• §  Data is King:  OK, I know this isn’t a revelation, but I am continued to be amazed at how few marketers have really thought through how this impacts their marketing efforts.
• §  A recent IDC study found that digital information is doubling every two years.   This is not only true about the data you keep on your customers, it is also true on prospects we are looking for.   No longer can we assume that the best and most relevant prospecting sources are from brand name compiled lists.   Often, the best prospecting sources are from new internet-based sources that may not have even been around a few years ago.  

How has increased data insight changed your marketing strategies?  2012 Action Item:   Develop performance-based data source testing plans for your recruitment efforts.   

Marketing Technology – Increasing capabilities while decreasing costs:   Today’s marketing technology brings capability to the small and medium-sized companies that could only be afforded by the big companies 5 years ago.   Significant advances have been made in key areas:

• §  Marketing Automation / Triggered Email:  New toolsdrive industry-best performance in multi-channel lead management … and is “always on”. 
• §  Real Time Metrics:  You don’t have to wait to evaluate marketing performance.   Know now!
• §  Multi-channel Marketing Data Warehouses:  Increase your marketing success through increased customer Intelligence.   Good news; Today’s technology doesn’t make this a multi-million dollar effort.  

Where does your company stand in leveraging today’s capabilities?  2012 Action Item:   Audit where you are at with your technology position.   Dedicate time to explore options in weak areas.

Multi-channel Integration increases your marketing performance:   However, smart approaches in this area have to be thought through and “performance-based”.

How are you using Integrated Marketing in your marketing plans for customer and prospect lead generation?   2012 Action Item:   Evaluate how your marketing plans leverage Integrated Marketing.   Develop testing strategies in this area and compare results to your current marketing efforts.

One or all of these 5 tips may help you get out of a rut in your direct mail design, packaging and copywriting. 

Just remember:  Without relevency and getting the recipient to “stop and see what’s in it for me,” your awesome layout, packaging and copywriting might just be perfuming a pig.

I like Target Marketing Magazine’s research summary overviewing the growth factors in SEM, SEO, online advertising (a.k.a., Pay-Per-Click) and Email Marketing which are among the listed 16 online marketing trends.

More than 80% of marketers are using paid search and SEO and plan to expand search into more segments. As consumers search more online, Google’s AdWord inventory continues to grow.  All music to marketers’ ears as you expand your paid search and SEO efforts. 

Online advertising, “performance-based” media buys and integrated email marketing are also slated for substantial growth through 2014.

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.

But as marketers, that satisfaction is forever elusive when it comes to Web site optimization and making sure you’re being strategic across online and offline mediums.  Why?  Because your job should never be considered “done.” 

At ICS, we’re constantly looking at our Web site optimization AND how our online marketing efforts integrate with our offline efforts… as well as, doing the same for our clients!

Maybe that’s why I thought you would like to see this article on 5 Ways to Get Your Website Up to Speed.  Don’t let the title mislead you.  It’s not just about online marketing, but more about multichannel integration and amending the age-old saying to:  “targeting the right consumer with the right offer at the right time via the right channel.”

If you haven’t done so already, add these action items in this article to your “to-do” list and start reaping the sales benefits.  If you’re not sure how to get started, just drop us a line and we can help. 

http://www.insidedirectmail.com/article/are-you-prepared-moment-your-prospect-whose-interest-piqued-your-mail-piece-visits-your-website-409180_1.html

“Consumers encouraged by promising economic signs headed back to dealer showrooms last month, but sales sputtered in late June as prospective buyers waited for the government to introduce its cash-for-clunkers incentives.”

 This was a timely article for me as we were just putting the finishing touches on ICS AutoNet’s new data card for our “Cash for Clunkers” prospect list. 

 Obviously, it’s in the best interest of these consumers who qualify for this program to wait for the “clunker cash.”  As soon as this program starts, they’ll be ready to purchase. 

 So, hopefully auto marketers and dealers realize that the time to connect with these consumers is right now. 

Through ICS AutoNet’s self-reported data, our “Cash for Clunkers” list allows dealers access to auto ownership and leasing information that State DMVs can no longer provide.  Plus, we specifically designed this file to target consumers who may qualify for the government program.    We can connect dealers to owners of vehicles with targeted makes, models and vehicle years from 2002 and earlier within a specified radius of the dealership. 

 Our list is derived from a comprehensive master file compiled from multiple Shelby-compliant sources and offers more than 100 million records.  Each month, a million fresh records are added to the data file – making it an effective marketing tool for one-time promotions or ongoing campaigns. 

 ICS AutoNet’s Self-reported data file has been successfully applied in automotive marketing, consumer marketing and service-related programs. Following is an overview of available selects:

• Make and Model
• Vehicle Year 2002 and before
• Odometer
• Postal and telephone;  Email available upon request.
• Owner demographics and lifestyle (age, income and geography)

 List pricing starts at $115 / M. Please note that we include make, model, vehicle year and geography at no extra charge.  A complete data card is available for more information.

Possibly you have heard the statistic:  “An iProspect’s 2007 study ‘Offline influence on Online Search Behavior Study’ found that 67% of online users were driven to perform a search as a result of an offline marketing message … And 39% of those offline-influenced searchers ultimately made a purchase.

These statistics make a lot of sense to me, but the sad point of the article was that nearly half (45%) of search engine marketers still do not integrate their online and offline efforts. All kinds of reasons came up as to why.  The top reasons were:

• They don’t advertise in offline channels
• Lack the budget
• Lack the resources
• Don’t know better
• Have separate people managing offline efforts … and they are not synchronized with online
• Just don’t see the benefit of integration

In my opinion, a big part of the issue is that while online marketers understand their medium, they really don’t understand the overall disciplines that drive marketing and consumer behavior.   With the online mediums growing so quickly, many have jumped in without fully understanding how to optimize the overall marketing dollars spent.

It not necessarily big things that involve huge investments.  Look at some of these stats:

• 76% of offline offers could not be acted upon online
• 74% of offline keywords were not used online
• 66% did not use the same images and videos offline as online
• 60% did not include their company slogan / tagline  or even their product or service name prominently online

I am sure the economic challenges of 2009 will force some reevaluation in this area.   From my perspective, this is some pretty basic “marketing blocking and tackling”.  While I am happy that we are addressing these key issues with our clients, more education and awareness is needed to connect the best practice results and disciplines with the average company’s marketing efforts.

While I am sure the economic climate is an element here (isn’t it the blame for everything these days?), I think the “trends toward the use of electronic mail” are an even greater longer-term issue for the USPS.  And as they are forced to raise prices, it will not make matters any better.

Clearly, companies are having to look at every dollar these days.  Utilizing the most customer-effective and cost-effective communications is certainly an area that nearly all companies are reviewing.   And as most things go, technology continues to bring new solutions to the table that enable the small- to mid-sized companies to do what only the larger companies could do in years past.

What do you look for if you are one of those companies evaluating your customer communications?  

• Likely you will want a partner to help navigate the increasing complex data management issues that come with multi-channel marketing integration
• The organization should also have deep expertise across traditional and digital channels (both technical and strategic)

We see the continuation of these trends (lower mail volumes, stronger use of electronic communcations) for the forseeable future.  And yes, a continuation of the increases from USPS.

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.