Hot 2010 Marketing Trends Getting Hotter
Filed under: Data Cleansing and Enhancement, Digital Lead Generation, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, General Marketing, Lead Management, List Strategy, Search Engine Marketing, analytics, integrated marketing, paid search
Targeting – Measurement – Channel Integration – Prospecting
These four trends are what ICS is all about and what we’ve been preaching for increased sales lift, better Marketing ROI and overall business growth. Now, direct marketers across the country are finally starting to see these four tenets as "hot trends for 2010" according to Deliver Magazine.
Targeting — With our advanced analytics, data management tools and direct marketing experience, you can target on a one-to-one level with specific customers and prospects using a tailored offer at the right time in the customer’s preferred channel. Plus, you can focus your marketing dollars on targeting your most valuable prospects.
Measurement/Analysis – Data not only gives you the clearest view of your customers for targeted marketing, but collecting and analyzing data is critical in matching-back sales to specific marketing efforts. Now more than ever, marketers are on the hook to prove that every dollar you spend is growing the business.
Integration – Marketers who execute cross channel campaigns experience a 50 – 400% better response rate than singularly focused campaigns. To learn about integration trends and what leading companies are doing in multichannel integration, view our on-demand webinar: "Transforming Practices in Integrated Marketing Communications."
Prospecting — I like the quote in this article, "Today, everybody at every stage of life is open to marketing." However, you can’t have great sales lead generation without well-honed targeting AND channel integration. Lead generation is where it all comes together… in my opinion, this is where this article misses the 2010 mark BIG TIME. Plus, online lead generation didn’t even get a mention! SEO, SEM and paid search (where customers are actively searching your product/service) are only getting hotter in 2010 and beyond.
Top 10 Email Appending Mistakes to Avoid
Filed under: Data Cleansing and Enhancement, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, General Marketing, List Strategy
This article, Top 10 Email Appending Mistakes to Avoid, from ChiefMarketer.com not only tells you how to avoid email appending mistakes, but also gives helpful tips on what to look for in an Email Marketing Services Provider.
Whether or not you choose ICS for your next email marketing project, I want to make sure that your investment and reputation are protected.
So as you’re putting those finishing touches on your 2010 marketing plans, here are few critical points to consider when choosing an email marketing partner. And while this article focuses on email lists, the same cautionary tips can apply to almost any direct marketing area.
Advantages of Creating an Integrated Marketing Database for Your Business
Filed under: Data Cleansing and Enhancement, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, General Marketing, Marketing Technology Solutions, Uncategorized
Integrated marketing is creating growing complications for most businesses to manage their customer data. Customer Email data management requirements for opt-outs and bounces are often difficult to maintain, and creating intelligent landing pages for customers to provide you with updated customer data adds yet another level of complexity.
In our opinion, one of the easiest ways for organizations to address these new complexities is to create a replicated marketing database driven from your enterprise customer data management tools. Rather than trying to make your enterprise tools something that they are typically not meant to be, creating a replicated marketing database provides the security and fully functioning marketing features for integrated electronic and traditional communications to your customer base.
While you may be concerned about costs, we find that this approach provides significant advantages:
- Typically costs much less than trying to customize your own enterprise system
- Can be launched much quicker and with less hassle than changes to your own system.
- Immediately offers more features (i.e. Landing pages for customer email and general updates, customer preference centers, activity reporting, demographically enhanced customer data) that would require even more costs and development time if done internally
Given the growing demands for integrated marketing communications, you are likely looking at this area if you haven’t already set a strategy for your organization. We recommend that you consider this approach when you do.
Feel free to give us a call to discuss options in this area, or listen to our recent webinar How Changing Communications Trends Drive Integrated Marketing ROI for more concrete Direct Marketing Association facts in this area. You will also find an overview of ICS’s Integrated Communications Platform (ICP) which may be consideration for your business as well.
Build your email mix with sweepstakes!
Filed under: Data Cleansing and Enhancement, Email Marketing, General Marketing, Sweepstakes and Contests
I was visiting with a client the other day who was doing an excellent job of acquiring their customers’ email addresses. They are very experienced marketers who focus the majority of their marketing efforts on cross-sell activities.
They were leveraging enticing promotional sweepstakes as a way to drive email activation from customers who had not previously provided email addresses. Clearly, they understand the communications savings of the email channel and current customer marketing trends in this area. Take a look below, according to a recent industry channel preference white paper, over 70% of consumers would prefer the email channel for communications from companies they have granted permission to send ongoing communications:
Customer preferences are continuing to evolve … becoming more understanding when email communications is the most effective for their lives. Clearly, marketers understand the cost efficiencies and speed of the communications.
For marketers, the use of a well designed sweepstakes can be a great way to increase your customer email coverage … ultimately allowing you to lower your customer communications costs and speed to market.
