We are Poisoning the Well

There is a very basic dichotomy in direct marketing and it's preventing us from reaching significantly higher

returns on investment. Marketing talks about "customer relationship management" but actually conducts programs where a tiny percentage of the audience actually buys something. Response rates are measured by the thimble-full and customer satisfaction is often not measured at all.

It's more than just the obvious waste; the volume and irrelevance of the unceasing barrage of marketing messages are poisoning the well.

Congratulations that two percent or point two percent of our audience might actually take meaningful, measurable action. Let's for a minute think about the overwhelming majority that trashed the message. Some were neutral to the offer, and some were actively annoyed. Some will tell 10 of their friends about the negative experience. Some turn to the government for protection from perceived predatory marketing.

The Rationale for Integrating Marketing and Sales

Marketing's New Year's resolution must be to generate double-digit response and increase customer lifetime value. The most successful route is Integrated Direct Marketing. This process incorporates a broadening and deepening of the media mix, listening and acting upon customers' expectations of each medium and, throughout, speaking with one voice. This means presenting the right message to the right person at the right time.

Where is the customer within their lifecycle? Where is the customer within their decision-making process?

Different messages and different media are deployed by customer preferences to provide them with the information they require to move to the next stage, and to create an interactive dialog where both parties listen and learn. This enables marketers to better meet their customer's ongoing and future needs.

Customers are complex individuals and interact with media like never before in our history. They experience and develop media preferences and aversions, learning from the combination of media that suits them best, at that moment in time. Messages are rejected with barely a nano-second of thought.

Concentrating on surrounding customers with an effective mix of media and informed choices creates the most relevant customer experience. Frequency of touches is driven by the customer's self-declared interest and self-indicated propensity to buy. Media preference also drives interactive contact, but only at appropriate points.

This process of precision media deployment consistently generates double-digit response. It allows the marketer to do more with less— generating more revenue with less waste with the same or less budget—which is especially important in times of stagnant or decreasing marketing budgets. 

The Integrated Direct Marketing media mix includes:

• Internet
• PR 
• Print advertising
• e-mail 
• Direct mail
• Field sales channels 
• Word of Mouth
• Mobile marketing 
• Inbound & outbound
• Blogs customer care
• And more

How many of these components are you using? How many are you integrating with precision and relevance?

How do you measure success?

Leveraging the Customer Lifecycle Integrated Direct Marketing responds to the stages of the customer lifecycle and thus increases your relevance, response and revenue.