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January 3, 2012
Staying Connected to Your Customers During a Recession
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In a down economy the companies that choose to sit on their hands and hide under a rock are usually the companies that come out of the recession wondering where all of their customers went.
A company’s marketing plan during a recession can make or break their future success. Choosing to pull back on your marketing initiatives and not reach out to your customers could result in the loss of customers who no longer feel appreciated.
Contrary to the above statement, the companies who continue and even increase their marketing campaigns tend to rise to the top and win customer appreciation. While it may seem like a risk to increase marketing campaigns, the results could prove to be far greater in terms of current customers maintained, and new customers gained.
Today there are many different resources to utilize for marketing and advertising purposes and deciding on which avenues to spend your time and money can become a challenge. Many companies are taking advantage of social media sites such as: twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, and various other free online outlets. This is an easy way to stay in communication with your customers, but it should not be the only way.
In an article from DMNews.com, Bryan Yucran wrote, “experts say [companies] shouldn't eschew traditional direct marketing at its expense, because smart companies who continue a dialogue with their customers through a recession – using the tactile, personal direct mail channel usually come out the better for it.”
Staying connected to your customers can become difficult when budget cuts are occurring. Implementing a direct mail campaign that targets specific customers in desired locations could prove to be cost effective and may provide a strong return on investment in the hopes of maintaining your customers’ loyalty. While social media reaches customers in abundance, the target audience might vary dramatically in both demographics, and location. With a direct mail campaign you can control the volume and geographical location of your customer recipients, thus making your campaign more specific and efficient.
By pairing a direct mail and social media marketing campaign your company will be able to stay ahead of the curve by maintaining consistent communication with your customer base during a recession.
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Posted by GI Zaratsian
on January 3, 2012 at 1:26 PM
in Direct Marketing |
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Targeted Marketing: Pre-Movers
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Seasonality is a very important component within a targeted marketing campaign. Determining when the best time to reach your target audience could prove to be an even greater element in producing efficient results. Whether your company offers a product or a service, reaching a consumer when they’re most likely to make a purchasing decision and can be easily influenced by your brand is what targeted marketing is all about.
New Mover marketing has been around for years and has demonstrated response-rate effectiveness across many different industries. Aside from marketing to New Movers, another great way to reach a consumer is before the move actually takes place; otherwise known as “the Pre-Mover”. According to USPS research, 85% of those identified as Pre-Movers will use the first vendor that contacts them when it comes to home communications services, regardless of their satisfaction with their current provider.
With technological advancements in data processing and lead generation resources, pre-mover data has been made available and its performance suggests that it could significantly enhance your targeted marketing success.
Products and services such as cable or satellite television, phone and internet services, moving trucks and equipment, storage facilities, etc. are all modern day necessities a Pre-Mover consumer would be susceptible to purchasing. By sending a compelling offer to these consumers your company can develop brand loyalty and create new customer relationships at a climactic point in a mover’s decision-making process.
Speedeon Data has developed a cutting edge Pre-Mover lead file that is available on a weekly basis. The Pre-Mover file consists of consumers who just placed their home on the ‘for sale’ market, as well as consumers with homes in the ‘sale pending’ phase; meaning they are likely out of their home within 4-6 weeks.
Regardless of the slow economy and the poor housing market, people are still trying to sell their homes. If you have a product or a service that could benefit these consumers, now is the time to make a targeted approach with your upcoming marketing campaign by introducing a Pre-Mover lead file.
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Posted by GI Zaratsian
on January 3, 2012 at 1:26 PM
in Direct Marketing |
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A Message from our President: Speedeon Celebrates 2 Successful Years in Business
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Speedeon Data lives by the motto, "do the right thing." For 2 years we've recognized that doing the right thing creates market opportunity for ourselves as well as our customers and partners. For 2 years our actions and innovations have raised the bar in the database marketing industry. Today our data powers tens of millions of pieces of direct marketing communications per-week. WOW!
First, a thank you to our customers and partners, some of whom have been with us since the beginning. We'd be nothing without you.
And most importantly, my deep appreciation goes to the employees, affiliates and shareholders at Speedeon Data and your contributions and sacrifices over the past 2 years.
I couldn't be more proud of our first 2 years, and I can't wait to see where the next 2 will take us.
Over the coming months we’ll be updating our technology platforms that will provide real-time access to many of our data-streams. Including real-time count systems and the ability to connect via “data-pipe” to back end secure web based systems. In addition, we’ll be bringing online lots more demographic data and household data-streams.
Thanks for your continued support!
Gerard J. Daher
President | Speedeon Data
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Posted by GI Zaratsian
on January 3, 2012 at 1:25 PM
in News & Updates |
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Bargain Hunting
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In a recent study by Harris Polls, Print Media (primarily Newspaper and Magazine Advertisements) scored the highest percentages among U.S. Adults as the advertising medium most used to help find a bargain.
In a world where we are becoming dependent upon “staying connected” and always having web access, it is refreshing to see that people of all ages still read the newspaper and respond to its advertising messages.
Not surprisingly, however, online advertisements came in 2nd place followed by direct mail and catalogs.
It should be interesting to see if the percentages shift over the course of the next several years. With the booming sales of web-ready cell phones, and the decrease in the circulation of newspapers, the future effectiveness of advertising could be lying in the palms of our hands - - literally.
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Advertising Most Likely to Help Find Bargain - Age
(Base: All U.S. adults; % of Category Respondents)
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Age
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Total
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18-34
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35-44
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45-54
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Newspaper/Magazine advertisements
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23%
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15%
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16%
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24%
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33%
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Online advertisements
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18%
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22%
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26%
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17%
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12%
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Direct mail and catalogs
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12%
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13%
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13%
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14%
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10%
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Television commercials
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11%
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17%
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12%
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8%
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7%
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Radio
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2%
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2%
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3%
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< .5%
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1%
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None- the type of ad makes no
difference
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34 %
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31%
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31%
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36%
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36%
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Source: Harris Polls, January 2010
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Posted by GI Zaratsian
on January 3, 2012 at 1:24 PM
in Direct Marketing |
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Spring is in the Air
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Spring is in the air. With spring about to be in full bloom and summer just around the corner, most marketers are gearing up to promote their products and services to an abundance of new movers. The extension of the Federal Housing Tax Credit is a good indicator that we can expect to see a late surge of new homebuyers who are persuaded to take the plunge; a plunge that provides them with some extra cash in their pockets, courtesy of Uncle Sam. This could very well spawn an increase in shopping activity well beyond initial expectations.
According to our research study, 46% of purchases are made within the first month after the move takes place. This influx of activity is why so many marketers spend a large portion of their budgets going after this attractive target audience. Everything from purchasing small kitchen appliances to opening new checking accounts are potential opportunities for marketers to introduce their products and services and establish new customer relationships.
Not only is it important to identify new movers, but another vital element is recognizing consumer purchasing behaviors. Timeliness is of the essence when targeting new movers with a product or service. If your offer is just a few days late, a consumer could have already developed brand relationships resulting in missed opportunities on your behalf.
According to our research, most major purchasing decisions will occur within the first 2 weeks after the move. With new movers spending an average of $8,500 on a variety of products and services within the first few months of the move, it’s easy to see why being the first in their mail box or the first to get the customer on the phone is an important piece to the puzzle.
It’s a race against the clock, so how can you be sure you will reach these quick spenders before their purchasing decisions have already been made?
Historically, most new mover lists are not available to mail or call until 2 weeks after the move date. Based on our research, new movers tell us this is too late to present them with an offer because their shopping is nearly complete. The diagram below illustrates that most purchasing decisions are being made around day 7 following the move. If you’re too slow and wait to engage these ripe new movers you will most likely miss out on your acquisition opportunity.
Most data provider’s lists are not ready during the climax of new mover purchasing. However, there is a solution to reach these consumers at precisely the right time. Speedeon Data has the ability to identify a new mover within as little as 24 hours. Within 48 hours Speedeon Data provides mail ready files which are Delivery Point Verified to the secondary level. Additionally, we offer phone numbers (which meet Federal guidelines and Do-Not-Call regulations) on almost all of our new mover prospects.
The combination of Speedeon’s timely and accurate data continues to surpass the competition by reaching new movers first. In numerous tests these results have been proven, time and time again. Take advantage of the increase in homebuyers this spring and welcome your new customers to the neighborhood in record time.
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Posted by GI Zaratsian
on January 3, 2012 at 1:24 PM
in Direct Marketing |
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A Large Pizza with Pepperoni and Direct Mail
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Everyone has their favorite pizza place. Whether it’s a national chain restaurant, or a local pizza shop, it’s your first call when the craving hits your stomach. But before you order, you might consider using coupons. You also might consider having it delivered rather than picking it up.
It’s obvious coupons don’t appear out of thin air when you’re ready to order. Pizza companies thrive on coupon marketing and home delivery and that is why 40% of pizza market executives and operators rank direct mail coupons as very important to their marketing efforts and 32% rank them as important, according to the 2009 Pizza Industry Study.
While you may have a favorite pizza shop, marketers and advertisers are trying to persuade you in their direction when it comes time to order your next pie. So before you pick up the phone to satisfy your cravings, are you influenced by direct mail coupons?
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Posted by GI Zaratsian
on January 3, 2012 at 1:23 PM
in Direct Marketing |
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'Tis the Season to Advertise
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You probably haven’t created your Christmas wish list just yet, but if you are in Marketing or Advertising you have been thinking about the Holiday Season for a few months now.
Every year we see new advertising campaigns that must compete with seasoned veterans Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Kohl’s, and Macy’s. It may be challenging, but Christmas time is the best time for marketers to stand out from the crowd and attract new customers to their product or service.
The biggest shopping day of the year falls on the Friday after Thanksgiving. While Black Friday is not an actual Holiday, most retailers tend to treat it like one. Black Friday is the unofficial beginning to the Holiday shopping season, and with a record number of 172 million shoppers in 2008, you can bet retailers across the nation are gearing up for this event.
Retailers everywhere plan far in advance to create a marketing and advertising strategy for Black Friday. With stores opening as early as 5 AM there is a lot of pressure and anticipation on filling the stores with customers who are ready to spend some serious cash.
Advertisers and Marketers are preparing for this day by developing marketing and promotional plans centered on their huge discounts. Many retailers print and mail a catalogue for their seasonal items; JCPenny and Williams Sonoma are great examples. Other retailers send direct mail or email advertisements; air television and radio commercials urging shoppers to visit their stores; and take part in social media marketing.
With so many different mediums to market towards, which are the most effective? According to a survey from the National Retail Federation, “44.6 percent of consumers said coupons were a factor in determining where to shop this year, up from 35.2 percent last year. Consumers said they were also swayed by advertising inserts (30.1%), newspaper ads (24.5%), direct mail (18.5%) and email advertisements (15.8%).”
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Regarding Holiday Advertising, which of the following media influences you to shop at a particular store?
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2008
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2007
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Coupons
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44.6%
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35.2%
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Word of Mouth
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32.3%
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22.7%
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Advertising Inserts
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30.1%
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30.4%
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TV/Broadcast (e.g. ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc.)
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26.5%
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21.3%
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Newspaper
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24.5%
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15.6%
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In-store promotion
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20.5%
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14.8%
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Direct Mail
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18.5%
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16.1%
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Email Advertising
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15.8%
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9.8%
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Cable (e.g. CNN, Lifetime, USA, TNT, etc.)
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13.0%
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10.3%
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Internet Advertising
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12.3%
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7.5%
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Magazines
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12.1%
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8.5%
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Radio
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9.7%
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9.1%
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Outdoor Billboards
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3.1%
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3.2%
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Product Placement
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4.0%
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2.5%
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Blogging
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1.1%
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0.7%
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Instant Messaging (computer)
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0.6%
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0.7%
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Text Messaging (cell phone)
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0.6%
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0.6%
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Video (on cell phone)
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0.3%
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0.3%
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According to the preceding figures, a coupon is the most influential factor that will affect a consumer’s purchasing decisions. While the effectiveness of the coupon might not come as a surprise to most people, it is important to note HOW the coupon is delivered to the consumer.
Take into consideration the remaining data collected by the National Retail Federation. 30.1% of consumers are influenced by advertising inserts, followed by 24.5% newspaper, and 18.5% direct mail. In a dot com world that seems to have evolved overnight, it is surprising to learn that newspaper and direct mail coupons are still among the most effective influential factors among consumers.
While many economists expect web and viral marketing to continue its climb, print advertising is maintaining the lead in consumer influence. This Holiday Season you can anticipate retailers utilizing an array of different marketing mediums, and whether it’s through print, television, or the web, a lot of advertising dollars will be spent in an effort to fill the stores and malls with consumers on Black Friday.
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Posted by GI Zaratsian
on January 3, 2012 at 1:22 PM
in Direct Marketing |
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Does An Old Adage Still Apply To New Customers and New Movers?
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When it comes to acquiring new customers, does the old adage “the early bird catches the worm” still apply? Being first to reach a new mover is often the most influential factor in acquiring a new customer. With new homeowners and renters spending approximately $8,500 on a variety of products and services within the first three months of their relocation, reaching these new movers early in their purchase cycle is critical. Savvy marketing executives across a wide range of industries understand this opportunity and continue to add new mover programs to their customer acquisition strategies.
For insurance providers, new movers are of particular relevance. Relocation creates the need for new homeowners’ and renters’ insurance. Most new movers who are relocating out of state require new automotive insurance. And many new or expanding families, when moving into their first home or upgrading to a larger house, have changing life insurance needs as well.
However, today’s business environment poses some unique challenges for marketers. Modest improvements in consumer spending are being dampened by rising prices in food and fuel. Competition is increasing as companies adopt more aggressive customer acquisition strategies. At the same time, marketing budgets continue to be stretched and program results are being put under greater scrutiny.
Given these challenges, do established marketing strategies, including traditional new mover marketing programs, fall short in meeting your customer acquisition objectives? Perhaps the response to these challenges is to work “smarter”. How can you do a better job of identifying high-potential prospects and understanding what motivates them to become your customers? What can you do to maximize the return on your marketing investments? A modeled new mover program enables you to work “smarter” and to address some of these important challenges.
Modeled new mover programs utilize regression modeling to analyze new mover data using Zip+4 data models – effectively leveraging the principal of the “homogenous neighborhood”. The combination of modeled Zip+4 data and new mover data is a powerful analytical tool that is able to identify key geospatial and demographic attributes for predicting customer behavior. As a result, a modeled new mover program enables you to optimize new mover marketing programs and mitigate marketing risks, by increasing response rates while reducing mail quantities.
Developing a modeled new mover program is a multi-step process. First, a responder analysis is performed in order to better understand past new mover behavior. When doing a responder analysis, it is important to use new mover data that is accurate, comprehensive and current. Next, new mover data is combined with the Zip+4 data model. After several steps, which include exploratory data analysis and multiple iterations of logistic regression, relevant data elements are distilled into a “final” model.
In order to ensure maximum model effectiveness, it is important to start with an extensive set of data elements at the beginning of the modeling process. Additional data elements may be used in conjunction with the program to increase offer effectiveness. On an on-going basis offers are tested, measured and modified – driving continuous improvement in marketing programs.
Modeled new mover programs are superior to traditional new mover programs because they generate significantly higher response rates at reduced mail quantities. Unlike traditional new mover program data selects, which are driven solely by date range and geography, modeled new mover data selects are driven by actual model results as well. Modeled new mover programs also focus on high-value prospects, while traditional new mover programs tend to focus on data currency and counts. Finally, modeled new mover program pricing is based on value and return-on-investment, in contrast to the commodity-based pricing associated with traditional new mover programs.
A modeled new mover program will help you to address some of your most important marketing challenges by providing a powerful analytical tool for identifying high-potential prospects, understanding and predicting customer behavior, and optimizing new mover marketing programs.
Perhaps the old adage still applies, but with one important qualification… “the early ‘and smarter’ bird catches the worm.”
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Posted by GI Zaratsian
on January 3, 2012 at 1:21 PM
in Direct Marketing |
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You Don't Need a Calculator...
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Scenario: You are a Manager of Marketing for a retail company and you have a 1 million dollar budget for your marketing plan. You decide you want to spend 20% of that 1 million on a direct mail campaign targeted towards previous customers of your company.
That sounds simple. You have a database full of customer information from previous customer purchases; you can even personalize your mailings to what each customer has purchased in the past. After designing the direct mail piece you send the artwork along with your customer database information to the print company. They print the direct mail pieces, and send it off to your targeted customers. Now you get to sit back, relax, and enjoy the return on your investment.
But wait… You knew there was a catch. What if a portion of the customers in your database no longer live in the same house, city, or even the same state? You just spent time and money trying to market to those people, and now they won’t receive the message. It’s only a matter of time before the “Return to Sender” direct mail pieces that you sent out are piled outside your door.
In an article from DMNews Online, Matthew Conlin, Sales Director at Clash-Media US, writes: “Qualification of leads can be done at a number of different levels, depending on what the marketer requires. Verification of telephone numbers, postal address or e-mail address is basic, but has a huge impact on the campaign's effectiveness - the costs incurred by following up bogus contacts can be severe. However, there are higher levels of verification - for example telephone verification of not only personal details, but also interest in the product or service. This creates a very hot lead that can be passed directly to a sales agent. This typically results in positive ROI.”
Did you know, according to the USPS, only 53% of movers give notice to the NCOA (National Change of Address) that they will be changing addresses? That means 47% of your customers who moved since you last optimized your database will not receive the message. And you shouldn’t depend on only the USPS change of address services to update your database of customers and prospects.
Over time customer and prospect data can drastically change. Aside from moving their residence, a customer could get married or divorced which might result in the change of last names. This can make locating your customer base increasingly difficult without the proper database maintenance.
The customer database your company has been collecting has grown outdated and needs to be optimized. You don’t need a calculator to do the math. It is important that you improve the accuracy and effectiveness of your direct mail in order to increase your response rate.
Trigger data is one mechanism for improving marketing performance but before any data mining marketing activity occurs, you need to ensure your database is kept up-to-date. It sounds like a given but as a consumer, think how often you receive phone calls or mail that are intended for someone other than you, someone who doesn’t even live in your household.
Data hygiene and optimization are critical to the success of your campaigns. Speedeon Data offers one of the most advanced hygiene capabilities in the industry. Speedeon Data offers a seamless process for keeping your house files up-to-date. With our ability to immediately identify pre-mover and mover activity, we can append your house files within a 24 hour turnaround so you know who to include in your acquisition activities and which customers to target with retention efforts.
Don’t fall victim to an unkempt database. Invest wisely and choose a solution that is right for your company.
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Posted by GI Zaratsian
on January 3, 2012 at 1:21 PM
in Database Marketing / CRM |
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