With the baseball season well underway, it the perfect time to use some analogies from America’s pastime to talk about data and direct marketing.
Not Every Hit is a Home Run – Everyone wants to hit one out of the park, but it’s not realistic to expect that every communication will produce the desired result. Campaigns are comprised of many variables that can affect performance, from the opening and call to action, to the timing, and even the content and images. Test these variables to determine what works and what doesn’t.
Develop Your Prospects – Networking, referrals and list purchases are among the various ways to build a prospect database that will fill your pipeline and grow your business. But how do you convince and convert them into customers? Establish a sequence of communications that educate about your products and services and create a customer journey. Provide gated content, such as white papers and case studies that illustrate how you solve their problem. Depending on your business, you could offer purchase incentives such as introductory trials, package deals, financing options, free delivery, etc., to seal the deal.
Cover the Bases – Reach your targets at the right time with the right message. Email can and probably should be one of your touchpoints, but branch out and use multiple channels to connect and allow your target an opportunity to take action. Consider adding direct mail such as letters, postcards, brochures and newsletters, social media and SMS text messages, even phone calls as part of your campaign. Better yet, develop a coordinated campaign that integrates the various touchpoints in a highly-orchestrated manner.
If You Want to Fill the Stadium, Give People a Reason to Come – The importance of relevant content has been well documented. The more personalized the content of your message, the more likely it is to be consumed. There are dozens of ways to segment and target your list so that your communications are specifically tailored to the needs of each segment. If your house list is lacking, consider data appends, because a database that includes a broad range of fields can deepen your targeting ability and enable more refined messaging that resonates.
Does your data enable marketing that gets you on base? With postal and email lists, data appending and cleansing services and direct marketing expertise, contact Redi-Data for help with your next campaign.
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