All posts by Editor

You’re ready to launch your next big direct marketing campaign.  The offer is set, the creative piece is ready, now you need to determine who to send it to.  You’ve put in a tremendous effort to create an attractive direct marketing piece with a great offer.  Effective marketing is all about getting the right message, to the right prospect, at the right time.  When it comes to getting your message to the right prospect, the quality of the data in your list has a direct influence on the success of your campaign. The Importance of Coverage Depth of coverage is a critical measuring stick for evaluating the overall penetration and effectiveness of a direct-marketing campaign. The greater the coverage, the more likely a campaign will be successful in reaching an optimal number of prospective customers. With larger contact quantities, more sales conversions are possible. While you may not be interested in a national campaign, greater coverage also means that more individuals and households are available within your local market, ensuring that you reach as many people in your marketable area as possible. Modeled vs. Actual Data A common question we receive from businesses purchasing lists is, “How do we know the specific demographics of the prospect?”  List providers compile data from a variety of sources.  In some cases, customers provide actual data. It is also common practice for data suppliers to develop predictive models to fill in data elements where the information is unavailable or unknown.  Modeled data is not necessarily bad and enables you to reach a larger audience.  However, many suppliers do not indicate if the data provided is based on known information or if it is an estimate from a model. Having the ability to differentiate between known versus inferred data is often important to the success of your campaign. For example, if your marketing campaign is specifically tied to prospects of a certain age, then it’s important that you select prospects with known age data rather than modeled.  If however, your campaign targets a broader age range, then you may have greater coverage by including known and modeled data.  What’s important is knowing the kind of data that is available in order to make the best match to your campaign. Don’t Be Fooled by Higher Counts It is often said that direct marketing follows the law of large numbers. You need to get your message to as many people as possible.  While there is some truth to this approach, with limited budgets, small business marketers need to use each dollar wisely. Spending limited funds on bad data can seriously impact the effectiveness of your campaigns. Some list providers will include records in their data files that may not be the most accurate, such as unoccupied, deceased, commercial, or households that have moved, resulting in significantly inflated counts.   You may think that you are getting a much larger list of prospects, but often it is more important to have a smaller, but highly clean, prospect list, rather than one that may be full of irrelevant or bad data. The Bottom Line In the world of direct marketing, not all marketing lists are created equal.  Selecting the right list will enable you to accurately target and segment your prospects which will help to improve both your customer experience and your bottom line.

With the New Year comes many New Year's resolutions. Lose a few pounds, be more financially responsible, etc. This year, why not improve your websites customer experiences. Your customers are the heart and soul of your business and the key to your businesses success. The development of multiple channels is important, but many small businesses discount the value of site redesign strategies and simple modifications that can dramatically improve customer experiences and increase conversion rates. For many small businesses, site redesign and digital strategies will deliver the best return when timed with seasonal shopping trends. But any digital effort that target improvements to the customer experience will inevitably drive traffic and revenue gains throughout the year. Personalization. Online retailers are always coming up with innovative ways to personalize the customer experience. Larger retailers like Amazon were early adopters of personalized site features, but now many smaller online retailers are getting in on the personalization game through site redesign projects. Awareness and the right use of relevant customer information through features that provide personalization, segmentation and targeting are high return on investment site design objectives. Low Click Counts. Get your visitors to complete a transaction in the least amount of clicks as possible. A high click counts create unnecessary hurdles that discourage consumers. A great customer experience means that users have the ability to convert in four clicks or less. Align Your Marketing Efforts. Alignment is key for small businesses. You can deliver a seamless customer experinece by strategically coordinating site content with a device-agnostic approach among other tactics. You can also promote cross-selling or upselling opportunities. Recommendations and Reviews. On-site reviews enhance the customer experience because they give consumers insight and comfort. Rather than relying just on brand messaging, consumers can confirm product characteristics with their peers. Engage in Social Media. Social media links improve the relationships between you and consumers. Although some have been disappointed by the results they've seen from social media efforts, nearly everyone agrees that it’s important for small businesses to incorporate social media links. Doing so builds deeper brand connections and provides opportunities for sharing of customer experiences with other consumers. Get a review of your website with our Website Review Services.

You probably know your customers, but do you really understand them?  Knowing your customers -- information typically collected by a business -- means you generally know who they are demographically, their age, gender, location, etc.  Most small businesses do a good job on this front.  When it comes to understanding customers, however, many companies come up short. If you desire to possess a true understanding your customers and their needs, it is essential that you interact with them as often as possible. Moreover these interactions should be deep, broad, and come via a number of different methods. If you want to get inside the heads of your customers, try implementing any or all of the following tactics: Use Social Media and Networking to Your Advantage: Your social media platform is an ideal way to interact with your customers. Encourage real-time input from your customers. You can also use these channels to address conflict or misperceptions among your customers. If you don’t have a social media strategy, check out several of our previous blog posts to help you get started. Customer Surveys: Whether conducted in person at your store, via the phone, on your website, pushed out during a webcast, through direct mail, or through any other medium, a properly structured survey will allow you to elicit answers to your most important questions. What better way to find out what your customers are thinking than to ask them. Surveys today are relatively inexpensive and easy to implement. Form a “Beta” or “Test” Customer Group: Offer incentives to get your customers and prospects to join a group that will help you generate new ideas, provide feedback on your products and services and collaborate on marketing approaches. Gaining direct insight from the market you’re selling into is invaluable. Annual Customer Reviews: If you are in a service business, annual customer reviews are an invaluable way to gather feedback.  Customers will appreciate that not every contact has to be about a new sale. An annual review is an opportunity to connect, or reconnect, with your customers in a way that encourages their participation. Incorporating reviews into your business process allow you to close the loop on any knowledge gaps on a regularly planned basis. Gather Intelligence: Whether it is competitive intelligence, market research, or other forms of business intelligence, the more you know about your customers the better you will be able to meet their needs. Bottom line…Only by truly understanding your customers, will you be able to exceed expectations and build real loyalty.

Can you think of business to which you are regular, repeat customer?  Why?  What does that business do for you to make you loyal? Is it extraordinary customer service, quality product, personalized service, all of the above?  For me it’s Dick Ponds, my local running shoe store.  They understand my needs, have a great staff, extend special offers and keep me well informed on the latest trends and information on running.  For small businesses, building customer loyalty translates to big business.    One of the keys to building customer loyalty is through consistent communication.   In my case, the running store keeps me informed through frequent, yet well-timed communications through both direct mail and email.  Regular communication with your clients and potential clients is an opportunity to position yourself as an expert in your field which helps people feel more comfortable spending money with you.  A recent study from Experian showed that email campaigns targeted to current loyalty program members have 40% higher open rates compared to bulk campaigns. No matter if you have an online business or a regular brick and mortar store, staying connecting with your existing and potential customers is a good approach to grow your business and develop loyalty. For more information on building customer loyalty in your small business, download Experian’s white paper, “The Loyalist: Leverage relationships with existing customers to increase return on investment.”