5 Ways to Jump Start Your 2008 Campaigns
By AccuTips
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).
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