 10 years of data and segmented their potential members into five categories.

They then developed a campaign with different photos, an offer and copy to appeal to each category.

We also matched up the categories with the “most likely to join” people in a 5-mile radius around the centers.

Instead of mailing 900,000 random postcards, we only mailed to 220,000 to very targeted households.

The overall response was five times more than a random mailing.

Even better, the YMCA saved the print cost and postage on 680,000 households!

I’ve always appreciated that the YMCA’s CMO was so forward-thinking and innovative many years ago when not many companies approached their marketing this way.

Using data and analytics in your marketing effort saves time, money, and yields better results.

To find out how we can help you and your company put your data and analytics to work, give us a call today!