Sending a follow-up marketing message to prospects results in a second spike in the response to your offer. Here are some ideas that will help make your financial institution’s follow-up message more effective.

Early in November, I found a self-mailer promotion from a consortium of five area car dealerships in my mailbox. I thought about mentioning it in this blog because it was a good example of halo marketing. It tied dealer service department specials to a Toys For Tots campaign. Besides the local dealers combining for a $20,000 donation to the children’s charity (dedicating a full panel to the story), the promotion encouraged car owners to drop off a gift for the kid’s program when they came to use the discount service coupons.

Self-Mailer address panel

A follow-up postcard from the nearest dealership arrived December 7. Although it tried to connect with the earlier mailer, it missed on many points. Considering the two mail pieces were prepared by the same marketing resource, that’s unacceptable.

First, the creative is completely different. There’s a predominantly green self-mailer (SM) and a blue postcard (PC). The SM uses stylized ornaments while the PC has ornaments filled with holiday images. Headline fonts don’t match. There are no visual cues on the PC to make me remember what I saw on the SM.

Postcard front

But here’s where the PC fails the most. The header on the mail panel encourages the prospect to help the dealer make “A Child’s Holiday Season Special.” There’s an image of a Marine, the Marine Corps. being the sponsor and workhorse behind the program. There’s a Toys For Tots logo on the bottom of the PC. And that’s all.

I can see why they might omit the “bring a toy” idea because there’s less printing area. But nothing ties the dealership to the Toys For Tots campaign for the average prospect. It might even confuse them if they think about the card’s message for long. Here’s an example…

On the back of the card, above the coupons, the headline says, “Putting Smiles On Little Faces.” “How?” the prospect might wonder. But getting an oil change? Rotating tires? Do the service guys have little faces?

Where’s the repetition of the Toys For Tots message? There’s not even a tiny graphic tie-in.

The fault lies with the Houston, Texas, company that did the creative. (Shown by the return address.) The PC is obviously a shell where the dealer’s pertinent information and prices for the pre-selected service department offers are overprinted on the card. Why don’t the two mail piece look more alike and follow through with similar messages?

So here’s what you should remember: Consistency counts big-time, especially when you’re using multiple components for your marketing campaigns. Whether you have your in-house staff or a third party create campaign materials, there must be visual, copy, and offer tie-ins. Prospects don’t remember mismatched campaign pieces they see at different times, especially a month apart.

Otherwise, like the postcard shown above, you lose the impact of a major part of your offer — whether it’s a Toys For Tots tie-in, a checking offer, or any other marketing promotion.

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Here’s an example of a well-executed follow-up plan.