Transactional mail may not be as glitzy or glamorous as its marketing counterpart, but it can still pack a real punch when it comes to communicating with your customers. Because if it’s got to be done, it should be done well.
Let’s start with what transactional mail actually is.
Simply speaking, transactional mail is a type of automated mail that allows you to connect with a customer about their purchase or account – so anything from business statements, invoices, or purchase confirmation to delivery information, membership packs, or loyalty mailings.
Now, they might not sound like the most interesting pieces you’ll ever send out, but they do represent a critical point in the user journey. And if you don’t give that journey the attention it warrants, your customers are unlikely to have the stand-out brand experience you’re hoping for.
Whether you’re in insurance, pensions, mortgages, banking & finance, local authorities, housing associations, non-profits, or another sector altogether, transactional mail can play a critical role in improving your customers’ experience and shaping their perception of your brand.
Read on to find out how.
The Benefits of Transactional Mail
Transactional mail is a powerful marketing tool that can really enhance the customer journey and help you to stand out from your competitors. Done well, you can use transactional mail to take your customer engagement strategy to the next level.
These are just some of the benefits:
- Trust-building: Transactional mail can help to build customer confidence in your brand by providing useful, personalised information at every stage.
- Timing: Automation means triggered mail can act as a real-time response to customer engagement, leading to better overall customer relations.
- Personalisation: Transactional mail lets you personalise your content to specific customers using behavioural data.
- Customer engagement: Personalisation results in increased engagement with your content.
- Cross-promotion: Transactional mail can also serve as an opportunity to promote related products or services based on customer preferences.
- Brand recognition: Whether it’s a welcome pack or loyalty mailing, transactional mail gives your brand added visibility.
So, there you have it: six indisputable benefits of sending well-considered transactional mail to your customers. But hold on, wouldn’t it be easier – and more effective – to send these types of communications over email?
Actually, not at all.
Transactional Mail vs Transactional Email
Did you know that a whopping 98% of people sort through their transactional mail every day, while 20% of people don’t even bother opening their emails? While some forms of transactional email are more likely to be read – such as e-receipts from an online order – the rest are often ignored, forgotten about, or mixed up with junk mail. If you have something urgent or important to communicate then, email is rarely your best option. In fact, people are far more likely to act on an invoice or debt repayment if they receive it via direct mail.
Mail carries with it an implicit sense of authority; emails, on the other hand, are so frequently hacked that people have become naturally suspicious of any email that instructs them to carry out a specific action – particularly when that action is related to making a payment. What’s more, a rather convincing 63% of people believe that a direct mail campaign is more serious than an email campaign!
Mail also boasts far more longevity: with 60% of people admitting that mail keeps a brand fresh in their minds, and 39% of households allotting a designated area to store and display mail, it’s not hard to see why transactional mail has a greater impact than transactional email.
It’s also worth noting that:
- Only 4% of people discard transactional mail without first reading it
- People spend an average of 2-3 minutes reading transactional mail, compared to just 15-20 seconds on a transactional email
- Personalising transactional mail results in a 14% higher rate of traffic generation, and a 7% higher chance of a direct order
As a key part of the customer journey, transactional mail needs to be well thought-out and efficient. In that way, it’s no different to promotional mail. In fact, every customer interaction and communication is a golden opportunity to build brand loyalty and trust, so this type of mail can help to keep customers happy and coming back for more.
Transactional mail is a powerful marketing tool that can really enhance the customer journey and help you to stand out from your competitors. Done well, transactional mail will take your customer engagement to the next level.
How KPM Can Help
Even though its primary use isn’t to make a sale or further a marketing strategy, transactional mail still needs to be carefully crafted to maintain customer interest and ensure the best brand experience possible.
At KPM, we produce millions of transactional mail packs for our clients every year – from financial statements and bills, to welcome packs and loyalty information. With robust data processes and precision personalisation, we’ll make sure that your mailings include relevant information about your customer to really pique their interest.
Whether you need high volume, fast turnaround, or both, we have the machinery (and expertise) to get the job done. And with ISO certifications and Cyber Essentials Certification, you know you’re in safe hands.
You can read about our technical expertise and bespoke processes in this business mail case study. Or if you’d rather dive straight in, why not book a Free Data Health Check? Because your transactional mail is only as good as your data.
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