Direct Marketing

Yes but is it personal?

In my role as a Direct Mail Specialist, I am exposed to many direct mail pieces that are created by marketers trying to talk one-to-one to their customers or prospects. Too often I find marketers are still only taking advantage of minimal information that is available in their databases, and are not taking advantage of the technologies available to them.

As technology has advanced, the opportunity to create better targeted mailings has increased.

When laser printing became the preferred method of personalization for direct mail letters, some marketers embraced the ability to communicate with a personalized message while others only littered the recipient’s letter with their name over and over again.

A perfect example of a company using their database to its fullest potential is an automotive manufacturer that created an ongoing “service” mailing to their customers that included a scanned watermark of their specific vehicle in the background of a letter that referenced their make and model, dealer name, address, phone number, sales and service hours of operation, Service Manager’s name, and signature, a map to locate the dealer, and a specific offer on a coupon that was selected based on the dealer’s preference, and value of the vehicle.

Since the introduction of VPOD (variable print on demand), more emphasis has been placed on variable images printed in colour that are unique to the recipient based on their segmented data group.

Our company recently sent out a self-promotional mailing that I feel is a great example of effectively using technology to create a highly personalized piece. The objective of the mailing was to generate qualified leads by driving responders to our Website to play Texas Hold’ em, for the opportunity to win a $1,000 gift certificate to a casino. This made for a relevant communication, as our audience profiling efforts proved that this was an attractive offer to our target audience.

A letter was tailored to the recipient with signature and contact information of an assigned company representative and inter-company division based on their industry segment. A fully-variable brochure was created that included the recipient’s first name, logo of the assigned division, name and image of their assigned representative, their unique Game PIN, and 2 randomly selected playing cards. Both of these personalized pieces were matched and inserted into an envelope with another brochure that was specific to the recipient’s segment using selective inserting technology.

All of the noted elements made for a highly personalized piece based on data segmentation. Will the recipients of our mailing appreciate the data variable intricacies that were involved to make this piece? Maybe not. Will they feel that the mail piece talks to them on an individual level? I’m betting on it.

The tools are there, we have the technology, let’s use it to create more relevant communications with our intended audiences.

I would love to hear your comments on how testing the level of personalization or variable images has affected your response rates.

Authored by Troy Draper, Direct Mail Specialist, Smart DM

Can We Design a Conference via Social Networks?

We all know social networking works on many levels but has anyone ever used it to design a conference? Specifically for a conference on a fairly traditional topic—Direct Marketing? Let’s be the first!

The organizing committee for the conference had this idea that we would like the community of attendees to help shape the day. This would be an interesting experiment in how engaged in social networking members really are. We need your help!

First, throw out the notion that direct marketing is only direct mail. Direct Marketing is much more than that. It really could be anything from SMS, e-mail, calls and more.

Aside from new channels there are a lot of other uses for technology in direct marketing; most obvious is the growth of analytics and results reporting. There is no glamour but it is becoming table stakes in the Direct Marketing arena.

Some of the existing ideas we have for the conference is to structure it from a life cycle approach (from strategy to targeting/ analytics/testing to the creative and offer and then wrapping up with reporting) overlaid with a multi channel approach. We would of course include the obvious – speakers with a leading edge perspective for each topic. As well we thought we would do some “speed dating” at the mid point of the day….attendees could pick or be assigned three or four tables to be at for 10 minutes with a lead with an interesting subject to discuss…then rotate.

Here’s how we could use your help. Tell us who the speakers should be? Who should lead the roundtable discussions?

To be heard, comment on the blog, solicit your colleagues for input, post a link to your social networking sites or simply email the CMA lead Jeanette.

This is your opportunity to shape your own customized conference on Direct Marketing. Tell us what you need to know. We look forward to hearing from you.

Crossing the Line, Part 2

Building brand equity through Direct Mail (Part 1 here)

I have always been envious of mass advertising and its hold on brand! Mass is a sexy means to promote anything, and in the words of my favourite Absolutely Fabulous heroine, Edina Monsoon, it ‘turns even the dull into delicious…’
But as our media world becomes more and more fragmented, enhancing brand equity is no longer a single domain’s claim. Direct mail is proving instrumental in enhancing the associations a brand creates in the mind of the consumer – in other words, building brand equity.

Why would direct mail enhance brand equity? I believe when direct mail is timely, relevant and compelling, it acts as a ‘peak-positive’ (if untimely, irrelevant and lacking a call-to-action, as a ‘peak-negative’) experience for the consumer.

Nobel prize-winning psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, points out that people only remember two things during an experience – how they feel at the peak (no matter how good or how bad) and how they feel at the end. These peak-end feelings summarize the whole experience process and are stored in our brains at a subconscious level. These feelings eventually direct our next buying decisions; while the proportion and duration of pleasure or pain throughout the whole experience barely registers in our memory – we only remember the peak-end. (Quote from: Branded Customer Experience Ikea vs. Staples – by www.gccrm.com)

Case in Point

To demonstrate how brand perception is enhanced with direct mail in the mix, consider how brand attributes vary in the mind of the consumer when the latter is exposed to mass media only versus mass media plus dm. In a follow-up survey to Telus’ Addressed Admail recipients and to a control group exposed to mass media only, the addressed admail group:

-Perceived TELUS as a company that delivers great customer service at a significantly higher rate than control
-Recalled TELUS advertisements in other media by at least 6% over control
-Expressed less positive opinions about the quality and reliability of high-speed service provided by TELUS’s largest competitor; specifically, the competitor’s brand attributes were scrutinized or put into question based on exposure to Telus’ detailed offering in the direct mail piece (Full Case Study here.)

In addition to the qualitative results, the quantitative results from the campaign also align with the peak-end theory; namely, the feeling generated during the mail moment (the peak) directed the next buying decision. How? Recipients of the direct mail piece signed up for Telus high-speed internet at twice the rate of the control group.

We all agree that managing the brand is a complex marketing activity with increasingly more viral influence. Still, we should disengage from the limiting view that mass media is the only viable brand-enhancing medium and to keep in mind that direct mail, when done properly, is a critical component for building and increasing brand equity.

Is Direct Marketing still direct?

I've been pondering this question for a while (as much as it pains me to admit this publicly). However, as an individual who has built my career in the field of Direct Marketing, I've stayed close to how our business is evolving courtesy of the internet.

Direct Marketing used to be about stamps, data models, customer segments and reams and reams of results (good or bad). It was one to one. It was what we understood. It was our arsenal for clients who complained that they couldn't prove the worth of tv or radio.

Now, Direct Marketing is still about data, still about customer segments, but less about talking to one consumer in one specific way. The internet has enabled us to create customized campaigns and target niche audiences - but it's really one to many, vs one to one, or in the 'olden days' - one to everyone.

I believe Direct Marketing is still about developing insight based communication but now it's broadcast to smaller groups of like minded individuals via the world wide web. Blogs, social media forums, sponsored content, outbound emails, applications, etc etc....are all created daily to cater to the needs of distinct groups. Mail is no longer the only way to speak to a consumer 'directly'.

That said - in light of our new reality - how would you define the new DM?

The Kindle. Yawn?

I’m still catching up on my year-end reading. You know, all those magazines that come out with their Year In Review issues. They’re stacked on my nightstand like so many left over holiday cards, begging to be read or recycled.

The best of the bunch is the Newsweek with Obama on the cover. It had a brief mention of something that caught my eye -- Jeff Bezos’ brainchild, The Kindle. It’s described on Wikipedia as “… an e-book reader, an embedded system for reading electronic books (e-books), launched in the United States by prominent online bookseller Amazon.com in November 2007.”

Most reviews are glowing. You can carry a whole library around in your briefcase. Amazing. Apparently, it’s even been endorsed by the big “O” (Oprah, not Obama), making it to her Favourtie Things List of ’08.

You can’t get it in Canada yet. But when I asked several of my U.S. friends how the Kindle has captured the imagination of our neighbours to the south, the response was something close to a tree falling in a forest.

So here are the tough questions: With a nod to Malcolm Gladwell, why hasn’t it tipped? Why isn’t it, according to my U.S. friends, dotting subway cars and park benches and restaurants like ubiquitous iPhones, iPods, and dare I say it, real books? Where are the cool commercials with U2 or Feist singing its praises? Why aren’t there spoofs about it on YouTube? Why aren’t the “Millennials” snapping them up? And will Canadians be a better market for the Kindle when it does arrive on our shores?

Perhaps the secret is revealed in Newsweek’s backhanded compliment… “Amazon’s electronic reader is awesome, but the early adopters skew old, while kids opt for point-and-click.”

That excerpt is interesting for two reasons. Early adopters? The Kindle has been available since 2007. Would the iPhone be considered a success if it took this long to capture the imagination of its intended audience? I'm not talking about just dollars and cents here. There was the day before the iPhone launched in Canada. And there was the day after, when it seemed everyone on the TTC had one or was looking over the shoulder of the person next to them who had one. Can an e-book reader capture the imagination in the same way as an “e-music player”? There's a very specific difference today between capturing the collective imagination and selling units. Arguably, the former is much harder to do and predict than the latter.

And ‘skews old’? I guess Oprah viewers don’t influence the zeitgeist anymore the way some think they do.

The day will come when Canadians will be able to get their hands on a Kindle. The question is, will the “right” target audience (Millennials?) want one?

So from a business perspective, can Amazon continue making and selling them if they remain the technological equivalent of a television series like “NCIS”? It’s there, and by some measure successful, but does anyone care?

My New Year's Resolutions

Every year around this time, people look back on the year that was and make promises or resolutions to improve themselves and the world around them. Here are mine:

1. I resolve to continue hoping IKEA will come up with something new for 2009. The radio spot that conjured the image of the naked Spokes-Swede was the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

2. I resolve to remind people every chance I get that you can learn a lot about marketing by observing the smart, strategic, targeted way a politician raised campaign contributions. I subscribed to Obama.com early last year and received (and still receive) emails a couple times a week. Several from "Obama himself", from "Michelle", his campaign manager, and his running mate. Obviously they were written by a terrific copywriter, but in 2008, ancient direct marketing techniques helped elect arguably the freshest face on the political landscape in years.

3. I resolve to be optimistic that businesses will remember the golden rule: You have to spend money to make money -- especially in tough times. Stay top of mind with your best customers and they'll remain loyal.

4. I resolve to give my hard-earned money to companies that consistently provide the best service. I recently purchased a new MacBook. There was a problem with it. Apple made it right, no questions asked. More than that, they made the whole process easy, convenient, fast and friendly. It's not that a problem arose. It's how they dealt with it. Great service (and the Word-of-Mouth that it generates) is going to go a long way in a tough economy.

5. I resolve to post to this blog more often. The last year has been a little crazy (crazy good) so I've been a little neglectful. I hope everyone has a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year.

What are your resolutions?

In response to 'R.I.P. Monologue:' a Luddite Fights Back

In response to Selina Jane Eckersall’s unambiguous dismissal of all things not social-media, I can think of little to say other than,”Sorry.” (See “R.I.P. Monologue”)

Well, actually, that’s not true. I can think of a lot to say, but “sorry” seems a good place to start.

Sorry, for being one of those, presumably, “seemingly intelligent” marketing folks against whom Ms Eckersall rages. Sorry for needing to “get real.” And, most of all, sorry for Ms Eckersall herself who is so patently wrong.

It is wrong to say consumers are not interested in hearing “my monologue,” (but it is correct that they do not have to give me their time or mind share). Millions of people, many millions of people, in fact all people are faced with many, many monologenous messages every day, and respond to these messages in many, many different ways. I know that they are interested enough in what I say, that they give me give me enough of their “mind share” to be aware of my products and have an opinion about my brand.

What I find exciting, in my Luddite kind of way, is that many of these people are involved in social networking sites on their computers. They connect with friends and reach out (metaphorically) to the world around them, to become more interesting, more worldly people. Many of them use this fantastic facility to ask their friends (and even total strangers) for opinions about products and services they are thinking of buying. By capturing the opinions of 300 people who have experienced my product, these web savvy people become educated consumers. Social media is a wonderful way for all of us to learn about the products or services we are thinking of buying. A little bit like magazines, or newspaper articles or even talking to friends did in the old, old days. But, obviously more intense and apparently more credible, too.

So, I guess I see social media as one of many communication channels out there. But I don’t see how the existence of these channels makes people any more interested in my message. I don’t, for instance, believe that anybody wants to build a relationship, trust, converse with, listen to, share with, evolve along with, or collaborate with a brand. And just because the brand is trying to cajole people into doing all these things on a social networking site, does not make it any more attractive to “Canadians,” not even that small percentage of them who are active in social networking sites themselves.

Sorry, but the fact is that people will be interested in what you have to say if you have something interesting to say and say it in an engaging and appropriate way. It also makes sense to say it in a place (physical or virtual) where the people you are hoping will hear you, are within hearing range and in the right mood to listen to you. Sometimes a social networking environment makes a lot of sense. But, equally, the classified section in a newspaper often makes perfect sense. Shouting loudly through a megaphone also makes sense, sometimes.

To paraphrase Ms Eckersall , I can’t even count the numerous times I’ve heard seemingly intelligent marketing folks speaking about Social Media as if it were the only medium of any worth, and all other media are for Mad Men fossils living in black and white and eating Mrs. Cleavers cookies. Social Networking sites are one in an ever increasing range of alternatives to help consumers make intelligent choices.

But do not forget, consumers will use whatever media they want, and they hope they will be able to find out what they need to know from a wide range of alternative sources. And, most importantly, they really appreciate it when a brand introduces them to something wonderful by means of interesting, educational, and entertaining advertising (“$300,000 ad spends”, to be precise.) If there is any doubt about this, ask Apple, Virgin, WestJet, Guinness, and the list goes on.

Time to Call-aborate

The new Do Not Call Legislation sends a strong message to companies to re-examine howthey do business with their customers. The days of unsolicited cold callshave been eliminated and professional marketing companies now need to focus their efforts on permission-based marketing techniques to acquire new sales more than ever.

This has been somewhat of a mixed blessing for direct marketing professionals. In the environment of a test and learn mentality, an ongoing challenge is the exploration of new collaborative methods and test vehicles for their business. Key drivers of these initiatives include exploring new methods of reaching customers in the on-line environment including directing more people to on-line websites, targeted email campaigns and/or personalized URL's (PURLs). Using these approaches either together or in part is definitely an advantage for those companies who have their own internal sales teams or call centres. Typically, sales teams have been an outbound group but have now been challenged to reinvent their contributions on daily processes to speak as inbound reps. The new focus is specifically on either existing customers to up-sell them or prospects who have made inquiries which will now allow the reps to speak to these prospects with the goal of closing sales.

Regardless of the products sold - these methods generate new sales, increase a company's brand awareness and will easily highlight those companies that are taking this strategy to a whole new level of customer care. The result in part of a company's reputation actively pursuing this strategy will be one that is personable, respectable and environmentally-responsible which will definitely result in win-win situation for both the customers and the business.

Crossing the Line – Are You Using Mass Insights to Improve Your Direct Marketing Campaign?

One of the tenets of direct (below the line) marketing is the USP. So, if you are a direct marketer you may be slightly disturbed with the following statement:

…Consumers do not want one characteristic or one USP. Consumers want it all .Why should a consumer have to choose between the longest lasting pain reliever versus the fast acting, or the safest, most gentle, or the cheapest priced? The concept of marketing a USP is not a consumer-centric view.

It comes from ‘Lessons Learned’, downloadable excerpts of John Hallward’s book: Gimme! The Human Nature of Marketing, and, well…it is about above the line advertising…or is it?

Quoting the iconic and USP-absent silhouette iPod ads by Apple, John proposes that emoti-suation, the powerful use of emotional associations to connect a brand with consumers and not the use of a USP, builds brand equity (Aside:according to the Moore & Harvard School of Business, brand equity is a more meaningful metric, long-term, than sales).

Emoti-suation!? Direct marketers take pride in numbers, data and insights coming from n iterations of list, offer and creative …It’s one thing to remove the USP from a TV Ad but can we replace the USP with emotional associations in a direct mail piece without being trite, without crossing the line?

May be it’s time we move from channel agnosticism to marketing agnosticism and make use of the emotional wisdom above the line advertising has built over the last quarter of a century…

Here are a few points direct marketers can play with:

- Emotion is a key element in the decision-making process; example: fear was designed to drive us into action (flee danger)
- Humans evaluate a purchase on emotional pay-offs subconsciously and on rational points consciously
- Humans are sensitive to the IRREGULAR; the human brain will pay less and less attention (desensitized) to the familiar
- Humans cannot cope with too much choice; example: an experiment was set with two shelf units of jam; shelf one had 24 flavours of jam; shelf 2 had 6; consumers were given the choice to pick jam (at same discount) from either shelf; shelf 1 had 60% attraction and 3% purchase; shelf 2 had 40% attraction and 30% purchase
- The more senses engaged in the human brain, the better it files and retrieves information
- Brands that score high on many emotional associations achieve greater commitment in the consumer’s mind

Implications for DM:

- What emotional rewards do we evoke upfront in a direct marketing piece before even moving to the rational portion of the decision, i.e., the call to action?
- If we know that brain (decision) activity filters through an engagement and disengagement mechanism (irregular vs. familiar), can we ignore the importance of testing new formats and creative?
- Can we effectively incorporate archetypes/universal myths in one-to-one communications?
- How well can we link emotional rewards to commodity products?

Case in Point

Linking brand emotional associations to a DM piece is a case-by-case exercise. In terms of engagement, however, direct marketers can make use of the human brain’s preference for the irregular with direct mail’s tactile, visual and yes, even olfactory triggers: unusual shapes and sizes and scented mail. Applications of this principle can also be applied to a multi-drop campaign. As frequency of communication replaces reach (due to better targeting and the need to be relevant), the irregular will play a key role in ensuring your 2nd or 3rd drop will not end up in the recycle box.

Charting a course for digital marketing leadership: What we’ll explore at CMA's Oct 2 roundtable

As you may be aware, the CMA Digital Leadership Roundtable is later this week, first thing Thursday morning, Oct. 2 at the Harbour Castle. Your panel – a frankly great group, consisting of Doug Checkeris, CEO, MediaCom USA –back home in T.O. from his New York base for the day, Goodwin (Goody) Gibson, President, MacLaren MRM and Tammy Scott, Vice-President, Marketing, Telus – got together over lunch lat last week to hash out our strategy for the presentation. Trust me, based on my notes – as many as I was able to take amid the rapid fire conversation - there’s going to be no shortage of smart insight on the question at hand.

To paraphrase, the core of the subject of the morning: what does the industry and individual companies need to do to reorient themselves to succeeding in the digital marketing reality of the near future if not now - and who should lead that charge and how?

We thought we’d share with you most of the questions we’re planning to try to speak to. The idea is two fold:

• One we hope they’ll interest you and incite you to come out.

• But also, we want to invite you to send along any other questions you’d like to see addressed on Thursday. You can post your questions here in the comments section, or email me at sesutter@cogeco.ca

So here are the questions/themes we’ve got so far (and warning: actual verbiage and order may vary based on the panel’s interaction, new insights and whims:

1) Let’s get some thoughts on the core premise of this roundtable: digital spending is apparently going to continue to accelerate exponentially at the expense of traditional communications channels, and yet a good 25% - a full quarter of marketer - admit they don’t know how to proceed (and I’m sure there are those who won’t admit it, and those who don’t know what they don’t know yet). From your perspective, does this ring true? How bad is it? How big a challenge or opportunity is this?

2) What’s got to happen? What do organizations need to do, structurally and culturally to get on top of the digital sea change?

3) What are you doing – whether structurally, culturally, process-wise, or in terms of staffing and training – to adapt to the digital environment?

4) Who do you think most “gets” the digital future, aside from yourself of course… your competitors, your clients, others? And what they doing that we should all emulate?

5) My perception is that the general consumer is way ahead of most businesses – and most senior and mid-level management in most businesses - in adapting to and embracing the digital world… that they really are owning the whole experience, and a lot of companies with their legacy systems and mind-sets don’t even know it. Do you agree? Disagree?

6) Related to above question: Are your people digital savvy enough? Does your CEO have a Facebook page or a blog? Does your team know of to Twitter? Should they? Should there be a bare minimum of what people in marketing communications need to know to work in a digital future? What is that?

7) How is branding, vs. tactical marketing, changed by the new digital paradigm?

8) Who should be taking the lead on interactive or digital ideas and programs? … digital agency, media agency, client? Within clients, should it be marketing depart, CEO, IT?

9) Want to open up the measurement can of worms. We seem to have both not enough data and maybe too much at the same time?

With all things digital seems to be this double-edged sword. At one level, you are able to track people’s connections and interactions with most digital communications with unprecedented precision. And yet there’s lots of complaints that there’s no common definitions, things are confusing, and the data doesn’t tell you enough – and in a way it seems these new mediums and tools, by the very fact that they are potentially more accurately track-able, are held to a higher standard than other media, especially in their emerging phases.

What’s your take on the uses and abuses of measurement in the digital age?

10) Let’s talk money. Part 1: Where is the money going to be within media and content creation spending (and research spending)? Where should it be going? How should content be funded in the future?

And related to this: There are a couple of competing views out there. One is, compared to mass media productions and media buys, digital is cheap. Another is, this new technology stuff is pretty expensive, and there’s always something new to invest in just around the corner. What’s the reality?

11) Money Part 2: How the heck should marketing companies/agencies be compensated now that the old commission and fee models seem to be obsolete?

12) What’s the “next” big thing that’s going to turn the communications world on its head?
What do you think? What else should we talk about here?

Hope to see you Thursday.

-Stan Sutter, CMA Digital Leadership Roundtable moderator

Catalogues - What Should The Print Order Size Be?

A recent survey result from our sister counterpart – the DMA, positions print catalogues as the primary sales channel. In addition the data suggests a consensus among successful marketers that an integrated or multi-channel approach to supplement the sales from catalogue promotions. The survey commissioned by the DMA indicated 62% of the merchants polled consider catalogues their primary sales channel while only 20% cited the web and 6% indicated retail. The survey also highlights that print catalogue remains the largest revenue generator among all channels accounting for approximately 50% of all multichannel sales in 2007 & 2008 although the web will continue to grow. And the volume of print catalogue in circulation has increased since 2003 as companies are leveraging their books to drive customers to their websites. In the same study, 90% 0f the respondents now track response for online buyers separately from offline buyers compared to 60% in 2006 while 32% use search marketing in addition to email promotions and web offers to cross-sell offline buyers online. The same report also highlights that 50% of businesses have fully integrated their marketing functions and between 60% - 70% have also integrated their operation and consumer front-end functions.

Yet, marketers need to take into account the impact that is currently confronting the direct marketing industry. External factors such as rising direct costs in paper & postal, manufacturing, oil fuel surcharges, and the strength of the Canadian dollar are all factors that we as marketers need to take into account in running our businesses. Coupled with environmental and regulatory factors, marketers need to be more diligent, faster, and in touch not only with these issues but more so than ever with the wants & desires of their customers and consumers. Competition is fiercer than ever and in a multi-channel environment which includes not only the web, but mobile, satellite, and podcasting – we need to ensure that consumers’ specific interests are addressed in a much more targeted and marketed at a 1:1 level.

When Canadian Tire announced last May that it was no longer to publish a print version of its catalogue it marked that first time in over 80 years that it is ceasing the publication to households which was estimated to reach over 9 million households! The catalogue was launched in 1927 in response to the need to sell automotive supplies to distant customers. Canadian Tire decided to no longer distribute the catalogue due to rising costs and environmental issues.

In the U.S. an activist web site called Catalogue Choice is a do not send catalogue listing that was launched almost a year ago and this past June has attracted its 1,000,000 member opting out of over 11,500,000 catalogues! As you may be aware at the end of this month the Do Not Call National Registry will be in effect in Canada. In the US. – the counterpart DNC listing has reached over 120,000,000 registrants!

Last February another activist web site was launched: Red Dot Campaign

CPC launched its own program in May’08: Canada Post/Green to encourage more sustainable practices for business and consumers when it comes to direct-marketing packages. The Consumer Choice program managed by CPC enables consumers to opt-out of receiving Unaddressed Admail delivered by CPC. Unaddressed advertising mail is one of CPCs fastest growing revenue streams generating 339 million in 2006 up 14.4% from 2005.

Direct marketers and cataloguers will need to be fast and innovative in a green shifting/consumer advocating environment which will be an ever increasing factor in the future. Innovation techniques such as variable print and digital catalogues will become much more prevalent in the future. Cost barriers are becoming less of a factor as the technological advances and become more main stream. Targeted promotions through database modeling of behavioral, transactional, demographic and lifestyle data cross referenced with advertising communications is one of the fastest growing revenue streams in the advertising world. This principle also holds true in the catalogue market. In fact with the advent of digital/online catalogues, behavioral targeting may also be an area of business that will be impactful and engaging for consumers and advertisers alike. As electronic data evolves and social marketing continues to grow – we as marketers will need to be able to communicate to consumers and/or communities of interest – when they want and how they want they want to receive information.

We are also learning as we go. In a multi-channel environment, targeting individuals via an integrated marketing approach is paying dividends and is sustaining the DM business while other new channels (digital, mobile, satellite, etc.,) continue to grow. Also, we are now realizing the Customer Life-Time Value (CLTV) is greater from an integrated approach versus solo efforts. Customers who respond to DM and web or phone (mobile) generate a greater ROI than individual or single channel efforts. The ingredients to a winning recipe is providing consumers and customers what they want in a manner they want to receive it and when they want. It’s not an easy task but a challenge that marketers need to address for the sake of our businesses and industry.

Optimize Your Mix: Five Lessons from Email Marketing

I am frequently approached by senior marketers – from across industries – who confide in me that they are grappling with how to achieve an optimal ‘marketing mix’ in light of all the available new media and traditional media. They want to build on their history of success in one medium or technology platform (e.g. mobile, print, web) and leverage all marketing media.

As someone who has seen many marketing and technology trends over the last 13 years, I have identified some consistently powerful lessons that, while drawn from permission-based email marketing, can be applied to improve marketing results across all platforms. These five lessons include:

1. Always Deliver Relevant Content and Segment

Technology has progressed to the point where recipients can choose key components of the marketing information they are to receive – including method of contact, content, timing and frequency. When customers and prospects have control over what marketing information they want, when they receive it and how it arrives, they are dramatically more likely to act upon a marketing campaign’s call-to-action.

2. Collect Your Customers’ Permission: They Demand It

Because gathering permission helps marketers build a positive brand experience and engage with customers, it has become a fundamental to all marketing campaigns – online and offline. The Do Not Call List is another demonstration that securing customer permission is every marketer’s obligation and responsibility. Furthermore, Canadian privacy legislation (PIPEDA) mandates permission is gathered.

3. Test. Measure. Test. Measure.

There are four key lessons regarding measuring and testing:

• Campaign metrics need to be tied to specific business goals at the onset of any campaign. For example, ‘brand reach’ can be linked to the number of new subscribers and successful initiatives to build referrals.

• Use campaign-specific and company-established benchmarks in addition to industry-wide stats.

• As technology and campaigns progress, the meaning and importance of metrics evolves. For example, at one time, email open rates had been held out as the key measure of campaign success. However, with image-blocking software and the popularity of preview panes, the focus has switched to achieving specific conversions.

• As marketing technologies have evolved to allow for variable delivery options, so too has the ability to test several component parts of each marketing campaign. In email marketing, that means the ability to test subject lines, copy, personalization and the specific offer.

4. Focus on “Relative Time” Rather Than on “Absolute Time”

Marketers have long recognized that timing can make or break a campaign. The challenge however is the tendency to seek a ‘perfect time’. Throughout the year, email marketing studies are published that point to a particular day of the week and/or time-of-day as ‘the best time’ to reach out to customers and prospects.

However, because marketing is about establishing, nurturing and enriching relationships, choosing the right times to optimize a campaign’s results involves addressing several items such as: when the previous communication was delivered, the nature of the communication and the time-sensitivity of the message.

5. Integrate with Business Applications

Whether you are leveraging call centres, point-of-sale tracking or any other media, integrate the flow of appropriate data into business applications so that the effectiveness of each campaign can be tied to key metrics such as revenues and acquisition costs. One of the reasons that email, for example, is poised to become an even more powerful marketing tool is because it can be easily integrated into business platforms such as Customer Relationship Management systems and Content Management Systems.

As senior marketers, we are all working towards one common goal: creating and sustaining a positive experience to acquire and retain customers. These lessons, drawn from permission-based email marketing, allow every marketer to harness and optimize their marketing mix.

I welcome hearing any lessons that have helped you optimize your marketing mix - share here on the CMA Blog, or feel free to contact me directly at president@thindata.com.

SEE YA LATer BEAVerS

Have you noticed the billboards and the station domination at Bloor Station with the ubiquitous "er". You can't really miss them. They're everywhere. I have to admit, I've been intrigued. But my first thought when I saw this teaser campaign was, I hope they don't let me down when they pay it off.

Well, you be the judge. Here's the pay-off:http://www.bell.ca/home/

From my perspective, it's actually not bad. But does it make me want to send the link to all my friends because it's so differentiating for a rather commoditized brand? Not so much. Is it clean and smart and more appropriate for the brand? I think it is. I do wonder however, whether Bell has gone from one extreme (cute beavERs, retail) to the other (clean, corporate, even a little cold) a little too quickly. Even the new logo removes any connection to humanity. (Remember the yellow swirl around the face in the old logo?)

In the end, it doesn't really matter. Bell is trying to do things differently and that's probably a good thing. But can the service and product offering fulfill on the promise of the new "BETTer" brand?

Someone actually told me a story recently that best represents how seriously Bell seems to be embracing change. The phone rang, my friend picked it up, said hello and heard: Mr. [Smith], I'm calling from Bell. How can I help you today?

In disbelief, my friend said, well, I'd like a FREE Blackberry Curve.

His account was credited $400.

Seriously.

Maybe, in keeping with the times, this is change we can believe in.

R.I.P. Beavers.

Does LTV even exist any more?

As a traditional Direct Marketer, I was raised in this business to focus on response, results and the bottom line. If you didn’t have a sense of a customer’s lifetime value – you were doing something wrong. At the risk of sounding outdated, CLTV was the catch-phrase of ‘the day’. Obviously, this is no longer the case. I know this because I’m still a direct marketer – but rooted much more in the online space. I said to a co-worker the other day: “Do we have a sense of the CLTV? It will make the response projections much more meaningful.” Not only did I get a blank stare in return, not even the client in question had this figure readily available.

So if not CLTV, what’s the new accepted standard of measurement online? We talk about click-throughs, unique visitors, conversion…but even these terms are meaningless outside of specific industries and without knowledge of the online offering. Is it an e-commerce site? Well then traffic and conversion are King. Is it a brand site just looking for consumer attention? If so, length of time on site and volume of user generated content may be relevant. Regardless, the evolution of the World Wide Web (in the form of Web 2.0) has brought about significant change to not only what we measure, but how we benchmark and classify ROI across the board.

So here is my own 2 cents based on constant banter and discussion around the topic of measuring truly interactive, two way online properties.

Instead of talking about CLTV as the be all and end all, we start thinking about results in a different light. Perhaps it is at times less tangible then what we grew up with in this industry, but still valuable in a marketplace that is constantly changing.

I call it E3: Exposure, Experience & Engagement.

Exposure…obviously, how many people hear about your site, visit the site, passively browse around your pages, etc. The starting point for any analysis and a critical measure that is a carry over from the traditional advertising days.

Experience…where we start to divert from days past. How many of those exposed to your site actually experienced your brand? Did they go deep in the site? Did they read product reviews? Did they view consumer generated videos? Did they link through to related properties? It’s exposure on caffeine.

Engagement…think active experience. Not just sitting in the audience but volunteering to be part of the show. Posing a question to an Ask and Answer forum, uploading your favourite tv commercial, ordering product, posting an article to your Facebook page. Engagement is difficult to achieve and getting more and more challenging as brands realize the need to truly connect with consumers in an honest, relevant and open manner. Without mentioning names, we’ve all heard the horror stories of big brands seeding comments in blogs and so forth. Engagement can’t be forced – it must connect to real consumer insights and answer the timeless question of “what’s in it for me?”

When analyzing online activity, it’s critical to look beyond session-based data as it only reveals a partial picture. By reviewing a multitude of variables from the passive (exposure) to the interested (experience) to the involved (engagement) – the value of your brand online begins to clear up – and reveal the new value in your customer.

So what’s the new CLTV? Is it E3? Maybe. Is it some other formula? Possibly. At this point, the only sure thing is that measurement will continue to evolve and it’s up to us Marketers to look for ways of showing the different dimensions of ROI.

Up with UPS

Last week I posted an article about a commercial that, well, let me just say it’s not my favourite commercial (understatement). However, there is a commercial out there right now that I think is one of the most original on television. Better yet, when you go to the website, you are immersed in an environment that not only cleverly expands on the creative concept initiated by the television but makes you want to stay and explore for a long time. It’s that fun and that informative.

So now that I’ve given you that huge build up, do you agree?

It’s the UPS Whiteboard campaign.

(Interesting side note: The guy writing on the white board is actually the Creative Director on the campaign. His name is Andy Azula.)

Now that you’ve seen the commercial, all I can say is go to the website http://whiteboard.ups.com/ and spend some time there. You won’t be disappointed. And you won't want to leave. I didn't.

Too often, company websites are “brochure-wear”. Long copy all about the company. Very rarely is the site about what "YOU" can do. And rarer still is a site that you actually feel like diving into.