Data shows around four million people have used AI in their business. Whether it is automating processes or answering customer queries, AI has fully settled itself as a useful tool. But did you know it can also be useful for your marketing strategy, and it can even go as far as to change the design experience for your digital printing?

David Beasley, CEO of Washington Direct Mail says: “Getting the most out of your marketing involves having designs that people will love. With direct mail still being a prominent strategy, you need to make sure your designs are standing out and catching your customer’s eye. By working with an AI system, you can switch up your ideas, tailor your marketing to better connect with customers, and even test your products before release to get the most out of your money.”

Idea generation

Coming up with new ideas for your long-standing direct mail can be difficult. Whether it is switching up your colour scheme or completely reinventing your branding, AI can have a helping hand in creating ideas for your business.

By inputting what you want your design to represent, you can receive a range of design ideas for your own marketing. With ChatGPT’s new feature letting you input images, you can even ask AI to summarise what your current design suggests and ideas to improve it – such as increasing white space or changing fonts.

Tailored marketing

Another use of AI for your direct mail strategy is through tailored marketing. By implementing AI systems into your administration, you can segment your customer base. Segmentation can be used to predict what your customers will want, so that you can better target these needs with your marketing. This can be done through data analysis, documenting demographics through socioeconomic status and other pieces of information to better understand your audience.

By grouping your customers, you will be able to create tailored marketing that works for every individual. If you offer multiple service lines, you can ensure that your customers are receiving the right mail, at the right time – whether this is predicting seasonal changes in service demand or increasing your mail for affluent and upcoming areas.

Copy for your customers

AI also has the ability to write content for your customers. By taking the personalisation a step further, you can ensure that all content on your direct mail is in the right tone of voice and style for your target audience. Adjusting your tone of voice, such as making localised marketing, can help establish a better connection with your customers and encourage them to use your business.

This can also be important if you want to target low-income families or marginalised groups, as you can tailor your content and service line descriptions to be more accessible. This means that you can open your services and products to a range of customers, no matter the complexity of your business offerings.

Quicker testing

Technologies such as AI can also help you save money during your marketing strategies. One way it can do this is by trial-running your different design ideas. Traditionally, you might have had to send out multiple designs to find which will receive the best response rate, but through AI, you can run the images by technology for A/B testing. By using previous information, customer attitudes, and market trends, this can predict the response to your marketing designs – letting you find the best design before spending money on it.  

Beasley says: “Making sure you get the most for your money is important and by knowing your audience better, you can ensure you’re getting the best conversions from your marketing. By using a trusted direct mail provider and AI systems, you can find designs which work best for your business and make sure you’re getting the most out of your mail.”

Tracking and analysis

AI can also be a great tool for big data. By aligning your AI tools with your data tracking, you can use your historical and real-time information to track progress in your company, service line growth, and direct mail success.

You can also use AI systems to predict future trends, using market insights and your historical data, so that your company can stay ahead of the curve and produce the best designs for your marketing. This can give you an advantage over your competitors who don’t analyse customer wants in this way, and might therefore miss upcoming demand.

By using AI alongside a trusted direct mailing partner, you can ensure you’re getting the best designs for your direct mail marketing. Ensuring you’re targeting the right customers, with the right services at the right time, is essential for better responsiveness. By implementing AI, you can create new designs, set up tone of voice guidelines for each of your audiences – or locations – and make sure you’re getting the most out of your money.