Today's communication is often instant and online. Triggered mail stands alongside the digital world as a powerful and effective tool for engaging with customers in a personal and impactful way. Triggered mail refers to the practice of sending mail based on specific actions or events taken by the recipient, be it birthdays, significant milestones, buying habits, or even browsing behavior. It's a strategy that allows businesses to reach out and touch their audience with personalized messages right at the moment that matters most to them. At the same time, mailers avoid the digital clutter and make an impact unmatched by online communication methods.

The power of triggered mail lies in its ability to combine the tangible impact of print with the precision of digital triggers, creating a synergy that brands can harness to maximize customer engagement. For traditional large-batch print and mail operations, though, integrating triggered mail processes doesn't seem to fit at first glance. In the right circumstances, however, print/mail service providers may discover they can create an effective workflow and find that triggered mail opens new avenues for efficiency and customer connection.

The Value of Triggered Mail

Triggered mail aligns seamlessly with the immediate and personalized interactions everyone expects from online applications. In today’s digital age, customers are used to prompt communication connected to their specific actions. When you deliver the right message at the perfect moment, you boost the chances of a positive response. Apply this strategy to the postal mail channel and you'll see benefits for you, your clients, and your client's customers.

By incorporating triggered mail, you harness the power to respond dynamically to customer interactions like purchases or inquiries, with relevant content. Think of it as meeting the recipients where they are in their journey, offering them the precise information they need, when they need it.

Triggered mail doesn't work in isolation. Its strength increases as it complements digital messaging across various platforms. By synchronizing postal mail with emails, text messages, and social media updates, you create an integrated communication network that heightens your chances of helping your clients achieve desirable outcomes. This approach ensures your messages have the continuity and presence to influence customer decisions.

The success of direct mail has often relied on the strength of the mailing list. Marketers profile the buyers and make sure they are mailing to people who are likely to respond to their offers by defining demographic parameters like age, gender, or income. Those are still important, but even a list of highly targeted individuals does not account for when each of them is most likely shopping for a product or service. This is what makes triggered mail so powerful.

Triggered mail isn't new, but the tools to take advantage of this technique have improved dramatically. I was sending triggered mail on behalf of car dealers way back in the mainframe days. We'd send a variety of cards, surveys, or letters to car buyers based on the purchase date of an automobile, whether it was new or used, on birthdays or anniversaries, or other criteria. We didn't have the internet, email, or AI back then, but we were following the same principles in use today. We contacted customers with appropriate messages at the time they were most likely to be interested in them.

Workflows for Large-Batch Print and Mail Operations

Traditional print/mail operations are designed to handle large batch runs. These operations were structured to churn out massive volumes of mail rather than cater to small, individualized batches triggered by specific customer actions. This focus makes processing triggered mail challenging because of the cost inefficiencies associated with handling smaller mail quantities.

Transitioning to a white paper workflow can address this disparity. By using plain white paper and adding branding and content during the printing process, you eliminate pre-printing expenses and storage requirements for different forms and templates. You also free yourself from having to print the same or similar content page after page. The process to print, insert, and mail a unique letter to a single individual does not disrupt the workflow. This method increases your flexibility. You can adapt to smaller mail quantities and high variability, aligning with the dynamic nature of triggered mail.

Combined jobs from multiple clients or accumulated work from different departments enhances your efficiency. When you merge smaller jobs into a larger batch, you maximize resource use and spread fixed costs over a greater volume. This aggregation method helps overcome the economic barriers of low-volume triggered mail, making it a financially viable option.

Envelope printing by the mail inserter can also make it easy to create very small quantities of individual, branded pieces while still operating in the high-volume environment. You can image plain white envelopes with full color custom logos and other branding marks after the machine inserts the pages into the envelopes. The branding can vary on every envelope. The print quality of such devices is now good enough for most business applications.

Why Print/Mail Providers Should Offer Triggered Mail

Traditional print service providers face a shift in the industry. With businesses moving away from large print runs, smaller, more customized print jobs are becoming the new standard. Print/mail service providers have an opportunity to replace the revenue lost from diminishing volumes of traditional business applications by embracing triggered mail communications. These mailings, prompted by customer interactions or key milestones, allow you to deliver timely and relevant messages to individual customers. As you adapt to this growing trend, you may explore innovative solutions that keep you competitive and responsive to changing market demands.

Processing triggered mail also moves your print/mail operation away from the end of the workflow and closer to where companies make decisions about what to mail and how much. Once integrated with your client's CRM or other systems that generate the triggers, your client relationship deepens. New opportunities may arise as a result.

Trigger Event Examples

Consider these dynamic triggers that prompt you to generate a direct mail piece:

· Birthdays: Everyone enjoys a little recognition on their special day. Birthday triggers reach customers with personalized messages and exclusive offers.

· Anniversaries: Celebrate milestones, whether it's your company’s founding date or when someone first became a customer. Anniversary acknowledgments can strengthen your relationship.

· Membership/Warranty Renewals: Remind customers about upcoming membership expiration to encourage prompt renewals before services lapse.

· Abandoned Shopping Carts: Reach out when customers leave items in their online cart without completing the purchase. A gentle nudge via mail might reignite their interest.

· Recent Purchase Follow-Ups: After a purchase, send direct mail with tips, satisfaction surveys, or related product suggestions to maintain engagement.

· Loyalty Program Milestones: Engage customers when they reach a new level in your loyalty program, offering rewards or acknowledging their commitment.

· Browsing History: Use data from customers' online activity to inform them of products similar to what they’ve explored recently.

· Last Interaction Reminders: Contact customers who haven’t interacted with you for a specific period, offering incentives to return.

· Feedback Requests: Promptly after service interactions, send requests for reviews or feedback, showing that you value their opinion and aim to improve.

Each of these events pinpoints moments when direct mail can have an impact, bridging the gap between online engagements and physical interactions. Every business has its own set of events that make sense for them. Acting on these triggers amplifies the customer connection and encourages potential transactions.

One Way to Address a Shrinking Transactional Mail Market

With transactional mail volumes declining, print/mail businesses face the challenge of compensating for potential revenue gaps. Triggered mail, which naturally attracts a higher profit margin, can replace some of that lost income. Offering this service positions your company to address modern mailing demands effectively, providing clients with communication solutions sure to increase their engagement and revitalize traditional mailing approaches.

Triggered mail leverages customer interaction data, aligning perfectly with contemporary digital transformation trends. These events—such as significant buying behaviors or critical account updates—initiate personalized communication, fostering stronger relationships between your clients and their customers. This move offers an opportunity to redefine your services, meeting client expectations while bolstering your bottom line.

Mike Porter at Print/Mail Consultants creates content that helps attract and retain customers for companies in the document industry and assists companies as they integrate new technology. Learn more about his services at www.pmccontentservices.com. Follow @PMCmike on X, or send him a connection request on LinkedIn.