Every business wants more customers. The pressure is usually to win them quickly and cheaply, which is exactly why so much acquisition budget has shifted to digital. But the cheapest customer to acquire is not always the most valuable one to keep.
In our experience, and it is a long-standing principle in direct marketing, customers recruited through direct mail tend to be more loyal and worth more over time. They cost a little more to win. But if you are building a business for the long term, a high-quality customer base is worth far more than a cheap one.
The trouble is that recruitment targets often reward volume over value. Customers won through the cheapest routes are frequently seasoned offer-hunters: quick to take a discount, quicker to leave. A low-cost click is not always a good customer. A high volume of enquiries is not always a profitable audience. And a fast campaign is not automatically a sustainable one.
There is a practical advantage for smaller and mid-sized businesses too. Digital acquisition is fiercely competitive and increasingly expensive, and it tends to be dominated by the brands with the biggest budgets. The physical doormat is far less crowded. A well-designed mail piece has room to stand out and earn proper attention, which makes direct mail one of the most effective ways for smaller brands to reach new, relevant audiences.
Here is why it works so well as a customer recruitment channel.
Less competition
As budgets have poured into digital, the letterbox has quietly emptied out. That gives a considered, well-targeted mail piece the space to be noticed, rather than fighting hundreds of ads and emails for a sliver of attention.
Brand awareness
For a new audience, mail is an introduction. It puts your name, your look and your offer physically in someone’s hands, which is a strong first step in building familiarity and trust. That matters most for smaller businesses people may not have come across yet.
A tangible, memorable touchpoint
Mail is physical. It sits on the kitchen table, it gets picked up, it lingers. That tangibility makes it more memorable than a fleeting ad or another unread email, and studies consistently show stronger brand recall for mail than for digital-only messages.
Trust and credibility
In a world of spam, scams and data worries, a real piece of mail tends to feel more credible. That sense of legitimacy helps you start on the front foot with someone who has never dealt with your brand before.
Targeting and personalisation
Good data lets you choose exactly who to reach, by location, life stage, buying behaviour and more, then tailor the message to them. The more relevant the piece, the more valued the recipient feels, and the more likely they are to respond.
Where BBS comes in
This is where the data really matters. New-customer campaigns live or die on who you send to, and mailing the wrong people is the fastest way to waste a budget. OptiMail and our data services help you build accurate, relevant prospect audiences before a single piece is printed, whether that is named prospect data, postcode targeting or partially addressed insight. Then our DirectMail service brings the campaign to life, from print and personalisation through to delivery.
If you are weighing up how to bring new customers in, and you want the kind who stay, direct mail deserves a place in the mix. Tell us who you are trying to reach, and we will help you find the smartest way to get in front of them.
Want to talk? We’re here if you’d like a chat.
Call us on 01978 784600 or email us using sales@bbsltd.co.uk – we look forward to hearing from you!