Mortgage Companies Still Upbeat!

You're probably saying NO WAY! How can mortgage companies possibly be upbeat with the subprime fiasco and the demise of so many mortgage lenders?

Well, according to yesterday's New York Times article entitled, No Lull in Mortgage Pitches, these companies are continuing to pump out upbeat messages to encourage consumers to continue to pursue the American Dream of homeownership. Countrywide's ad, for example, touts that "Countrywide can show you the way home." Bank of America's ad: "Homeownership is the best medicine." In addition, the article reports that "the National Association of Realtors is running national television ads saying there has never been a better time to buy a home. Home values nearly double every 10 years, the commercial claims, showing a young couple walk up to their white colonial-style home."

For direct marketers like us who have spent the last few years serving this industry with targeted multi-channel marketing campaigns, this is music to our ears. Companies like CountryWide, Bank of America and Wachovia have not decreased their advertisements -- and we're hoping that increases in direct marketing budgets will follow suit . . . if it's true.

As mortgage experts predict a strong Spring for home buying, other experts are not so sure. “'There’s been huge scrutiny on these companies, but they are continuing to advertise,' said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League, a nonprofit organization in Washington. 'Many of these companies are bleeding, and these ads are a way to get more money into the door.'” Even the Mortgage Bankers Association is not predicting a strong year, according to the article.

It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds. The other outstanding factor is the fact that this is an election year. Both major political parties have made the mortgage crisis a major theme of their campaigns -- with a myriad of approaches for bailing out those Americans who got in over their heads in the past few years.

From this direct marketers optomistic perspective, I'm hoping that the economy will continue to correct itself, and that consumers have better learned to read carefully over the fine print on those mortgage loan documents. If the National Realtors Association is correct in their research, and home prices do nearly double each decade, perhaps this will help to spur the economy in the right direction and get the direct marketing dollars flowing again in this industry! We're keeping our fingers crossed.

Great Links!

Welcome to another edition of our Friday Blog Log!

The first link that we're featuring today is from Jesse Sands, of RoughStock Studios Blog. Jesse's blog post on Recession-Proof Marketing is a good read. We like Jesse's style! She discusses how to look at direct marketing spend in the time of an economic downturn. She brings up some great points for us to use in consulting with our clients, as well as for an internal look at our own businesses.

Staying on the same theme, take a look at Peter Kim's link that discusses why it may be difficult to make Mobile Marketing work -- particularly in this time of economic downturn. Peter is blogging from a recent OMMA Mobile Conference. Like Social Media was, Mobile Marketing is now in the beginning stages of marketer acceptance and use. There are some good reasons for this, as Peter outlines in his post. The good news is that he is also conducting some research on how to make Mobile Marketing work for you -- even in these turbulent economic times. So, we'll keep our eyes out for that more positive piece and feature it on an upcoming post.

Finally, we invite you to take a look at this link from the CRMIndustry.com Blog. This post discusses a recent survey that reports on how high-value customers are now requiring a seamless cross-channel experience. "The survey, which polled 1,005 adults between January 18 and 20, 2008, found that nearly two-thirds (64%) of all respondents went online before making a purchase in the past three months. That percentage was even higher for 'high-value' consumers, such as those with household incomes of about $75,000 (81%), college graduates (78%) and consumers age 25 to 34 (77%)." Take a look at the link for the full readout. Once again, this proves that as direct marketers we must become experts in creating a cross-channel experience that is transparent -- and relevant-- for our clients. For example, they must be able to effectively navigate your web site, then take that insight to the retail outlet to make purchases.

It's always good to end on a positive note! We hope you enjoy these links as much as we did.

TGIF!

Direct Marketing: What Are We Thankful For?

Once again, the year has whizzed by . . . Mom was right (again) about time speeding up on you as you get older. So, here we are on the eve of Thanksgiving, and reflecting on what we have to be thankful for in the world of direct marketing. Come on -- I know that's what you're all reflecting on as you're making those pumpkin pies!

For starters, our industry continues to expand. Even with the stumbling economy of 2007, direct marketing spend has continued to grow robustly -- some report as much as 7%. That is great news for all of us! And, in reviewing our client's strategies, it's looking like 2008 will be even stronger than 2007.

Second, certain marketing channels are really experiencing great growth spurts. As we discussed in our post yesterday, it's readily apparent that online marketing is continuing to expand. In addition, those companies who utilize a multi-channel approach -- integrating their online marketing with direct mail, for example -- are profiting in a big way. Once again, it's all about customer preference, and if you have a sound multi-channel marketing strategy, you are reaching more of your customers in the way in which they desire to be communicated -- thus, increasing your response rates. It's as simple as that!

Third, some of the newer channels are beginning to flourish. For example, word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing is experiencing strong growth. As reported by PQ Media, WOM marketing expenditures are expected to grow over 30% between now and 2011. From our perspective, this is increasingly due to the continued acceptance of and participation with social media sites. As we reported last week, social media is here to stay and, we believe, will become an important part of this projected growth, and therefore, a part of many direct marketing strategies.

So, as you're carving that turkey tomorrow, and getting ready to dig in to the mashed potatoes, be thankful that you're involved in an industry as exciting and profitable as ours. And, when you get the "junk mail-king" and "spam-queen" jokes from the relatives, just smile and keep on chewing. The joke is on them . . . and we'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Direct Marketers' Resume: The Master of Many Domains

Recently, we've seen a trend occurring within our client companies. It seems that Direct Marketing staffs are very lean and mean -- and that the few are taking on the jobs of many. Sound familiar?

Well, in a recent study by Bernhart Associates, the reason for this becomes a bit clearer. Since the beginning of 2006, Jerry Bernhart, President of Berhhart Associates Executive Search firm, reports that there has definitely been a slowing trend in jobs for Direct Marketers. Bernhart states, “The numbers are showing little change compared with summer. At the same time, the new hire percentage continues to show a slow and steady decline, which began about a year and a half ago.”

Here are some more stats from the survey, which was recently taken (sent out the week of October 1st), in which 116 companies responded:

60 percent of companies responding said they plan to add to staff by the end of the year, down slightly from 61 percent during the summer quarter:

• In April 2006, when the new hire percentage reached its recent peak, the new hire percentage stood at 72 percent.
• The record high for the index occurred in the fall of 2005, when it reached 80 percent.

9 percent plan to reduce staff in the coming three months, up from 7 percent during the summer.

29 percent expect no change in hiring plans during the coming three months.

85 percent of those surveyed said they are having either a “very difficult” time or a “somewhat difficult” time finding qualified applicants for open positions.

Only 15 percent said they are having little or no difficulty.

Bernhart goes on to state that, "While hiring is not at the heated pace it was a couple of years ago, the supply of qualified applicants remains tight.”

For those of us in the consulting business, this situation presents both challenges and opportunities. On the one hand, our clients are totally overwhelmed with the amount of work that they are now responsible for, so it's tougher to get on their already-overbooked schedules. They simply don't have the bandwidth to sit down for a meeting. As a result, things like campaign analysis and reporting are not getting the focus they need and deserve (Hel-loooo -- we need to measure how effective our data is performing, people!). This is really unfortunate because this is the time of year where more focus tends to be spent on analyzing marketing budgets and staffs. So, for us -- while we struggle to steal the time for this, we are adamant about it! (Call us pests . . . we don't care).

At the opportunities-end, we are certainly needed more. As the staff-size decreases and our clients are balancing multiple roles, they need someone to come in who can be flexible, open-minded, and supportive with marketing planning and strategy. The other need is to simply off-load certain responsibilities -- or at least help them manage to their new responsibilities. Of course, we do all of this happily!

From our perspective, this is both the good news and the bad news of these types of economic times. The best news is that top-performing direct marketing professionals are very sought after in this slowing economy. This is good for all of us!

Therefore, this is an excellent time to sit down and focus on measuring and reporting out on your effectiveness. The reason is two-fold: 1) Your Leadership Team is consistently aware of your performance and how you are responsible for increasing corporate profitability, and (2) As planning for the new year is well under way, as a result of your success you may have the opportunity to win a bigger marketing budget and, hopefully, more money in your paycheck!

TGIF!! And we hope to see lots of our Blog-Reading Friends at DMA in Chicago. If you're going to be there, please let us know so that we can meet you there in person!

The Growth of Direct Marketing

Just in time to assure us all that our industry is steadily moving forward, the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has just released some new -- and exciting -- figures about the Direct Marketing industry!

In terms of sales revenues created from Direct Marketing efforts, the industry has continually experienced 5-6% growth year-over-year for the last three years. In 2007, sales figures are expected to climb to a whopping $175 billion (over $166.5 billion in 2006). This continual growth spells success for us Direct Marketers, and proves that our clients continue to find value in using DM as part of a successful piece of their Marketing strategies.

The top-three consumer industries that spent the most DM dollars over the past three years are retail, finanical services, and manufacuring/motor vehicles. It will be interesting to see if there is a shift in the top spending industries as we continue to see a shift within the 3 industries mentioned above -- particularly within financial services in the mortgage lending area.

The top three states in terms of DM spend were California ($274.3 billion), Texas ($146.6 billion) and New York ($136.9 billion).

For more on how our industry is doing financially, visit the DMA website. It is jam-packed with lots of exciting facts on how Direct Marketing continues to be a successful tool in creating profitability for all sizes of businesses in today's global economy.

Direct Marketing Industry Continues to Grow Globally

In an interesting article today from Business Wire, it is reported that the Direct Marketing industry continues to grow, year-over-year, at an accelerated pace (over 15% in 2005 -- still calculating actual numbers for 2006).

This news bodes well for all of us Direct Marketers -- and the even better news is that with the expanding customer acceptance of receiving direct marketing messages from different sources/channels, this upward trend will most definitely continue.

While telemarketing and direct mail still are the bread-and-butter for most direct marketing campaigns, this article reports that "there is increasing spend in the channels that are able to deliver much more detailed customer data, which allows for more highly targeted, highly responsive campaigns. Many organizations have also invested in customer relationship management (CRM) software applications, which allow them to collect more detailed customer information."

Finally, the article points out the focus on database and data-management solutions. Utilizing smart database marketing and customer data integration practices will allow companies to build very detailed customer databases -- and more effectively track their customer relationships. It is in these areas that direct marketing will continue to deliver the kind of return on investment that is needed in today's highly competitive economic environment.

To review our white paper and some ideas on how to implement effective database and customer data integration tools into your business, please visit our website.

Direct Response Critical to B2B Marketing

Take a look at this article from "B2B". Its headline: Direct Response Garners Biggest Piece of Marketing Budget.

Key points: Direct Response represents 42.9% of business-to-business marketing budgets. Of that, the biggest piece is direct mail (27.5%).

As a direct marketer, news like this always makes me happy. Means job security and future opportunities. And, moreover, the continued growth of DR channels illustrates that direct response WORKS--it builds business, plain and simple. I think that's why we love this industry. We are working on programs that we can justify with numbers--sales, leads, retention rates, etc.

Yes, we are held accountable to delivering results, but as a marketer, I wouldn't want it any other way!