Customer Preference Key When Planning E-Mail Campaigns

We're big believers in letting the consumer or business dictate which channel and how often they prefer to receive communications. By paying attention to these factors, direct marketers can make the most out of each DM campaign. This is becoming increasingly important when it comes to e-marketing.

According to DM News today, Habeus, Inc., has just conducted some research that concurs with our thoughts. The study looked at how e-mail and online interaction with businesses overall is being adopted by consumers. A few key points that came out of the study were that, overall, more consumers prefer to receive e-mail messages from direct marketers -- in fact, it is the channel of choice most of the time.

Here's a snippet from the article: “'E-mail is still vital, and it will continue to be,' said Des Cahill, CEO of Habeas Inc., of the fact that 67% of respondents prefer e-mail as a communications channel compared with other online vehicles and 65% believe this will continue in the next five years." Sixty-seven percent is nothing to sneeze at!

Folks are busier than ever these days, and if they can go to their computer to do their shopping and purchasing because companies are sending out targeted, relevant e-mails, it's no wonder that this percentage is so high.

The other two findings were (1) that consumers, in particular, are still very wary of spam -- both to their computers and wireless devices. So, while they prefer e-mail, they don't want to be spammed; and (2) they'd like to have more control over both the frequency and the content of the e-mails that they receive. “Consumers want more control, so we are recommending our customers set up preference centers,” Cahill said. Just imagine . . . as part of our direct marketing efforts, teams are being created to determine customer preferences. This is the ultimate in letting the customer dictate the marketing that they receive, and demonstrates that pull versus push marketing is becoming more of the norm.

We really like this trend -- and we'll be tracking it for you as it continues to evolve.

Direct Marketing Message

It is very interesting to see how our world is changing in terms of what resonates with the consumers or businesses that receive our marketing messages. In fact, there is a growing school of thought that believes that you can't push out DM messaging very effectively at all anymore. Nope, it's all about customers getting involved with the conversation about your product and providing their feedback to other "would-be" customers. The world of Social Marketing is proving this to be true.

So, are our traditional direct marketing efforts a waste of time? Happily for us, the answer is no. However, there are definitely some important factors to consider when creating your message. One author, Clayton Makepeace, thinks that one of the main reasons why this shift is occurring is that the Gen-X generation is one of the largest purchasing audiences today. Gen-Xers are between the ages of 26 and 46 years-old and are, as a group, highly skeptical and cynical. Hence, they are going to be highly skeptical of anything that "smells" salesy. Makepeace recommends taking a look at your messaging -- as well as the marketing strategy around that message. Here are three areas that he thinks this inherent skepticism has on our DM efforts today:

1. One-shot customer-acquisition promotions are going the way of the dinosaurs.

Today, it’s all about the relationship between your company and your customer… and building credibility and friendship over time. While marketers who deliver value, invite involvement, and create a sense of community among prospective customers before expecting a sale are growing by leaps and bounds, those who cling to the old models are losing ground.

2. Bombastic "big promise" headlines are not working as well.

Today’s prospects are more likely to ignore sales communications that look and sound like sales communications. Instead, topical, newsy, and intrigue leads that key on something they are already thinking about often work best.

3. High-octane sales copy is losing its power.

Today, lower-key, value-added advertising copy (advertorials) that reward prospects for reading by delivering valuable, helpful, actionable information is leaving the language of the high-energy carnival barker in the dust.

Very interesting -- Makepeace makes some great points. Old-school DM just isn't cutting it anymore. And, as the economy decides what sort of state it is currently in (recession, slow-down, etc.), this becomes even more important. We've got to create campaigns that best resonate with our audiences. And, we simply have to embrace those channels that our customer segments are insisting that we utilize in order for them to buy from us. By understanding customer preferences, you'll stay ahead of the game. And, now, more than ever before, customers are willing to share with us exactly what they are looking for and how to improve on what you do. It's empowering and scary at the same time. I guess the net-net of this is that you have to be willing to truly listen to customer desires and then react to their feedback to keep them coming back for more!

Customer Preference a Hot Topic for 2008

Happy 2008!

Now that the holidays are officially behind us and we're all raring to dive headlong into a fresh New Year, it's time to take a look at what will be important to us as we begin to implement our direct marketing strategies.

One hot topic that has gained a lot of attention in the past few weeks is around customer preference. We really believe that if you communicate with your customers in the ways in which they want to be communicated, you are going to see big returns -- in sales, in ROI, and in customer satisfaction. Customer preference is more important than ever because of the multitude of channels available for us to utilize when spreading our marketing messages. On the one hand, we can increase the times that our message is viewed or heard. On the other hand, you don't want to annoy potential customers by hitting them too many times with your messages -- and particularly not with the marketing channel that they least prefer. The good news is that there are many different ways to easily capture your customer's communications preferences -- and smart companies have made understanding this a top priority.

Recently, the DMA has become involved in this, particularly around direct mail in the catalog industry. In a recent DM News article, author Chantal Tode discusses how the DMA "has strengthened its arsenal against proposed do-not-mail legislation by beefing up its Mailing Preference Ser­vice (MPS), offering consumers more choice in how and when they receive direct mail." While this move is definitely due to the afore-mentioned pending legislation (the article reports that the number of states with proposed do-not-mail registries grew from 3 to 15 in 2007, as is expected to increase to 25 this year), it's a move whose time has come. The DMA is trying to demonstrate to legislators that we can self-regulate as an industry. In other words, we don't need for politicians to increase the amount of marketing legislation that clogs up our political system and makes it a lot harder to effectively use direct marketing.

And, as discussed above, if a consumer doesn't want to be communicated with via direct mail -- I'd honestly rather know that. I'd rather spend my time and effort on those who want to hear from me through this channel.

We'll definitely keep our eyes on how this entire issue unfolds. Since we are now officially in an election year (I know -- it seems like we've already been in an election year), I'll bet that this issue will get lots of airtime as we hear from the various candidates from all parties.

Meanwhile, find out about your customer preferences. It may take a little work, but we firmly believe that it will pay off in huge dividends -- setting you up for a great 2008!