If one of your business-to-consumer client’s goals is to increase both customer acquisition and retention, they need to consider mover marketing. According to a study by V12, targeting people who are moving with ads helped 41% of mover marketing users significantly increase their rate of customer acquisition in 2021. In comparison, only 8% of marketers who don’t use mover marketing can claim the same. Additionally, in 2021, 35% of mover marketing users saw a significant increase in customer retention compared to the 9% their counterparts experienced. Overall, marketers who target movers say that their ad program positively impacts the following areas:

Customer Acquisition: 43% agree
Customer Retention: 41%
Customer Experience: 39%
Brand Awareness: 32%
Data Collection: 30%

Mover Marketing 101

Who’s Using This Marketing Strategy?

According to V12, the types of industries taking advantage of mover marketing is quite diverse. They’re made up of:

Technology: 41% of mover marketers are in this industry
Personal Services: 33%
Professional Services: 30%
Retail: 27%
Hospitality and Travel: 27%
Automotive: 25%
Financial Services and Insurance: 21%
Utilities and Telecom: 13%

Which Types of Ad Media They’re Using

When you think of advertisements that target people who are in the process of moving, you probably think direct mail. These ads tend to make new movers’ mailboxes unusually full for the first month or so after they’ve moved, offering coupons, mover-specific deals and a slew of other informative details. However, direct mail is only the second most popular mover marketing tactic. V12 says that the ad media types these marketers use the most are:

Email and Personalized Offers: 43% of mover marketers utilize this medium
Direct Mail: 43%
Print Ads: 33%
Paid Social: 26%
Search Engine Optimization: 23%
Paid Search: 23%
Omnichannel: 17%

While paid social and SEO fall in the bottom half of these ad types, V12 says that mover marketing “power users” are more likely to include these ad types in their program. Power users are mover marketers with the most successful marketing strategies of the group. So, their advertising habits can be particularly insightful.

For more information on advertising best practices when targeting movers, check out the Potential Movers audience profile on AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel. There, you’ll discover information such as which types of emails they enjoy receiving from businesses, what print media types they interact with and which types of ads prompted them to take action within the last year.

Acquisition and Retention

The ad media types that mover marketers prioritize when focusing specifically on customer acquisition and retention differ slightly. When acquisition and retention are the goal, these marketers most utilize:

Social Media Marketing: 66%
Email and Personalized Offers: 62%
Digital Advertising: 60%
Direct Mail: 45%
Print Ads: 37%
Loyalty and Rewards Programs: 31%
Search Engine Optimization: 31%
Affiliate Marketing: 29%
In-Store Promotions: 28%

What Type of Data Your Client Needs to Make It Work

In order to effectively utilize mover marketing, your client needs more than the customer’s new address. According to V12, “Access to unified customer data allows organization to improve reach and identify targeted audience segments to deliver a more personalized customer experience across all channels and stages of the buyer journey.”

So, while it’s great to start out by collecting household and contact data, your clients need to dig a bit deeper. They need access to consumer segment data, such as if the movers are first-time home buyers and what other types of buyer categories they fit into. Your client could also benefit from in-market shopping indicators, data on the property the customer is moving into and pre-move indicators. The more data your client has, the more effective they can make their ads and stand out from the competition.

Photo by Erda Estremera