Week 4
Integrated Direct Marketing
IDM Media Mix Includes
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•
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•
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Public Relations
Internet and e-mail
Direct Response Print Advertising
Direct Mail
Inbound and Outbound Telecontact
Field Sales Channels
Consensual Databases
The Goal
• The goal of this process is simple
– Significant increases in qualified response
– Increased profit
– Reduced waste through precision deployment
of relevant and targeted communications.
IDM, A Definition
• Pre-Sale
– Begins with integrated
media and sales strategies.
• To determine the needs,
interests and preferences.
• Sale
• Ever increasing focus on
customers requirements
• Ongoing
communications
• Consultative needs
assessment
• Problem identification and
resolution
• Generation of repeat sales
Traditional Results
• 2% YES
98% NO
• This applies to e as well
A 2 % response may mean we are making money.
But 98% of our market trashed our
communication. This message is very clear. We
must refocus our efforts to communicate greater
relevance and deliver greater value. Information is
the enabler; it is the tool we need to achieve
double-digit response and leverage LTV of a
customer.
Traditional Marketing
A 2% Solution
2%
YES
98%
NO
The Goal of Traditional
Direct Marketing
Quick Sale
Not
Long-Term
Relationship
Considerations
• The evolution of American business has caused
organizations to become series of Silos
• Management criteria and agendas vary from silo
to silo.Only a few silos are focused on the
customer.
• Silos,
– Inhibit integration
– Preclude a company-wide focus on the customer.
Silos
• Inhibit Integration
• Preclude a company-wide focus on the
customer
• Organization along product lines precludes
a true customer focus
• Lack of processes to understand and address
customer needs.
• Integrated Direct Marketing provides a
strategic and tactical process for managing
customer driven communications. It is a
way to focus sales and marketing on
building strong, lasting relationships with
customers.
– Al Ries
IDM is practical,there are
barriers:
• The first barrier is perceptual
– Just adding multiple media won’t make your
campaign integrated
– IDM is a customer driven process that is based
on research precision and analysis.
Organizational
• Second barrier is organizational
– It exists among disciplines such as marketing,
sales and advertising, that value their turf and
are not used to working cooperatively.
– To integrate your direct marketing, you have to
integrate your organization.
Implementation
• Third barrier is implementation
– Media and messages must be integrated and
managed so your company speaks with one
voice – carrying a message of value, as defined
by the customer
Make&Sell v.s. Listen&Serve
• The focus on the customer must be the
driving force
– We must compel ourselves to abandon the
“make and sell” manufacturing mind set
which has devastated the effectiveness of most
marketers.
– Instead we must rapidly evolve to the customer
based commitment of “listen and serve.”
Identify Marketing and Sales
Efforts
Over 1000 hours of Voice of Customer(VOC)
research confirms that
– Customers and prospects are tired of receiving
the traditional barrage of untargeted,
– Unfocused and Unsolicited
• Mailings,
• Emails,
• Phone calls, etc.
Voice Of Customers
• Customers are increasingly opting-out
– No Value!
• Name removal growing at 600% per year
for some companies!
– Customers finding no value in the
communication No RELATIONSHIP
PROCESS
– Opt-out rate can exceed sales rate
Voice of Customers
• Almost 1000 hours of research on behalf of
clients including
– IBM, Agilent Technologies Inc., Applied
Biosystems, AT&T, Citibank,
• Goal: To better understand the messaging
and communication requirements of
customers!
VOC Research Quotes
• “The fastest way to be forgotten is to buy”
– Where is the “Thank you” message?
– If you only knock the door to sell, you will
lose.
VOC Research Quotes
• “You flood me with mail, instead of taking
the time to understand what information
you should be sending.”
• “What is the value of your
communications? I get about one garbage
can a day of unsolicited, irrelevant
information”
How To’s
• Allow customers to participate in a dialogue
and populate your database with their
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Information needs
Timing requirements
Contact information
Media Preferences
• “The consensual process throws out old
assumptions, takes a market and breaks it
down to the individual level….With this
customer generated intelligence, there is no
longer a need to blanket a market with mass
media”
– Brian Gillespie, former VP,
ITT Sheraton Reservations Corporation
Investment Triangles
(Important)
IDM, with the consensual Database, drives the allocation of resources per
propensity to buy
Marketing Investment
Top Producing
Customers
Good Customers
Dormant Customers
&Qualified Prospects
Suspects
Market Segmentation
IDM Media Contribution
60
50
40
30
Percentages
20
10
0
Print Advertising
Internet
Mail
Telemarketing
Internet&Email
Internet and Email
• 76% of web sites fail to meet basic
requirements for a good customer
experience ( Forrester Research)
– 17% of sites had comprehensive CS
– 7% of sites had precise and comprehensive
keyword searches
– 87% didn’t provide essential information at
each user decision point
Internet & Email
• Only 2% of those who visit a site actually
make a purchase (Net effect)
– In spite of marketplace perceptions of the web
(e-channel) as a dominant customer contact
point,traditional selling channels such as face to
face selling, business partners and telechannels
continue to account for more than 95% of
revenues (meta group / IMT)
Internet & Email
• Regarding consumers who categorize
themselves as online users: of the holiday
season,
– 26 % of internet users budget was spent online.
– 60% was spent in traditional bricks and mortar
stores.
(PriceWaterhouseCoopers)
Internet & Email
• Websites and e-communications are more
effective in customer retention and for
prospecting.
Internet & Email
• Response will vary by message sent
– Per e-Marketer retention messages are read
almost twice as frequently as acquisition
messages
VOC
• “Keep it easy, interactive and visual”
• “If we request in-depth information, it is
OK to ask for information in return”
• “Please answer our email promptly”
– Expected response within 24 hours
The e-mailbox is
“private property”
• Perception of unsolicited emails may cause
severe reactions.
– Example ACE computer camp
– Computer programming and gaming camp for
kids
– Sent out a notice about upcoming summer
camp to a rented list
– A handful of complaints caused them to be
branded “Spammer”
How To’s
• Define your target audience
• Why and when do customers want to visit
your web site
• Why and when do customers want email
– Email for specific information interchange
– Web sites for research and easy purchase
• Provide options that include knowledgeable
empowered real time human interaction
Internet & Email
• Map your customers’ needs
– Which needs can be fulfilled by which channel
• Web sites for research
• Direct mail for in depth information
• Inbound calls for complex orders and customer
service
• Don’t force customers for the low cost
process
Internet & Email
• Incorporate electronic data capture
– Ask for profiling information as appropriate
• Don’t request detailed personal information on the
“first date”
• Learn something new with each exchange value
• Track web behavior to identify
– Important information
– Deletions / Areas to develop
Your Investment
• Carefully consider your investment in e-media
– Expect limited payback from your investment in
internet content (Jupiter research)
• Carefully consider the offers you extend via emedia
– Discounting will
• Commoditize your product
• Increase customers’ expectations that e-media = lower prices
Internet & Email
• E-chat
– Requires a specialized skill set
• “Call me” button
– Customers expect prompt response
– Careful- some consumers only have one
telephone line and may be online
• 800# promote the value of the Inbound
channel
Direct Mail
Direct Mail
•Per VOC Research, most customers
prefer to get in-depth information via
Direct Mail
–A medium to communicate value
–Not junk mail
•However that is not the way marketers
appear to be deploying this medium
VOC quotes
• “Value? One garbage can per day – 2 feet
by 16 inches”
• “You are using me as an executive mail
room”
VOC quotes
• 75% of those interviewed preferred to
receive in depth information via direct mail
• “Email maybe the base of your
communications with me, but I am getting
too much junk. If it is really important send
it to me by mail.”
• “Mail should be specific to my role what I
do all day long.”
VOC quotes
• “If I request information, I’d rather you send it to
me by mail versus a decades-long download. Mail
is easier to access, easier to read.”
• “A personal invitation goes right to the top of my
inbox.”
• “As I sort mail, I look at the corner card ( Who is
this from) and the class of mail. If I recognize the
company/if we have a relationship, and if it’s sent
first class I’ll open it every time.”
Effectiveness of Direct Mail
• To increase the effectiveness of direct mail
– Spell your customers name correctly
• Most frequent error
• Undermines dialogue
Effectiveness of Direct Mail
• Personalize the message
– Per immediate needs of the customer;
• “The attached article details independent testing that
shows the benefit of on site training.Per our
conversation regarding leadership training, you will
find quantitative results on page 2 paragraph 2”
– Per the relationship with the customer
• “We appreciate the opportunity to provide our
customers with regular updates regarding important
issues”
Important Questions
• Copy and design must clearly answer these four
questions
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What is the topic?
What do you want me to do?
When do you want me to do it?
What is in it for me?
• A strong and visible call to action is essential
1 800 number
Direct Mail
• Introduce the value of the website
– Why should you go to the web site
– Information
– Track a shipment
• Emphasize the benefit of Inbound
– Speak to trained knowledgeable, empowered
product advisors who can answer your
questions and expedite order.
Create Springboard for Outbound
• Introduce the value of the outbound touch
• “Your tax advisor John Smith will be calling
you later this week to discuss this new
legislation, and how it will specifically
apply to your portfolio”
Timing= One week after Print Ad
• Mail should be deployed approximately
one week after direct response print
advertising
Tips: How to increase Direct
Mail response by 15% or more
• Personalize the communication
• Mail First Class
– Additional cost equals additional results
– Testing has shown that the additional cost of
first class is more than offset by the increase in
qualified response
Tip: Don’t release all the mail at
once
• Stagger the mail to:
– Load level inbound call volumes
– Ensure timely outbound follow up
• Release mail in “Waves”
– Sized per telemarketing capacity
Wave I
Wave II
Wave III
Points to Remember
• Integrate mail with other media
– Timing
– Message
– Call to action
• Personalize the communication
– To the individual (spell their name correctly)
– To the relationship
– To the individuals needs and requirements
Inbound and Outbound
Telemarketing
Inbound Call Center
• Customers place inbound calls for a specific
purpose
– To inquire
– To make a purchase
– To resolve an issue
Inbound Call Center
• However, what they frequently encounter
are the human robots
– Reactive/ Transactional Reps who do not:
•
•
•
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Communicate value
Satisfy customers
Increase revenue
Contribute to the brand
– What do your customers experience when they
call your 800# ?
Considerations
• Marketing expenditures on mail and other
media cause the phone to ring
– What is the cost of an inbound call
• $50 - $250
• What are your costs?
Customers want to speak to a live
person
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•
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Someone who represents the company well
Immediate gratification
Extremely low customer expectations
Customers have become accustomed to
poor service.
Inbound Integration
800#
50-100% Increase
• Inbound, carefully integrated into the
media mix, can generate a 50%-100%
increase in qualified response
• Visible integration of 800 # into all
Mail Only
2% Response
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–
Publicity
Advertising
Mail
Internet
Outbound Telemarketing
• Issue:
– Outbound telemarketing
• Most powerful medium for response, leads and sales
• Most powerful medium for dissatisfaction
Bad Reputation
• Outbound, as an industry, has been
successful in giving itself a black eye
– The calls we receive at dinner
Voice of Customer
• Extremely low customer expectation
• Per VOC research
– Irrelevant. Unstructured. Offensive
– You are not listening. Cold calling is not
appreciated
– “Telemarketing is intrusive. If I am interested I
will call you”
– How much of a relationship do you feel with
the folks who call during the dinner
Outbound Telemarketing
• Integrate and synchronize outbound with
other media and messages
• Deploy integrated telesales
– Market justified
– Interactive dialogue not broadcast!
– High quality = higher revenue
Outbound Telemarketing
• Control the call.
• Quickly answer the spoken question, ‘What
is in it for me?”.
• Probe for the clear statements of need.
• Present the solution with features and
benefits.
The Script
• Meet objections with benefit and value
– The four types of objections
• No need
• No money
• No confidence ( in your company,
product or service)
• No hurry to purchase
The Script has to
address
Scripting
• Effectively respond to objections
– Develop and continuously refine scripting
• Every 3-4 weeks the scripting has to change. If not
you are in trouble.
• Up-sell cross-sell whenever possible
– As appropriate develop an Affinity Matrix to
help Reps match solutions to needs.
The Principles of Response Compression
Response
Traditional Mail&Phone
Response Compression
24-72 hours
Mail
Time
Mail
500%
50-100%
2%
Outbound
800 #
Mail Only
Total Increase 600%
•Mail is more productive
•Telemarketing is more profitable
•Multiple messages via different channels
•Will increase sales
Direct Response
Print Advertising
Direct Response Print
Advertising
• Two major uses for direct
response PA
– To provide a specific umbrella
of awareness in support of
email, internet, direct mail and
telemarketing
– To demonstrate commitment to
a specific marketplace
• “If wee see your ad in the
publications we mentioned,
we know you are dedicated
and will stay committed”
• http://www.admedic.com/html/a
d_samples.html#
How To’s
• Deploy direct response Print Ads
– Must generate some degree of response
– Awareness is most clearly measured by response
• Create awareness in support of email, internet, direct mail
and telemarketing
– Introduce clear benefits and visuals
– Include a strong call to action
– Provide multiple response options with benefits for choosing
each
• Internet: Research / Ordering
• Inbound : Talk with an experienced product Advisor
• Suggestion: Drive response to interactive inbound channel to enable
up-selling / cross selling / database building
Use VOC research to determine
• What publications do you
read regularly for this
information?
• In which of these should
we advertise?
• What information should
the ad contain?
• What visuals would you
want to see?
• What offer do you find
compelling?
Considerations
• Trade shows attendance is very expensive
• Given the noise trade shows are inefficient
in generating high quality leads.
7 Step IDM Registration
Generation Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
5 Weeks prior……………………
4 Weeks prior……………………
3.5 Weeks (24-72 hrs. after mail)..
2.5 Weeks………………………..
1 Week prior……………………..
3 Days & 24 Hours Prior………...
1 Week After…………………….
Print Advertising
Initial Direct Mail
Outbound Telemarketing
Confirmation Letter / Email
Briefing Package
Confirmation Call #1 #2
Follow up communication
Field Sales
Integrating Field Sales
• Issue:
– Marketing+Sales= dysfunctional relationship
• Different measurements for success
– Marketing success is measured by gross number of
inquiries / leads.
– Sales success measured by revenue.
Sales Integration
• Process review with field Sales
• Create inside sales and telemarketing
function
• Send fewer, higher quality leads to the field.
• Set up feedback loop.
Public Relations
• PR / Publicity
– Can generate the
• Highest quality leads
• Highest average order
– Is generally left out of the direct marketing
media Marketing Mix
Considerations
• There is no stronger form of awareness
– Implied endorsement of the publication
– Verisimilitude
Publicity
• However there is a long lead time
– Ideas must be submitted 3 months prior to
publication
– No guarantee when, or if your story will run
• Final story may not match your idea
– Editorial process may shift focus from your
intention
How To’s
• Target publications per the profile of your
customer base
– Customer vertical versus general publications
– As possible, use VOC research
• Generate newsworthy ideas
– What are the needs and requirements of your target
market
– How do the benefits of your product / Service address
those needs
– Do not sound over promotional / concentrate on
customer benefits.
– Your idea should show how customers can get access to
these benefits through your web site / 800#.
Publicity
• Persistence
– Personal relationships make the difference
– Identify the appropriate writers / editors
– Follow up by phone
• Don’t mail ore releases than you can follow up per
response compression
• Script your phone calls / messages to ensure value
– Use prints as a component of fulfillment
IDM Contact Management Calendar
Months
•
Publicity
•
Website
•
PA
•
Email Newsletter
•
Catalog
•
Direct Mail
•
Telemarketing
1
2 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12
4 5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12