Get out of your direct marketing "comfort zone" with these fresh data approaches. Now is the time to take advantage of the data services and technologies flooding the marketplace. Read on for five must-have direct marketing tools!

#1 Practice Data Hygiene. Here's a fascinating factoid: Did you know that up to 20 percent of direct marketing database records are undeliverable, seasonal, or vacant? In addition, up to 5 percent of records are identified as small to mid-size businesses, which may require different promotion and messaging than a consumer campaign.

To keep your mailing list clean, efficient and profitable, look into establishing a regular routine of data hygiene—think of it as a good-health checkup for your bottom line. Data hygiene services (which include “scrubbing” telephone records, email, and postal addresses by updating and checking them against the country’s most current records) are an important part of any direct marketing campaign. You can save mailing and printing costs, and reap a higher conversion rate with every campaign, by keeping your lists clean.

#2 Expand Touchpoints. These days, the most effective marketing campaigns are multi-channel. Many households prefer to be contacted by email; others prefer the human contact of a phone call. To ensure that you’ve got all your bases covered, fill the gaps in your data through telephone and email append.

Telephone and Email Append: This simple, powerful service overlays deliverable telephone numbers and email addresses onto your customer file. It’s a great way to get a clean, permission-based list to which you can market.

Reverse Telephone and Email Append: A reverse telephone or email append can match the email addresses and numbers in your database with postal addresses and other data. This gives you the opportunity to reach people via regular mail, email, and telephone—the cornerstones of a great multi-channel campaign.

#3 Try a Multi-Sourced List. A multi-sourced list is comprised of many different sources. Some of the most reputable data providers will keep managed B-to-B lists of the major compiled commercial databases and consumer files including the major credit bureau databases. By maintaining all of these databases under one roof, multi-source list providers have the unique ability to identify and fill gaps found within individual data sources, thus providing the most comprehensive coverage possible.

Multi-source list providers offer a larger and more flexible universe of data, since they collect data from several sources and can make custom selects based on any business’s particular needs. They are often smaller and more nimble than the large databanks, since they are not charged with collecting, storing, and continually updating that information.

#4 Profile Current Customers to Find New Ones. You may think your current customer database is a mess, but it could be a goldmine. Find a data provider with an experienced analytics team and they can let you in on the secrets of modeling and analytics. It could lead to a huge makeover of your bottom line.

An entire modeling project can be done in about a month, from kick-off to completion. Case studies have shown that predictive modeling initiatives have produced returns of up to 1800 percent.

When you engage in a modeling initiative, be prepared to learn a lot about your customers. First, you’ll examine your customer profiles and market penetration. Once you’ve discerned your “best” customer profile, you can explore how to prospect for similar leads. Ultimately, you can uncover your most likely responders for particular campaigns, or even predict more accurate customer attrition.

#5 Personalize It. Organizations have been talking about one-to-one marketing for years. Everyone is aware of its tremendous benefits–increased response and higher conversion rates, greater profits, enhanced customer loyalty, and so on. But if your business hasn’t entered the world of personalization yet, it’s not too late. Here are four elements of personalized marketing to consider:

1. Targeting is a critical component in one-to-one marketing. It allows you to identify, distinguish, and reach customers more efficiently and effectively. Connect with a great data marketing partner who can mine your data for the right customer profiles, and then segment, test, and optimize your list.

2. Messaging is the hook that captivates a customer’s attention. The good news is that technology now allows marketers to tailor their messages based on customer preferences, product purchases, or recent life events. Better yet, you can also track responses to each content area, as well as the offer in its entirety.

3. Executing timely communications based on customer behavior and events is now possible. A critical component of one-to-one marketing is detecting and knowing when customers will be most receptive to a new offer—from new movers, to college graduates, to new parents, you can now target potential customers based on “trigger events” that could be very valuable for both customers and your business.

4. Delivering personalized messages whenever a customer connects with a company is powerful. Today’s technology allows you to easily schedule campaigns, event-driven programs, and real-time dialogs across multiple channels–including electronic and print on demand. A coordinated approach can help you connect with the right person, at the right time.

---Source: AccuTips Fourth Quarter 2007 Newsletter (www.accutips.com/index.html).