Nearly half (49%) of companies say that dollar for dollar; they get a better ROI from their customer retention efforts than from their customer acquisition marketing. How far are you willing to go to retain your customers? How creative are you ready to get? Here are three examples of just how far three direct mail marketers were willing to go and the impressive ROI they received.

1. Metal Mail: Royal Mail was losing customers who mistakenly thought they couldn't mail packages over 5kg. So Royal Mail sent key customers a weighty message—literally. It distributed a metal envelope engraved with the recipient's name and address. Think it was too heavy on the budget? Quite the opposite. The campaign saw an ROI of 23:1.

2. Mystery diaries: As airlines continue to eliminate less-traveled routes to slash costs, ANA Airports wanted to keep its Lisbon airport away from the knife. They created a campaign involving a fictitious traveler, John Smith, who sent the airlines handwritten diaries of his travels explaining why he keeps coming back to Lisbon. The diaries incorporated vital information, including that 75% of Lisbon tourists are repeat visitors, 90% of tourists recommend Lisbon to others, and 80% of visitors state that Lisbon exceeded their expectations. The results? While other airports were losing routes, Lisbon Portela Airport kept 100% of them.

3. Static to interactive: An automotive company had been sending traditional postcard mailings for years. The results were good but not good enough to significantly impact its revenues. The company wondered what would happen if, instead of pulling back on its direct mail efforts, it made that investment even deeper. It replaced its singular postcard with a series of three interactive 3D mailers. The 3D mailers were triple the cost of the 2D postcards, but the results spoke for themselves—a 300% increase in call volume.

While these techniques aren't for everyone, they show just how powerful creative direct mail remains as a customer retention tool. Contact us to brainstorm ways to use direct mail to maintain your customer loyalty and keep those customers coming back.