CRM - November 2007 - (Page 34)

BUILDING CUSTOMER LISTS raised conversion rates from 1 percent to abstract components like attitudes, wants, needs, and desires. Getting that deep 3 percent, according to SPSS. Part of the shift is due to an explosion requires insight:“Take a close look at what in the amount of available information. data you already have,” Wettemann says. The Internet is bursting at the seams with “Look at what you can buy, or what you the stuff and can simplify communica- may be able to ask your customers for, tion down to just a few clicks. Customers, through a survey or other means.” Eventually, the parts will paint a clearer Hren says, “just want it on their own terms.” In the past, he adds, customers picture of the whole and targeting only would just ignore “bad” pieces of email gets better with time and attention. “You or direct mail. But consumers have know you’ve got this whole ball of data,” learned to take charge of their inboxes. Hren says. “The more refined and the They are increasingly using spam filters, more clear you can make that, then installing pop-up blockers, and putting reaching out to customers, building lists, their names on do-not-call lists to shield communicating, and effectively driving themselves from the bombardment of that customer relationship management unsolicited messages. Case in point: [can be done]. It’s never easy, but withWhen The Right Start’s first round of out that it’s nearly impossible.” But what many marketers don’t emails went out to test the vitality of its understand is that aggregatnew list, Neiman recollects ing data and building a list is that she soon began receiving “COMPANIES CAN “only the start of an opticalls from RightNow TechUSE TARGETING AND mization journey,” Fornologies, the CRM vendor rester’s Vittal says. Basically, whose software the retailer ONLINE TOOLS had deployed, saying, “Every TO HAVE MORE OF AN after you’ve caught the customer’s attention, you can’t [Internet Service Provider] stop playing until you hear out there is about to ban you the whistle. “You need to because they believe you’re think about your list optispamming people.” mization,” Vittal says. MarHaving customers emketers “think about the fact powered to control the inforthat they have a list, but they mation they receive, Hren don’t think about the fact adds, is “changing the that, ‘OK, now I need to dynamic of how lists can maximize the usage of this work.” The new dynamic, he RELATIONSHIP AND AN list.’” He recommends that adds, shows how you can ONGOING GAUGE OF each marketing department maintain and control the WHERE THE CUSTOMER think about its list as one of customer. But how do you that company’s most valuhone in on what’s most releSTANDS.” able investments. “You’ve vant to them? The key to put some initial skin in the obtaining that invaluable 360-degree view of each individual cus- game, if you will, to build a proper list, tomer requires an investment in profiling a targeted list,” he says. “Now what you and analysis. Solutions are available with have to think is, this is your asset.” A list becomes the living, breathing the help of business and marketing analytics programs, CRM systems, or newly component of a business—in fact, Vittal hired skilled employees—any of which emphasizes the need to keep the list alive may seem costly at first. But these are the for as long as possible. After making a one-time investment in the list, marmoves that often deliver a high payoff. According to Hren, the characteristics keters need to focus on contact and list that affect the receptiveness of a consumer optimization so that they can keep include family lifestyle, life stage, previous extracting value from the list on a regupurchase patterns, and individual inter- lar basis. “You cannot do that if you just ests—but the story extends to more mail everybody, all the time,” he warns. So how should marketers focus on optimization? The first step, according to Vittal, is simple enough: Look at the response rates. But then, he says, companies need to think about a predictive modeling infrastructure—and therein lies the challenge. Direct mail and email addresses change, for example, more frequently than marketers expect. In fact, more than 31 percent of email addresses are changed each year, according to Jared Reitzin, CEO of California-based email- and mobile-marketing firm MobileStorm. While the percentage is much lower for direct mail addresses, even that figure is significant enough to require constant vigilance. Therefore, Vittal suggests, be systematic and periodic about keeping up to date with services like the National Change of Address (NCOA) and Email Change of Address (ECOA) provided by the U.S. Postal Service and other proprietary companies such as Harte-Hanks, a global direct- and targeted-marketing solutions provider. In addition, marketers need to closely monitor their internal systems to check and record what mail is being returned—not only has that message not reached its target, but it also represents money wasted. The next step is to “get granular about the affinities of your list,” Vittal says. Monitor how consumers respond to each mailing. “Try to build a profile or segment of your list, see which segments respond to what kind of offer,” he says. “If they respond well to one product, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will respond well to every product,” he points out. Periodically test a sample of your existing list to ensure that the response rates are still high. Results could also provide insight into marketing improvements such as enhancing creativity, promoting a different offer, or even exploring changes in the language or tone of voice of the campaign. ongoing CHECK FOR HOLES IN THE NET “We probably test at least one type of concept once a month,” The Right Start’s Neiman says. Tracking everything from headline and product layouts on an www.destinationCRM.com 34 CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | NOVEMBER 2007 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - November 2007

CRM - November 2007 Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity Have You Caught It? The Mother of Enterprise Information Market Focus: Technology: The Simple Truth about Complex Manufacturing Q&A: Gianforte Talks CRM Required Reading Predicting Profitability Checking the Pulse of the Contact Center Cast a Narrow Net Modern Times, Modern Methods Primos Hunting Calls Snares Efficiency Nailing It Down Moving in on Mortgage Delinquencies RDS Delivery Delivers on Service Secret of My Success Re:Tooling The Tipping Point Pint of View

CRM - November 2007

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