Let’s Get Personal

A letter addressed without a name looks almost as odd as this sign. Personalizing a direct marketing or sales letter costs a bit more, but it’s worth the money. Everyone likes to see their own name in print, and using the prospect’s name immediately establishes relevancy — hey, this is for me!

You can personalize direct mail print letters by adding an extra field in your database for a salutation, and, if you like, add more references throughout the letter with additional fields. You don’t need fancy software, a mail merge in Word will do the trick.

You can do the same thing in an email with a bit of code added to your email messages (check with your email provider on how to do this).

On the Web, use a personalized URL (PURL) with a matching landing page. You can then track the visits and the clicks for each one.

image from Natalie Maynor on Flickr