the Bridge

Accurate customer data is the cornerstone of a successful direct marketing programme. The right data obtained from your current customer base or an external source can provide you with an important and insightful view of your existing or potential customers.

The insights provided by your data resource will help you generate a better picture of your target customer. The more you know about your customer – the more likely you are to send relevant, timely and engaging information that results in a purchase or an intended action.

 
In this first post of the series we discuss the key considerations for developing your direct marketing data resource.
 
Key questions when building your database
- How do I want to communicate with my customers or prospects?
- Do I need their email, physical address, phone number, preferences or demographics?
- How will I track my activities and the resulting customer actions?
- What kind of customer details will help me deliver the right service or product in a way that leaves the customer completely satisfied?
 
Planning for success

If you know from the outset the type of information you need and how you will use it, you are already ahead of the game. Over time you may alter your business requirements and therefore your data system will need to adapt to meet this change. Creating a data plan and purpose will give your data collection a focus. A rule of thumb says that your next sale is most likely to come from an existing customer, therefore utilising your customer database for promotional activity is a real opportunity.

 
The age of your data

It is a common practice for companies to let their databases go out of date and become inaccurate. What most people don’t realize is how quickly your data can degrade. It is said that you can expect about 16% of emails addresses to become invalid each year from changes in circumstances.

- Do you know how old your database is and each individual record?
- When did you last validate the contact details you have?
 
Buying data

There are a number of data suppliers in the NZ market and they each have their own areas of expertise. A free database report is provided by Kompass to download, giving you a solid grounding into who the providers are. Commercial data can be expensive, making a blanket campaign costly. It is important that you are clear about who you want to target, making sure that your offer is focused and relevant in order to keep the cost of acquisition down.

 
Permission based data

Avoid spamming your recipients by making sure your communications are compliant. We recommend that you review the best practice guidelines. This information and a range of resources can be found at the Marketing Associations website. If you are sending an email communication, remember to always give the receiver the option to opt out from your database.

 
Storing your data
- Is your data secured and can you protect your customer privacy?
- Do you have a backup strategy and can you protect your data from damage?

Finally, building a good customer or prospect database is well worth the effort it takes in order to send relevant and timely communications.

 
Stay tuned for more direct marketing insights from The Bridge:

1. Data is #1
2. Who is your customer anyway?
3. What is your proposition?
4. Get your message right
5. Creative design
6. A creative brief
7. Relevance is everything
8. Which methods and why
9. Conversion and success
10. Why measure?
11. Systems and support
12. CRM for you
13. Your next steps

Each topic will be posted on our marketing blog for easy reference.
 
Top tip of the month – for business owners.

I thoroughly recommend reading Michael Gerber’s The E Myth revisited. This must-read book provides fantastic insights into running a successful business.

 
Let us take care of it!
Let us produce your next successful direct marketing campaign. Contact us to discuss your marketing programme requirements or visit our website.
 
 

In the current economic climate it’s no surprise that Email marketing is riding a wave of popularity. The greater accessibility to Email campaign tools and contact data has meant SME’s have actively adopted this style of Direct Marketing. In fact people are so taken with Email as the panacea for business growth that Emails older cousin Direct Mail has taken a back seat.

Some people no longer view Direct Mail as a viable option. The general lack of understanding about the effectiveness of Direct Mail has resulted in its relegation to the marketer’s closet.

 
Should we retire Direct Mail as a thing of the past?
 

Research shows that Email and Direct Mail are actually effective in quite different ways, complementing each other when deployed together. Even though many businesses are starting to rely completely on Email as their preferred direct marketing tool, Direct Mail is still unbeatable for certain types of communication.

We tend to forget that Direct Mail still provides a direct route to the customer’s home or work place. When other media types are suffering from a proliferation of channel choice/saturation, fatigue and a lower share of customer attention there is still only one letter box.

Comparing Direct Mail and Email

The results above indicate that your communication effectiveness may be reduced by using only one channel in isolation. Combining both channels together seems to have obvious advantages. Royal Mail has spent considerable effort looking at the use of Direct Mail with other media types and has some great research available.

Are you looking to develop an effective Direct Marketing capability to engage new customers or maintain existing customer relationships? For a tailored made solution contact us.