As new generations continue to mature into the financial services marketplace, the demand for a digital-first customer experience has risen to the forefront. But there is still room at the table for direct mail.
One of our guests—Robert Dudacek, president/CEO of CUES Supplier member Franklin Madison based in Franklin, Tennessee—elaborates early on about the top reason credit unions should use direct mail.
“When you think about physical mail, it creates a type of engagement that is uniquely different than what a member would experience through digital,” he says. “It’s something that’s tangible. It’s tactile. It’s something they can hold. … It’s just such a great way to reinforce that brand loyalty. They see the logo in a form that they can recognize. I think a high percentage of members actually read their mail every day compared to email.
Dudacek says good direct mail has some key features: It’s personalized and relevant to the recipient. It’s got brand affinity and respects the recipient as a member of that brand’s affinity group. It also gets right to the point.
Michael Brooks adds that, as a professional in this arena, he appreciates direct mail that follows up with a digital. Brooks is senior market strategy analyst for Franklin Madison, which builds member security by delivering industry-leading insurance products and marketing services through its brand partners—and is the sponsor of this show.
“If I see something come through my front door … tailored to me … then they also follow up that messaging with something that … is consistent with that messaging in the digital space, I appreciate that.”
Another reason the show identifies for using direct mail is that people of all ages read it.
“We send out millions of pieces of mail each month,” Dudacek explains, “and have very sophisticated analytics … so we know not only who we’ve been able to send mail out to but who responds. … when we look at the data, we don’t see big difference in engagement across the age ranges and the demographics. … about two-thirds of all of all direct mail is opened and that’s across all segments … millennials tend to have about the same rate as other generations do. … We found that 84% of millennials look through their mail on a regular basis … and 64% actually prefer physical mail to digital.”
The show also gets into: