Maps are one of the easiest, most effective ways to let potential customers know where your store is located at a glance. Now that consumers are starting to visit stores in person again, they are even more likely to shop close to where they live. Smaller, local businesses are often perceived as safer choices than crowded big-box stores. There is also a trend towards buying and supporting local businesses.
If you are looking to drive local customers into your physical store (whether that’s one location or thousands), direct mail is the perfect channel to not only give them great offers, but to actually show them where you are located with a map. Here are 3 reasons maps boost the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns.
1. Increase brand awareness.
How many people are within 5 miles of your stores and have never gone in? If they travel a different way to work or into town, they might not even know you have a store near them or what you offer. Sending out a customer acquisition direct mail campaign with a map shows them exactly where you are located and what you can offer. Including pictures of your location or referencing local landmarks on the map also gives a touch of familiarity to your piece.
2. Increase customer acquisition at grand openings or with new movers.
Customers who move into your market are likely unaware of your store and the perfect opportunity to create a relationship. Customers who move into your market territory will need to start new relationships with local businesses. Make sure one of the businesses they choose is yours with a new mover campaign. You can send a welcome message to families who are new to your area, complete with a map from their door to yours.
On the flipside, if you have a store opening in a new market, including a map from every potential customer’s door to your store along with an irresistible offer is the perfect way to get them to come in. Any time you can save your customer some time, you’ll create a favorable impression. That includes finding your store.
3. Utilize variable data printing technology to personalize each map to increase the overall effectiveness of your campaign.
Instead of putting the same map on every direct mail piece that goes out for your campaign, why not personalize it to show your customer the exact route they can take from their door to yours? You can even add in distance, driving time, and important landmarks, such as parking garages and restaurants. Incorporating variable mapping into your direct mail campaigns can make a difference in your open rate, response rate, and overall ROI. If you don’t have the budget for personalized maps, variable data print certainly enables you to put the right static map on each recipient’s piece.
Option: QR code tied to a map application
This can be really convenient for your customers and prospects who are smartphone users. However, not everyone is comfortable with this and it does require an additional step. So, if you want to use these, we recommend using them as an add-on, not a replacement for a physical map.
Buyers are out and about again. Make sure they venture to your store with powerful localized marketing that can be duplicated for all of your locations.
