Personalised marketing generates uplift, says GI

More than 70 per cent of UK adults say they are between five and 10 times more likely to respond to properly personalised marketing offers, compared with standardised communications.

The research, carried out by GI Direct, was aimed at obtaining a basic benchmark for the uplift generally produced by highly personalised direct marketing and direct mail.

It revealed some interesting regional variations, according to the company.

Scotland and the south emerge as the biggest fans of personalised direct marketing.

In contrast, East Anglia and the north west appear less receptive to high levels of targeting.

However, leaving these relative differences aside, the overall picture remains that personalisation has a significant effect on at least three-fifths of the population.

The study revealed that women are particularly keen on personalisation, with 78 per cent indicating a very significant response uplift, compared to 65 per cent of men who gave the same answer.

Patrick Headley, sales director at GI Direct, said: 'The findings give hard evidence of the critical importance of targeted direct marketing in the current recessionary climate, when sales and campaign response are generally in decline.

'The fact remains that the majority of organisations are not using more than superficial levels of personalisation in their direct marketing.

'Marketers in the current economic period therefore need to examine the level of personalisation generally applied in their direct marketing campaigns, in order to ensure - at the least - they are matching competitor standards, and - at best - exceeding the market norm in order to improve campaign responsiveness and subsequent sales.

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