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Trigger-based marketing also works in tandem with events in the marketplace, such as a change in mortgage rates; or goes into action when the customer returns an item or inquires about a product upgrade or service; or suggests a related product when the customer buys, etc.
3. Data Modeling
A retail client selling products online and through catalogs asked for EU Services' help in planning and executing a sophisticated variable campaign. The strategy was to showcase related products to customers in a tailored cross-sell promotional effort. To compile data, the client worked with an agency that specializes in developing complex business-logic rules modeled on one customer's buying habits measured against another customer's buying habits.
The result was a tailored postcard that featured both a past purchase and a suggestion for future purchases with a coupon based on similar customers' buying behavior. Response rates went through the roof. By mailing two to three times per month to between 900 and 1,500 people, over time this tailored upsell has earned a 300 percent ROI.
As the authors of the article aimed at health care marketers noted, "The choice to use targeting or tailoring depends on a number of factors, including the available resources of a campaign, the size of the target audience, and whether the behavior is simple, such as a small one-time purchase, or more complex, involving a lifestyle change."
It's also true that tailoring messages to the characteristics of an individual is usually associated with an increase in costs, but hopefully an increase in responses as well. Fortunately, testing is every direct marketer's winning strategy for dealing with that uncertainty.
Crystal Uppercue is the marketing manager for EU Services, a 330-employee direct marketing production facility based in Rockville, MD. Download EU's free white paper, "A Marketing Manager's Guide to VDP Project Management," at www.euservices.com.
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Secrets of Direct Marketing Testing
PURLs for Profit
