You might already know how important emotional intelligence (EI) is for business success. However, many marketers haven’t looked into using EI in their marketing strategies. EI is generally seen as the ability to understand and control your own emotions, as well as the feelings of others. Research indicates that 90% of high-performing business people have strong emotional intelligence.
While not everyone is innately intelligent in the emotional sense, it is a skill set that can be learned and developed with practice. And that’s important, because those who choose to cultivate their EI abilities tend to interact more successfully with others in terms of:
- harnessing the power of their emotions to solve problems,
- communicating efficiently and empathetically, and
- understanding and responding appropriately to the emotions of others
So, what has EI got to do with your direct mail postcards? Let’s consider the impact of that last point…
The Importance of Relevant Marketing
Studies show that only about one-third of consumers believe their favorite brands really understand them. In fact, the promotional emails and marketing messages they get from these brands are relevant to their personal needs and feelings just 35% of the time.
Numbers like these should have marketers sitting up and taking notice. Emotionally intelligent interactions hinge on listening and responding to what’s important to others. And cultivating EI-driven relationships with customers is particularly important when it comes to marketing relevance.
The customers and prospects you interact with want to feel valued. And the best way to make that happen is with messaging that speaks directly to their needs, wants, and desires. When we take the time to understand the moods and impulses that drive our clients’ purchasing decisions, we’re better able to reply to those emotional triggers with advertising that’s directed toward the right person, at the right time.
Connecting with Customers Emotionally
Emotionally intelligent postcard marketing relies on:
- digging out the emotional factors that influence a client’s desire to purchase from you
- determining what your product or service offers that solves a client’s problem
- honing in on the pleasure a client feels when they take advantage of what you’re selling
Using customer feedback, surveys, interviews, and other dialoguing tools to get to know your clients on a deeper level is crucial to navigating the buying journey they’re on. Armed with the right data, your business will be better prepared to create direct mail postcards that engage and connect with the demands of would-be buyers. And that can drive more traffic to your website, and increase conversions.
Consider your answers to questions like these the next time you sit down to design a direct mail campaign:
- Is the content personalized and relatable?
- Do the images and other visual elements inspire the desired emotional response?
- Does your offer provide value by making your customer’s life better in a way that’s relevant to them?
- Is the frequency of your mailout appropriate for your audience?
You may have to experiment with both the layout and the scheduling of your direct mail materials before you land on a combination that yields the best ROI. Remember, two of the most common reasons for results that miss the mark are mailing to prospects at the wrong time – and failing to connect with them emotionally.