It’s no secret that marketing strategies have a direct impact on customer experience – and your customer’s experience will determine loyalty, which in turn will affect your revenue and overall profits. The pressure is on, but this should motivate you to excel!

As the world of marketing has shifted from mass marketing to direct marketing, the need for personalized engagement is growing. Direct marketing is the strategic targeting of your customers as individuals, resulting in greater brand engagement, customers gaining a better understanding of your brand, and a more positive experience on both sides.

Whether you are handling your marketing in-house or employing a marketing agency, it’s important to have a clear idea of what you are doing and why. To optimize your marketing plan, keep these points in mind.

1. Have a Relevant Message

No-one has the time or attention span to engage in messages that aren’t relevant to them. Create timely, personalized messages that grabs their eyes.

The best direct marketing should always include a specific Call to Action (CTA). This is usually a button that prompts the customer to take a specific action. Get your audience to interact and gain something from your business, such as a free download or a discount code, in exchange for their valuable personal information.

CTA’s are a fantastic, low-cost option that provides measurable results. However, if your message isn’t relevant, no-one’s going to engage with your offers!

2. Know Your Customer

Which leads us on to the next point: know your customer. Create buyer personas and get to understand the specific details that make up your different groups of customers. What do they want? Where have they come from? Know their journeys and their goals.

If you need some more customer information, send out a survey, create a Call to Action, or analyse the data that’s right underneath your nose. 7 out of 10 marketers ignore social data, but with Facebook analytics and other free tools available, there’s no excuse! Pay attention to your business’ insights and understand how customers are interacting with your business.

3. Choose the Right Channel

Seamless, multi-channel communication is considered a necessity these days. However, spreading yourself too thin can only damage your business’ online presence. Create a marketing strategy that will optimize exposure and customer engagement.

See how your existing customers are interacting with your business. Are they reaching you from your website, emails, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook or even direct letterbox fliers? Don’t just jump onto what you think is the most popular platform. Every business is unique, so take time to find out what’s best for yours.

4. Mean What You Say

Don’t promise anything you can’t deliver! This is a golden rule and is pretty self-explanatory. Aside from being labelled as a distrustful business, you will lose customer loyalty. On top of losing customers, you will also risk losing potential new customers, because people talk.

5. Maintain Your Website

Even if most of your customers are on other social media platforms, don’t neglect your website. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, but make sure it is user friendly and the aesthetic matches your corporate branding. A little bit of graphic design can go a long way. Keep your content relevant and make sure site visitors get a clear sense of what your services or products are within 3 seconds of landing on your homepage.