Relevancy should guide your campaign, says expert
By: Mark HaslanApril 1st, 2010
Relevancy should guide your campaign, says expert
From web pop-ups to TV ads, consumers are assaulted with thousands of messages from hundreds of companies every day. With marketers racing to find new ways of influencing buyers, the number of avenues in which they try to send prospective customers their message will increase as well. Because businesses are constantly bombarding consumers with advertisements and promotional offers, consumers have perfected the art of tuning them out.
Rather than trying to overwhelm consumers with messages, a savvy business owner will instead look to improving their campaign’s relevancy. By personalizing a campaign and making it more relevant to the intended audience, potential customer response rates will increase dramatically. In a column for BtoB Online, director of deliverability and ISP relations for ClickSquared Michael Thompson shared a lot of great advice that should help small business owners make their messages more relevant to consumers.
Before even addressing the actual message, Thomspon advises that small business owners clearly define their goals. Without knowing the exact purpose of a campaign, it is very hard to create a personalized message. Ideally, the campaign should gather information on the intended audience, and find out what their needs are. "This information includes product interests, frequency of purchase, website visits, store visits, life events (marriage, pregnancy, moving, etc.), demographic and psychographic profiles, and geographic location," says Thompson.
Gathering that information comes in the next step. This may sound obvious, but the best way to accomplish this is by simply asking customers. Though Thompson recommends setting up a preference center on your website, this can be accomplished just as effectively by sending out postcards or brochures with surveys attached to them. Valuable information includes a customer’s name, age, gender, ZIP code, phone number, preferred method of communication, and which social media platforms they use. Responses can be encouraged by offering special promotions or discounts.
Finally, once that data has been collected, it should be worked into the message. The demographics can help determine which channels are used to market the product or service. ZIP codes can be used to help promote local events. Identifying a customer’s preferred social media platform can help communicate back with them. This data can help further personalize any direct mail marketing campaign, and that leads to more sales down the line.
In a recent article, SpotThisNow.com also recommended listening to customers when designing your marketing campaign. They advise business owners to constantly communicate with and find their active customer, then spending extra time ensuring that their needs are satisfied.
Related posts:
- Collecting customer preferences can help a business improve its relevancy
- Relevancy can increase the effectiveness of a direct mail marketing campaign
- Relevancy can increase the effectiveness of a direct mail marketing campaign
- Business rules may help manage a direct mail marketing campaign
- Real estate research can help guide direct mail marketing campaigns
