Case Study: Office Depot Maximizes Multi-Channels

I'm always looking for quantifiable results that prove that a message received through multiple channels beats those received from a single channel. The concept of multi-channel marketing just makes so much sense, but it's oftentimes hard to measure. One has to wonder--would that customer have purchased or responded if they had only heard from us through a single channel? Were the extra costs of a multi-touch strategy justified?

Today's case study comes to us, from of all places, Microsoft. They've cleverly measured the impact of various components of Office Depot's online advertising campaign, quantifying stand-alone results and the impact of multiple customer touches.

Background
Office Depot, Inc. is a global supplier of office products and services that sells to 44 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. With a number of sales being processed online, Office Depot wanted to optimize the effectiveness of their online advertising campaigns.

The Challenge
Office Depot teamed up with Microsoft Advertising to conduct a study focused on understanding the brand lift an Office Depot search or display campaign receives when running together with other online channels. They wanted to determine which combinations of search, display, and content ads best drove Office Depot’s brand metrics.

The Creative Solution
The study was conducted among 120 participants who were evaluated with eye-tracking tests and post-session surveys. The participants were exposed to various combinations of Microsoft display, search, and content advertising methods and evaluated for brand metrics like message recall and purchase intent.

The Results
The study revealed that while search, display, and content ads are effective online channels for driving brand metrics, when combined they generate more powerful results. The following chart is the best illustration, I believe of the power of multi-channel marketing.

Office Depot Search Campaign Study
Adding both display and content ad offerings to the search campaign is more effective than adding only one additional channel offering. Results achieved include:

• 46.5% incremental lift in ad recall
• 49.1% incremental lift in brand recall
• 19.7% incremental lift in message recall
• 21.6% incremental lift in purchase intent

Office Depot Display Campaign Study
Adding both search and content ad offerings to the display campaign is more effective than adding only one additional channel offering.

Multiple exposures through search, display, and content ad channels translate into 2.41 times the amount of user interest (measured in relative fixations and gaze time) over search alone. Results include:

• 20.8% lift in ad recall
• 45.0% in brand recall
• 15.8% in message recall
• 13.7% in purchase intent

Case Study Monday:Award-Winning Marketing Through Collaboration

Today, we'd like to feature a case study that demonstrates how two companies collaborated to utilize multiple marketing channels to create an outstanding and award-winning marketing campaign. By receiving these awards, KG Partners and Con-Way Inc. really demonstrate how marketing success can be realized by effectively working together, thus creating a real partnership through true collaboration.

KG Partners and Con-way Win Six Transportation Marketing & Communications Association (TMCA) Compass Awards

KG Partners, a nationally recognized advertising, public relations and interactive agency, and Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), a $4.7 billion freight transportation and logistics services company, today announced that they have won six awards from the Transportation Marketing & Communications Association (TMCA).

The companies won six TMCA Compass Awards -- one of which achieved the Best in Class designation for marketing excellence in the transportation and logistics industry. The awards were presented at TMCA's recent annual conference held in Ponte Vedra, Fla.

"The TMCA Compass Awards are well-respected throughout the industry and could only be won with a strong relationship between our companies and a shared strategic vision," said Tom Nightingale, chief marketing officer, Con-way. "Developing and implementing an effective, results-driven marketing and communications program is vital in an industry as competitive as ours. Recognition from our industry peers is indicative of the type of meaningful work the teams are producing in collaboration."

KG Partners and Con-way received the highest number of awards of all 2008 TMCA entrants. The Compass Award-winning entry, "Con-way Truckload: Driver Recruitment Advertising Campaign," was the recipient of the 2008 Best in Class award. The Best in Class award is one of the two highest honors in TMCA's Compass program. Winners must have excelled in all areas of the judging criteria and achieved a perfect or near perfect overall score.

"The creative marketing, media relations and interactive campaigns KG Partners executed for Con-way last year were extremely successful in helping promote its Con-way Freight, Con-way Truckload and Menlo Worldwide Logistics lines of business as well as its driver career opportunities," said David Goldberg, principal, KG Partners. "Being honored by our industry colleagues at TMCA for our transportation and logistics industry communications expertise makes the success of our campaigns for Con-way even more gratifying."

The six TMCA Compass Awards earned by KG Partners and Con-way are as follows:

* TMCA Excellence Award & Best in Class: Advertising campaign -- Con-way
Truckload: Driver Recruitment: A national print advertisement series running in several driver-targeted publications promoting a lifestyle oriented career and Con-way Truckload as a leader in the industry.

* TMCA Excellence Award: Integrated communications program -- Filling the Seats: Con-way Truckload Q1 2007 Driver Recruitment Campaign: Planning and execution of a 10-week program that included public relations, advertising, search-engine marketing and online advertising resulting in a 166 percent increase of new driving teams hired each week.

* TMCA Merit Award: Media relations -- OceanGuaranteed(SM) Expanded Service Offering from Con-way Freight and APL Logistics: A media relations campaign creating a thought-leadership position in the global supply chain industry for Con-way Freight and APL Logistics, who teamed up to provide a new service offering on the cutting edge of international supply chain management.

* TMCA Merit Award: New media -- Con-way Inc.: Con-way Enterprise Web Site: A complete redesign of www.con-way.com by KG Partners to improve the customer experience, build the Con-way brand and more clearly define the company's business units.

* TMCA Merit Award: Media relations -- Con-way Inc.: Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Campaign: A media relations campaign to communicate Con-way's support of the National Guard and Reserve and its win of the prestigious Department of Defense Freedom Award -- given to employers who have shown exemplary support of employees who also serve in the National Guard and Reserve -- was developed to leverage the company's thought-leadership position on this issue.

Finally, Con-way Inc. also earned the following TMCA Compass Award for their direct marketing campaign:

* TMCA Merit Award for Direct Marketing Campaign -- Experience The Road Systems Advantage: A video campaign sent to select transportation providers that had a need to extend the lives of their 28-foot trailer fleets. The campaign was developed into a flash module, which served as the focal point of the new Road Systems Inc.(RSI) Web site, a resource for media interest and an ongoing online search presence for RSI.

Case Study Monday: Increasing Enrollment Using Intelligent Direct Marketing

Welcome to Case Study Monday. Today, we're featuring a Marketing Sherpa case study on how an educational institution used a solid direct marketing strategy to increase enrollment in it's online program. This is a great example of how you utilize an analytical approach with a multi-channel strategy to get really excellent results! We hope you enjoy this case study.

Summary
Prospects for your products and services can come from anywhere and show up at almost any time. But how do you get those leads in the first place and keep them “warm” once they’re in the pipeline? See how a school’s marketing team doubled enrollment with a nurturing campaign that included targeted online advertising, search, telemarketing and email.

Challenge
Adult distance learners are a difficult demographic for colleges to attract. It’s not like targeting high school students within a certain radius and knowing that many of them will be interested in you simply because of your location.

Ronald Kennedy faced this dilemma when he became Executive Director, Distance Learning and Graduate Studies, Liberty University, about 2 1/2 years ago. He was charged with increasing the college’s distance learner enrollment, which was about 12,000 students when he took over. At Liberty, adult and distance learners are almost one and the same -- 60% to 70% are 30 to 45 years old.

Adult distance learners also can enroll at almost any time, unlike traditional college students who typically start in the fall. And there’s plenty of competition from colleges like The University of Phoenix, which offers courses to working adults online and in local learning centers nationwide.

“It’s a very competitive field out there going after the adult learner,” says Kennedy.

Campaign
Kennedy and his team devised a strategy that focused heavily on online ads, interactive lead generation and Liberty’s brand identity to attract adult distance learners and keep them interested as prospects.

Here are the seven steps they followed:

Step #1. Analyze the demographics of each degree program
Kennedy and his team first conducted a detailed demographic analysis of each of the college’s more than 35 distance learning degree programs.

They compiled this data by:
o Extracting the student profiles of each degree program
o Breaking down profiles by gender, age, household income, etc.
o Matching the demographics to websites for targeted advertising

“We get a lot of traffic that we can’t effectively source back to any particular channel,” Kennedy says. “That relates directly to our strong brand identity.”

Step #2. Leverage existing brand

Next, they took advantage of the school’s reputation for having one of the oldest distance learning programs. The team also leveraged the college’s conservative faith-based approach to education in their messages to stand out from secular schools offering online courses.

Step #3. Target online ads to matched websites
Kennedy and his team ran banner ads primarily on two types of sites:
o Those that appealed to the demographics of Liberty’s online degree programs
o Those that affiliated with education -- specifically online education

“We’re targeting a student who is potentially going to take classes online, so there’s already an assumption that they live online.”

An example of matching demographics to degree: They advertised the school’s seminary degree program -- with a 95% male demographic -- on sites that appealed to Christian men.

Step #4. Qualify the leads

Prospects who clicked on the banner ads were directed to a landing page with a form containing qualifying questions to weed out those who weren’t a good fit. “On the back end, we do append some information to the lead to try to tell us internally who’s most likely to convert more than others, and we’ll gear our strategy in-house to that,” Kennedy says.

Qualifying these potential students was very important because adult learners are expensive leads to generate and nurture. Adult learners often won’t enroll in an online degree program for up to a year after giving their information to Liberty. This means the team has to spend more money to keep the brand name in front of the lead for extended periods of time and they didn’t want to waste money and internal resources on leads that weren’t going to convert.

Step #5. Invest in matching services

Kennedy and his team also spent some of their marketing budget on a service that matched programs with students to develop more qualified leads. Here’s how that worked:

- The service provider used search engine marketing and an extensive keyword campaign to drive traffic to Liberty’s website.
- Then, they collected the demographic and contact information from the leads and matched them with the most compatible degree program at the university.

“We liked the strategic analysis they were willing to provide on the leads we were getting to help optimize and bring in better quality, as well as analysis they did with SEO and purchasing,” Kennedy says.

Step #6. Create landing page

Higher quality leads were directed to the landing page, which included a description of the university and information about it being ranked No. 3 on the Online Education Database’s 2008 list of online universities in the United States.

The landing page asked visitors to enter:
o Name
o Address
o Email
o Phone number
o Good time to call
o Degree program of interest

“The easier you make that form, the more leads you’re going to get,” Kennedy says.

As soon as visitors submitted their information, they received an immediate reply email. They also received a telephone call within 15 minutes. This was an extremely important part of the nurturing strategy because “in this business speed wins,” Kennedy says.

That nurturing strategy consisted of three parts:

Part 1. Phone call
Telemarketing calls were the No. 1 method Kennedy and his team used to follow up with qualified leads.

Part 2. Email
Email was second -- and the longest lasting of the three strategies because it was the cheapest.

The emails contained:
o A link back to the school’s distance learning website
o “Real life” situations in the messaging
o Emphasis on the ultimate goal
o Call to action

Instead of just telling adult learners how convenient online classes were, the team described how inconvenient it was to find a baby sitter after work or to fight traffic to take classes on a campus. They juxtaposed that scenario with coming home, making dinner and then working on the computer for a couple of hours to take classes.

The team also invited leads to call or email the university for more information or to chat live with an admissions counselor or academic adviser online from the school’s distance learning site.

Part 3. Direct mail
Direct mail was No. 3. “We try to hit them with all the different communication styles that are available to keep our name and brand in front of them vs. our competitors,” says Kennedy.

Step #7. Test, test, test
The team analyzed traffic patterns and continually looked for more effective keywords. They also conducted split tests on creative, including the online ads and landing pages.

Testing was especially important when determining how many qualifying questions they should ask a lead, Kennedy says. The team did split tests between longer, more detailed forms vs. shorter forms.


Results
Enrollment in Liberty’s distance learning program shows the campaign’s overall impact: in 2 1/2 years, Kennedy and his team have seen a 108% increase to more than 25,000 students.

Other results:
o 3% to 5% clickthrough rate on banner ads with targeted audiences
o 0.5% to 1% clickthrough rate on paid search ads
o 2% to 5% clickthrough rate on trade name search
o Higher clickthrough rates on Christian sites vs. secular sites

“I think through doing more target marketing and more demographic type research has really paid off in terms of what we’re seeing at the back end as far as enrollments,” Kennedy says.

As for how many questions they should ask a lead, the shorter forms proved to be more successful, Kennedy says. But it was a balancing act. “We’re constantly honing in on how many questions we’re asking vs. how many we’re going to have to qualify.”

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!

Event Triggering, Data Mining, Multi-Channel Marketing -- Oh My!

We've often cited the tremendous impact that event-triggers can provide to direct marketers. In fact, we've worked with several clients to design event-triggering programs that have resulted in response rates of up to 2.1% -- much higher than utilizing traditional data sources to fuel acquisition programs.

This continues to be the case -- not only here in the US, but also in other countries. In fact, The Wise Marketer has just reported on the results of some research conducted by UK marketing firm CDMS. The firm looked at using event-triggers with an existing customer base -- and the findings were quite interesting. The first finding was a no-brainer -- that "customer marketing -- as opposed to prospect marketing -- generates a significantly higher response." I think we've all seen this -- I mean the customers that already buy from you are definitely going to be more open to reading and responding to your messaging than those cold prospects who you are trying to acquire.

More interestingly, CDMS reported (in this survey of UK-based senior marketers) that event-triggered customer marketing produced an average of 35% more responses. Now, this is something that we can all chew on! So, how did these savvy UK marketers accomplish this? "Rather than simply processing regular customer marketing campaigns in batches, some marketers have begun to use their database marketing systems to target offers based on specific, defined customer behaviour patterns."

So, with the use of data-mining, and utilizing the information that you collect on your customers, you can create highly-responsive, event-triggered direct marketing programs for your customer base. Here are some examples of the events that were utilized:

• A customer service call
  
• A type of transaction
  
• Passing preset spending levels in a particular time period
  
• A customer's birthday

In addition to utilizing these event-triggers, the survey also examined the use of integrating this concept with a multi-channel approach to further increase response rates. This also proved to be quite interesting:

Direct mail with response via post and a freephone number was gauged as producing a 20.8% uplift. Direct mail with response via post and e-mail was gauged at 20.2%, while direct mail with response via post and a personalised web link was 18.9%. Direct mail with response via post and a web site stood at 14.3%, while direct mail with response via post and telephone scored 14.1%, and direct mail with response via post and SMS (text message) scored 12.4%. In all cases, the addition of extra response media was felt to produce a significant uplift.

For us, this is some compelling data -- the kind of stuff that makes us excited! When you use intelligent direct marketing techniques hand-in-hand, the results that you can expect are truly phenomenal! As this research suggests, you can increase sales with your existing customers just by capturing some pertinent data from them as you communicate with them, then employing some very simple data-mining techniques to build a triggering program. In addition, you can build on that success -- significantly -- by using a multi-channel marketing strategy in conjunction with the triggering. The up-ticks in response are very impressive when you utilize these tools in conjunction with one another.

Just imagine what you could accomplish if you made a point of capturing your customer's communications preferences in that marketing database, and then added some slick segmentation schemes to really target the creative by segment. Wow!

This study demonstrates once again that if you really think through your marketing strategy, and then use all of the tools available, you can increase the effectiveness of every single marketing campaign.

If you have a case study that illustrates your intelligent direct marketing, please share it with us. We'd love to highlight your success and share it with all of our readers.

Friday Blog Log

Welcome to another edition of our Friday Blog Log! Here are our Links of the Week for your enjoyment!

1) Charles Green's Trust Matters: In this Trusted Advisors post, Charles discusses how "issues of the commons show up first in government, later in business, because government by default gets the un-economic propositions. But the issues are increasingly not unique to government." He goes on to state just how trust issues impact business. And if you read our post yesterday, you know that this is an area that we are so very passionate, that every now and again, it causes us to rant. This is a great post, and the comments are very thought-provoking as well.

2) Bob Sullivan's InfoGrow: In Bob's post, he reviews The Association of National Advertisers Conference, where attendees were polled on topics around sales and marketing effectiveness. Another area in which we are passionate is using analytical intelligence in your direct marketing strategy. In this study, attendees polled think that utilizing an analytical approach, along with an effective creative strategy, will be the most important difference makers in 2008. Take a look at the other interesting nuggets that came out of this poll.

3) Paul Paetz AKA The Anti-Marketer: In Paul's most recent post, he discusses "a classic example of what Christensen labels "cramming" in his discussion of disruption theory." He goes on to define this concept: "Basically, incumbents often ignore disruptions until it is too late to do anything about it, and then make valiant attempts to "cram" the disruptive innovations into their existing offering to try to forestall or block the disruption." Paul gives some past examples of cramming that definitely resonated with me. The topic is very intriguing -- and it will be interesting to see if the "cram" that he refers to (the Wall Street Journal recently added a Digg widget to the end of their online articles) proves to be successful. Very interesting reading!

4) Jim Berkowitz's CRM Mastery E-Journal: Here Jim discusses the first of 7 Deadly Claims: Superior Customer Service. Yep, another area of our passion. His comments are dead on. He talks about how making this claim without backing it up by actually having superior customer service can, yes, in fact, be quite deadly. He also discusses how you create excellent customer service by actually wowing your customers, as opposed to stating it all over the place. OK -- I promise not to get started on another rant. We think you'll really enjoy this post, too. It is filled with insightful ideas on the topic, and he's got six more deadly claims to go (actually, 2 and 3 are already waiting for us)!

5) Jaren Angerbauer's post on the Digital Marketing Blog: In this post, Jaren discusses how to effectively manage old or inactive e-mail accounts. With the increasing importance of e-mail marketing in our multi-channel marketing strategy, this post provides some great insight for our consideration.

We hope you enjoy all of these posts as much as we did! And, TGIF, by the way -- don't drink too much eggnog on this Holiday weekend!

Happy Holidays!

Case Study Monday: Responsys and Intrawest

As many of you know, the National Center for Database Marketing Conference (NCDM) was held last week in Las Vegas! For our Case Study Monday, we wanted to highlight the winners of the 2007 NCDM Database Excellence Award in MultiChannel Marketing. This year it went to Responsys and Intrawest for delivering a "winning customer experience through e-mail, direct mail and call center." That's what we call a slam dunk!

Here's their success story as outlined in Marketwire:

Responsys, a leading global provider of on-demand email and marketing automation solutions, and Intrawest, the world leader in experiential destination resorts, announced today they have won the prestigious National Center for Database Marketing (NCDM) Database Excellence Award for outstanding achievement in the Multichannel Marketing category.

The winning "Destination Countdown Campaign" was selected for a Silver Award from hundreds of highly qualified direct marketing initiatives based on originality, customer centricity and measurable results. The groundbreaking campaign targeted resort visitors with a perfectly timed sequence of high-impact, highly individualized email and direct mail communications, and significantly boosted resort bookings and customer loyalty for Intrawest.

"Intrawest understands that great marketing involves delivering a difference at every customer touch point and across multiple channels," said Scott Olrich, Chief Marketing Officer, Responsys. "It is exceedingly rewarding to work with leading resort company Intrawest to set a new standard for sequenced multichannel communications that drive sales and positive brand sentiment. We are thrilled to share this NCDM award honor with them."

Intrawest developed the groundbreaking Destination Countdown Campaign in order to deliver the best customer experience to travelers from around the world. The company designed a triggered marketing campaign to offer lift tickets, ski schools, ski rentals and activities to customers who had made a reservation through the web site or Intrawest call center. Customers received highly targeted emails prior to the check-in date that were tailored to their individual purchase profile and familiarity with the resort. The messages included snow reports and useful information regarding weather conditions and transportation services. Post-reservation, the program sent personalized direct mail and email campaigns to ensure customers were satisfied with their resort experience and to secure return visits.

"As a leading owner and operator of North America's most exciting resort destinations, it's important that we interact with our customers in ways that work best for them," said Randy Cuff, Director, CRM Development, Intrawest. "This means that we need to leverage all the necessary channels in a way that is relevant to each customer. Responsys helps us develop smart multichannel marketing campaigns that drive huge increases in sales and customer loyalty."

Organized jointly by DIRECT Magazine and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), the NCDM Database Excellence Awards are presented during this year's NCDM conference in Las Vegas, December 10-12, 2007. The awards, which are judged by leading experts in the field of database marketing, honor organizations that have demonstrated ingenuity and creativity in leveraging their marketing databases.

Kudos to both organizations for utilizing multiple channels to create a winning customer experience!

Queens of the Direct Mail Soapbox!

Long Live Direct Mail! Say it loud -- say it proud! Really.

Guess what? Even though we have a plethora of direct marketing tools in our picnic basket -- and a lot of them are way cool, way sexy -- direct mail is still the most effective way to get your message out. Yep, there's been a new survey conducted about this very topic. A recent article in DM News by Dean Rieck states that:

A recent survey by International Communications Research concluded that people prefer receiving things by direct mail. Seventy-three percent of respondents said they prefer receiving new product announcements by mail, versus 18% for e-mail. And, a whopping 86% said they prefer direct mail for official correspondence, such as bills, bank statements and financial reports, compared to 10% for e-mail.

For those of us who have long lauded the benefits of highly-targeted, intelligent direct mail, this is music to our ears. Further, Rieck goes on to say that, "fewer people trash unsolicited direct mail when compared to e-mail, 31% to 53%." Now, we all love e-mail and it's very apparent that there are those who prefer to be communicated with via e-mail. However, this study simply points out that direct mail does still work -- and when you're trying to get a particular message out to a specific audience, you can do it quite effectively with direct mail.

If you're avid readers of this blog (and we hope you are!), you know that we're huge proponents of strategically utilizing all of the available direct marketing channels. And, by listening to your customer's preferences, you can make your campaigns very successful utilizing a multi-channel approach.

The point of this post is to remind you that as you plan your DM campaigns, don't rule out direct mail. When executed correctly, this channel is a great way to get your message across -- and an excellent way to ensure that it will not be ignored. You can use any format you like and many different methods of delivery.

Now, here's the next conundrum . . . how do you effectively utilize direct mail and be a "green" marketer at the same time? Because as more and more studies point out, both businesses and consumers are getting greener by the day. Something to think about as you go about your day!

Have a great Tuesday!

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 Marketing Success: Integrating Your Customer Touchpoints

DM News has recently reported on the DMA's study of the catalog industry. The results of the study are that this industry, too, has embraced the thought of integrating customer relationships across all channels of marketing. It seems like an old thought -- I know we've been talking about this for years. However, talking and acting are two different things.

The whole premise behind Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is to understand and know your customer, how much business that they do with you, how they prefer to do business with you and how to treat those who spend a lot with you the right way. Most companies haven't done a great job at this -- irrespective of the dollars that they've spent on CRM technology.

The DMA's study entitled: "Multichannel Marketing in the Catalog Industry," is based on surveys completed online by 474 catalog marketers. The study also "indicates that nearly 70 percent of respondents saw an increase in multichannel sales over the prior year and 59 percent increased their catalog circulation in 2005." These are some great trends for catalogers!

Not surprisingly, the DMA study found that "multichannel marketers have learned that consumers expect to interact with one company with integrated systems that are consistent across all channels." As consumers, this seems like simple logic. If the message isn't consistent, we get confused about the offer and the value of the offering.

Here are some of the study’s other key findings:

• Of the respondents with mail-order catalogs, 44 percent of total sales were consummated via the Web, up from 39 percent in 2005.
• 33 percent of respondents believe that their online sales were “incremental.”
• Respondents whose online sales are increasing reported an overall 20 percent growth rate.
• The Web site/e-catalog was the primary marketing channel for 45 percent of respondents, followed by the paper catalog with 33 percent of responses and retailer stores with 22 percent.
• In 2007, 82 percent of respondents plan to employ e-mail promotions, which was followed by discounts/special sales with 67 percent of responses, coupons with 38 percent and prize/sweepstakes promotions with 33 percent.

Although the study focused on catalogers, there is a lot that can be taken out of it by everyone. It is incumbent upon all of us who are responsible for direct marketing to understand that as we engage our customers through the different channels available to us (and more are being added all the time), we must first understand that our customer relationships fully -- then market to them appropriately across the channels. And, we need to focus on the message and the offer to ensure that it is consistent across channels. For more on our ideas on effective multi-channel marketing, take a look at our white paper.

Great Thoughts from a Direct Marketing Thought Leader

International Data Group (IDG) announced last month that List Services President Deb Goldstein is retiring at the end of September. Goldstein has been with IDG for 21 years -- and has certainly seen a lot of changes in our industry over time. She also received many honors in her tenure in the industry, including one in 2005, where the Direct Marketing Association named her List Leader of the Year. In an article in BtoB Magazine, Goldstein spoke about some of the most important issues in the direct marketing industry today, including the ups and downs of the different channels available to us, and how we all are having to be more strategic as we approach the marketplace.

Her input is very interesting. She talks about how direct marketers react to changes in both regulation and in pricing across the different direct marketing channels. For example, with e-mail marketing, she states that while opt-outs are increasing, as long as you use the idea of relevancy in your e-mail campaigns, this channel remains highly responsive and cost effective. She warns that you can't be afraid to use this channel -- and that you must use it wisely.

Regarding, direct mail and postal increases, she has definitely seen a change with the last postal increase. Whereas before, people would just increase mailing prior to the increase, then decrease it for an abbreviated amount of time after the increase, this last time around, companies simply put their direct marketing budgets elsewhere -- most likely with e-mail. She thinks that this trend will continue as marketers hone their skills in effect multi-channel marketing and continue to learn how best to use e-mail marketing. However, as most agree, direct mail will continue to to be one of the main channels for most large direct marketers. As costs continue to grow, we believe that most companies will incorporate analytics into their DM campaigns to mail more intelligently.

The same can be said for the telemarketing channel. Here again, legislation has made it more difficult to flood consumers with marketing messages via the phone. Since the inception of Do-Not-Call (DNC), those firms utilizing telemarketing have had to follow this legislation to the tee or face stiff fines for failure to do so. Regarding this channel, Goldstein argues that "telemarketing is really hot these days because it can lift response by 30% either as a follow-up to e-mail or a follow-up to postal. We hear a lot of success stories about it from people who use it." Again, using this channel wisely can really allow you to enjoy great results -- particularly when you use it in concert with the other channels.

It is nice to have an expert like Goldstein re-confirm what we experience daily in consulting with our clients. There are many channels to use to reach your customers and prospects. By intelligently utilizing all of the DM channels available to you, you will increase your response rates throughout all channels -- and build long-lasting relationships with your customers. For more on our ideas around Multi-Channel Marketing Effectively, take a look at our white paper on the subject.

We wish Deb a happy and healthy retirement and we will certainly miss her pearls of wisdom on the industry!

Using Your Direct Marketing Expertise in Mobile Marketing Campaigns

As direct marketers, we know that the proper mix of data, careful analysis and measurement, and the correct channels can mean campaign success that can be proven and improved upon over time. This approach leads to better profitability for our companies, more satisfied customers, and more money in our pockets -- all very happy endings for everyone concerned.

We can use this expertise when looking to expand our campaigns to new channels, too. According to a recent article in DM News, parlaying basics of DM knowledge to mobile marketing can increase your reach and response rates. In the article, Crystal King of iAnywhere states, "Currently, only a handful of mobile Internet services are able to provide messages that are more detailed. That’s where direct marketing can really be a boon to savvy marketers who are looking to take advantage of the emerging mobile market. Direct mail, permission marketing and CRM specific campaigns are all excellent candidates for integration into a larger mobile marketing strategy."

King goes on to talk about the differences in response rates between online and mobile marketing -- and it's pretty astounding stuff! "Online and direct marketing often mix nicely. The ability of their messages to point to online resources and Web sites give advertisers the ability to track some level of response rates. However, the 0.2 percent online marketing response rates currently don’t hold a candle to the 2-3 percent of mobile marketing’s response rates, which direct marketers need to find a way to harness." I can't think of one client who would turn down a 2-3 percent response rate -- wow!

As you're designing your marketing strategy for 2008 and beyond, begin thinking about how you can harness the power of mobile marketing to improve your campaign results and integrate it into your marketing tactics. King advises that "driving people to a mobile Web site through traditional advertising is a great way to service current customers as well as to introduce offerings to new customers. " Not only are you reaching more diverse groups of potential customers but you are embracing the technology that all generations of customers are becoming increasingly tied to -- the mobile phone. Using your own knowledge of direct marketing to guide you in this process will ensure your success! If you're interested in this topic, please take a look at our idea paper on Multi-Channel Marketing Best practices.

TV Shopping in Vogue

It's my guilty secret. I LOVE shopping at home. What better way to relax than to spend money--without leaving your couch, no less!

Was pleased to read today: Vogue to unveil ShopVogue.tv.

"Vogue magazine will launch a broadband Internet channel August 21 called ShopVogue.tv.

The Condé Nast fashion glossy will run the channel as a companion to its 3-year-old Web site ShopVogue.com. As on that site, users will be able to buy products featured on the site directly online.

The new site will also feature original programming, including “60 Seconds to Chic,” “Behind the Lens,” in which a celebrity launches a new fragrance, and “Trend Watch,” which was previously syndicated."

With Vogue's entry to the home shopping space, the TV shopping addicts (like me) can upgrade from those crazy gizmos that cut onions quicker than you can blink or Suzanne Somers selling glitzy (read: fake) jewelry to genuine high fashion. Wow! Yes, I'll be watching...

I do applaud Vogue for being smart enough to complement its historically successful publication not only with their website, but now with this Internet-based shopping channel.

And, their multi-channel approach seems to already be working in their favor--ad sales in the magazine are up. And, they've just opened up new revenue streams and new ways to reach and build their audience.

We see so many traditional publishers struggling to incorporate the Internet into their mix. Oftentimes they simply try to put a version of their magazine on the web, and that simply doesn't work. It's great to see how Vogue figured out a clever multi-channel mix.

And, yes, I'll be watching. And shopping...

JC Penney -- Leading the Way in Multi-Channel Marketing

JCPenney is leading the way towards a successful retail-oriented multi-channel marketing approach. Through the utilization of micro-websites targeted to their specific customer segments, they are driving more traffic online. In addition, by advertising these websites in their retail stores and catalogs, they are increasing sales in all channels. This is smart direct marketing at it's best -- using the traditional, more-costly channels to drive traffic to the less-traditional, less-costly channels while increasing sales in all channels. Brilliant!

In the recent DM News article, JCP.com is Linchpin in JCPenney's Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy, Senior Editor Chantal Tode reports that in "hoping to encourage in-store shoppers to purchase more at JCP.com, JCPenney devised a program to take advantage of the complementary nature of the retail and direct assortments in its newborn/infant/toddler business, where 90 percent of in-store sales come from apparel and 87 percent of online sales are generated by furniture and strollers. The pilot was launched during the third quarter of 2006 in 40 stores with several in-store displays featuring signage communicating the expanded department available online. Shoppers could also pick up a catalog highlighting baby furniture or learn about JCPenney’s Baby Solution microsite, where pregnancy advice and tips for decorating a nursery are available. Results from this multichannel strategy were encouraging enough that JCPenney is planning to roll it out nationwide."

This strategy has proved so successful for the infant/baby/toddler market segment that JCPenney is continuing to use this synchronized approach across channels to launch many of their new brands across market segments. And as their retail strategy (in terms of store size and location) continues to evolve, the article reports that this internet-focused, multi-channel approach also helps them to better determine new store type and location.

We often discuss the importance of using multi-channel marketing as part of your direct marketing strategy. In fact, we're so passionate about this subject that we've created a white paper on best practices for Multi-Channel Integrated Marketing. JCPenney is proving how a traditional retailer can embrace the use of all channels to not only better target their customer segments, but also to decrease costs by efficiently driving traffic to the less-costly channels. It'll be interesting to track the success of JCP.com as they continue to expand and to see the overall impact to JCPenney's bottom-line. We think profitability is bound to rise!

The Keys to Multi-Channel Marketing Success

On a recent American Marketing Association webcast, John Campbell, VP of Sales from Accudata Integrated Marketing, discussed the importance of integrating Multi-Channel Marketing into your overall marketing strategy. It reminded me to remind you that it really isn't all that difficult to get started -- and it can really improve your campaign results when you do it correctly. Here are a couple of things to consider as you look at multi-channel marketing for your business.

First, expand your customer touchpoints: Ensure that your customers have multiple ways to respond. This way, they can choose whichever channel that they are most comfortable with -- and chances are, they will respond more positively and more often. For example, if you normally focus on telemarketing, consider testing direct mail or email marketing. A test doesn't have to break the bank and can provide you with a whole different group of responders that you weren't reaching through telemarketing.

Second, examine your customer communication preferences: It isn't enough to just expand the way that you are reaching out to your customers. For a successful multi-channel marketing approach, you also need to examine how your customers want you to communicate with them. Even if a certain customer visits a retail location, it may only be to "test drive" the product. Many try products out in a store, only to go home to their computers to order it. You won't know this until you take the time to examine how your customers prefer to interact with you.

Once you've implemented the two points above, you will definitely be well on your way to improved response rates. Not only have you identified more ways to communicate with your customer base, you are communicating with them in the way that they prefer -- hence, a more positive customer experience and better profitability to your bottom line.

For more information on John's presentation, simply go to this AMA website.

And, if you're interested in seeing a recent RRW newsletter on Multi-Channel Marketing, click here and check it out!