I recently received this mailing from my local Toyota dealership.

It uses visually interesting techniques and a fresh messaging approach along with highly personalized data. 

The outer envelope features a realistic faux handwriting font in blue ink, and a slightly askew stamp. The back flap contains a return address but no name. These techniques increase “open-ability” – the letter looks personal and there’s some mystery around the sender.  

Inside is a one page Microsoft Outlook-style email message with “URGENT: Exclusive Offer for Polly” in the subject line. The email is from the general manager of the dealership to a team member about me and my 2017 Toyota Tacoma and how the dealership should pay me top dollar for my truck, with an urgent tone.  

It’s fun reading an email about yourself that’s not addressed to you. A yellow sticky note with the realistic blue ink handwriting “Polly, Please call me!” is attached to the email print out. 

The creative nails it –  clever, fresh, a quick read with a clear call to action. 

BUT, the data is totally wrong:  

“Please contact Polly and let them know that I want to purchase their 2017 Toyota Tacoma.”  

OOF. I never owned the 2017 Toyota Tacoma. It was a leased vehicle. And I turned it in about a year ago, in June of 2020.  

Wow! Such a great creative approach, that fails miserably due to really bad data. It doesn’t even make sense for me to respond since the offer is completely irrelevant to me. 

Data hygiene and data accuracy are so critical to the success of your marketing campaigns. At MMI Direct, we focus exclusively on quality data hygiene and data processing services for our clients. We use 8 Levels of Data Hygiene tailored to your unique data set, strategy and goals.  

Get your free MMI Direct “8 Levels of Data Hygiene” Checklist. And contact us at any time with your data hygiene questions. We want you to be successful!