The Personalization Precept

http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 1 Table of Contents Standing Out in an Age of “Clutter-nomics” – Is it Possible? .................................................... 4 The fall of the CMO ............................................................................................................... 4 Marketing is More Important Today ..................................................................................... 4 Drive Incremental Revenue through Direct Response Marketing ............................................ 5 Set Appropriate Direct Response Goals ................................................................................ 5 Understand What Drives Response Rates ............................................................................. 5 Overall Direct Response Metrics ....................................................................................... 6 Direct Response ROI .............................................................................................................. 7 Lead Generation Metrics ................................................................................................... 8 Traffic Building Metrics...................................................................................................... 9 Direct Order Metrics........................................................................................................ 10 Fund Raising Metrics ....................................................................................................... 11 The “Big 3” in a Nutshell ...................................................................................................... 11 4 Year Comparison on Direct Response Rates .................................................................... 12 Additional Direct Response Facts to Consider .................................................................... 13 Increasing Profits with E-mail, Direct Mail, and the Internet .................................................. 14 E-mail Can Build a House ..................................................................................................... 14 Most Popular Days to Send & Open E-mail ..................................................................... 15 E-mail Click through Rates ............................................................................................... 15 Click through Rates by Industry ....................................................................................... 16 E-mail Newsletters........................................................................................................... 16 E-mail Promotion Frequency ........................................................................................... 17 20 Good E-mail Subject Lines & 20 that Suck .................................................................. 18 Writing E-mail Headlines for Mobile Users ..................................................................... 18 House vs. Prospect Direct Order Response Rates ........................................................... 19 House vs. Prospect Lead Generation Response Rates .................................................... 20 Challenges of E-mail ........................................................................................................ 20 Don’t Neglect Direct Mail – Your Top Competitors Won’t.................................................. 21 7 Direct Mail Benefits ...................................................................................................... 22 http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 2 Challenges of Direct Mail................................................................................................. 22 Lifting Response Rates with Timely, Relevant, and Personalized Communication ................. 23 The Case for Personalization ............................................................................................... 23 Benefits of Personalization .............................................................................................. 24 Personalized Direct Response Mail ..................................................................................... 24 What Factors Make a Difference for Direct Mail?........................................................... 25 Comparison of Direct Mail Variables in Action ............................................................... 26 How Targeting Impacts Campaign Performance ............................................................. 27 Personalized URLs (PURLs) .................................................................................................. 28 Benefits of PURLs............................................................................................................. 28 The Power of a PURL in Direct Mail..................................................................................... 29 Customized Offers & Discounts ........................................................................................... 30 Tidbits from eROI (2006): ................................................................................................ 31 Consistently Test & Measure Everything ............................................................................ 32 Testing Still Baffles Marketers ......................................................................................... 32 Common Metrics to Monitor .......................................................................................... 33 Personalization Case Studies ................................................................................................... 34 Caterpillar ............................................................................................................................ 34 Charter Bank ........................................................................................................................ 35 Shoe Carnival ....................................................................................................................... 36 West Marine ........................................................................................................................ 37 D’Youville ............................................................................................................................. 38 Continental Warranty .......................................................................................................... 39 Pantone, Inc......................................................................................................................... 40 What’s Next? ........................................................................................................................... 41 MORE RESOURCES FROM SMB CONSULTING ......................................................................... 42 SEO COMPARISON GUIDE ................................................................................................... 42 TOP GOOGLE RANKINGS – HOW MUCH ARE THEY REALLY WORTH? ................................. 42 SEO PRECEPT ....................................................................................................................... 42 10 Costly Online Real Estate Marketing Mistakes ............................................................... 42 THE EDGE OF SUCCESS ........................................................................................................ 43 IMO Principles ..................................................................................................................... 43 http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 3 About the Author .................................................................................................................... 44 About SMB Consulting......................................................................................................... 44 http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 4 Standing Out in an Age of “Clutter-nomics” – Is it Possible? According to the United States Postal Service (USPS), the average consumer is exposed to approximately 5,980 marketing messages daily. On average, they notice 52 (0.87%) and pay attention to only 4 (0.067%). Translated: greater than 99% of marketing messages go unnoticed. There are simply too many messages for the average consumer to weed through to get to those that seemingly “matter” in an efficient manner so they have elected to tune out. Therefore, it is critical for marketers to do a better job crafting messages that DO matter in order to stand out from the clutter. A Yankelovich study found that 65% of Americans now feel “constantly bombarded” by ads and marketing messages, and 59% feel ads have little relevance to them. In other words, people are experiencing “marketing fatigue.” The fall of the CMO The average tenure for a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) stands at 23 months according to the CMO Council. Contrast that with the average tenure for CEOs (48 months), and it becomes clear that the high expectations and need to deliver tangible results is not being met by today’s marketing leadership. Consider the following company examples of CMO turnover: Starbucks steamed through five marketing leaders in seven years, Coke poured through four CMOs in six years, and FedEx Kinko’s blazed through three marketing leaders in five years. These numbers suggest that today’s marketing efforts are failing on a broad scale. Marketing is More Important Today A CMO Council survey found that 77% of marketers and 79% of non-marketers believe marketing has become “more or significantly more important” which is likely fueled by the need for organic growth by interested stakeholders. This special report aims to help business owners, executives, sales professionals, and marketers craft better marketing messages that produce the type of growth demanded from business leaders to keep their jobs. Specifically, this report intends to demonstrate several strategies and tactics that will: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Drive incremental revenue Improve customer loyalty Increase the frequency of purchase Reactivate customers Reinforce your company’s brand position http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 5 Drive Incremental Revenue through Direct Response Marketing Direct response marketing is simply where you market your products or services by incorporating a call to action within the message that propels the prospect to do something if they are interested. Institutional advertising, on the other hand, is repetition based and designed to generate brand and top-of-mind awareness without asking the audience to do anything. It is the author’s belief that, unless you are a huge conglomerate like Procter & Gamble where a mass majority of the population is already familiar with your products and services, you should always engage in direct response advertising and marketing so that testing and a mutual education can transpire. If there is an absence of a measurable call to action, there is no way to easily gauge whether a campaign is successful. Set Appropriate Direct Response Goals When embarking on a direct response campaign, begin by outlining a strategy to achieve at least one of the following initiatives: 1. 2. 3. 4. Lead Generation Traffic Building Direct Order Stimulation Fund Raising Once you have determined what your primary goals are, you can begin to outline the tactical steps to achieving those goals through the proper media and channels. Different media produce vastly varying response rates based upon the overall goal. It also depends what particular response medium your organization is best equipped to handle so let’s dive deeper into the various tactical methodologies and how each performs from a response rate perspective. What follows below are various facts and statistics which will demonstrate the power of direct response marketing in addition to aiding in any decision making processes that aim to utilize any or all of the methods outlined. After-all, an informed decision improves the likelihood of generating a positive outcome. Understand What Drives Response Rates In any marketing campaign, responses are driven by three main factors: 40% by the list, 40% through the offer, and 20% from the creative. If you end up purchasing a cheap list that isn’t highly targeted, expect 40% of your campaign to fail right off the bat. Things will go exponentially worse if the offer is poorly crafted or unworthy of much attention. If solid response rates are desired, put more effort into procuring a highly targeted and “scrubbed” (updated) list. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 6 Overall Direct Response Metrics Overall Direct Response Rates 9.00% 8.00% 7.00% 6.00% 5.00% 4.00% 3.00% 2.00% 1.00% 0.00% 0.50% 3.40% 3.67% 1.35% 0.17% 2.48% 8.14% 8.55% Source: DMA; SMB Consulting Analysis The telephone produces a solid overall response rate (8.55%), but that comes with a caveat. According to the DMA 2005 Response Rate Report, most telephone responses reflect follow up to a direct mail initiative so the calls were not true “cold-calls.” Direct Response Television came in a close second (8.14%) to the telephone in terms of overall response rates. These are 30-60 second spots that encourage someone to seek more information by visiting a website, calling a specific telephone number, e-mailing, etc. Catalogs provide a good overall response (3.67%) especially when they are used as traffic generation tools to get a prospect to visit a store, website, or place an order over the telephone. Direct mail still delivers effective response rates (3.40%), and those response rates can increase through personalization as you’ll see as you progress through this special report. E-mail is very cost effective because you can cast a much wider net in your prospecting efforts to reach a broader audience. Based on a 2.48% response rate, e-mail is a good tool to use early in a campaign and in subsequent follow up campaigns due to its relative low cost basis. Radio spots can produce a decent response (1.35%) in an awareness campaign. It is also a good medium to utilize when targeting information seekers. Although quite expensive, http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 7 radio can be an effective resource to leverage in your overall marketing campaign if the frequency and offer are in line with the expectations of your target audience. Magazines (0.17%) and newspapers (0.50%) tend to produce very low response rates and therefore should be considered cost ineffective in the overall marketing grand scheme of things. In specific instances, magazines and newspapers can provide a response worthy of the effort involved, but those instances are beyond the scope of this report. Direct Response ROI Cost & Return Per Contact Category Mail-Flat Cost 0.46 Revenue 0.85 ROI 84.78% Mail-Dimensional Catalog 0.55 0.57 0.29 2.41 -47.27% 322.81% E-mail Telephone Source: USPS; SMB Consulting Analysis 0.01 1.27 0.18 3.98 1700.00% 213.39% With e-mail’s low costs, its ROI is rather substantial (1700%), but that does not mean it should be the only medium in the marketer’s arsenal to grow the business. With catalogs (322.81%) producing healthy returns along with the telephone (213.39%), a multi-media campaign makes a lot of sense from an ROI perspective. Flat direct mail (84.78%) produces enough return to warrant serious consideration in a campaign, but multi-dimensional direct mail (-47.27% return) didn’t prove to be as profitable as its counterparts. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 8 Lead Generation Metrics Lead Generation Response Rates 18.08% 18.00% 16.00% 14.00% 12.00% 10.00% 8.00% 6.00% 4.00% 2.00% 0.00% 2.30% 0.62% 0.01% 0.07% 3.15% 8.25% Source: DMA; SMB Consulting Analysis When attempting to generate new leads, direct response television tends to perform the best (18.08% response rate) based on the DMA 2005 Response Rate Report. The telephone, when used in conjunction with another lead generation technique such as mail or e-mail, comes in second with an 8.25% response rate. E-mail proves quite effective (3.15%) in a lead generation scenario. Based on its low cost structure, many campaigns begin with an e-mail initiative to “weed out” those prospects uninterested so that more time can be dedicated to those prospects demonstrating an interest in the product or service being marketed. Mail (2.30%) is also an effective medium and plays a key role in an overall strategy for lead generation initiatives. Newspaper (0.62%), radio (0.01%), and magazine ads (0.07%) appear to be ineffective at generating leads. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 9 Traffic Building Metrics Traffic Building Rates Telephone E-mail Radio Catalogs Newspaper Mail 0.00% 0.13% 4.60% 2.00% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00% 10.00% 1.54% 3.36% 9.64% 4.64% Source: DMA; SMB Consulting Analysis Many organizations simply need to increase traffic to their stores, websites, or events, and catalogs (9.64% response rate) have demonstrated a propensity to effectively drive traffic. Direct mail (4.60%) and the telephone (4.64%) perform almost identically in a traffic generation scenario followed somewhat closely by radio (3.36%). E-mail is next (1.54%) with the newspaper bringing up the rear (0.13%). If a catalog is out of the question, a combined campaign of a direct mail piece, telephone follow-up sequence, and a few strategically placed radio spots may generate the type of traffic to help effectively grow your business. Once you have captured a prospect’s information and have data to build a more personalized campaign, e-mail can enter the picture to stay in contact to continue to generate traffic for your business. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 10 Direct Order Metrics Direct Order Rates 7.00% 6.00% 5.00% 4.00% 3.00% 2.00% 1.00% 0.00% 0.003% 2.20% 1.35% 0.27% 0.21% 3.24% 2.07% 6.41% Source: DMA; SMB Consulting Analysis If the goal is to increase revenue through an influx of orders, the telephone (6.41%) provides the highest response rates, but that number is a byproduct of an initial direct response piece preceding the telephone interaction. So if telephone response rates are byproducts of another direct response piece, it reasons that catalogs (3.24%), much like traffic building, would be a logical first piece to send in a campaign to increase direct orders. Since catalogs are cost prohibitive or aren’t logical for many businesses, direct mail (2.20%) and e-mail (2.07%) would generate significant enough response rates to precede a telephone follow up sequence. Radio produces enough of a response (1.35%) that it should remain on the marketer’s radar when seeking additional direct orders. Newspapers (0.003%) and magazines (0.27%) don’t garner enough attention in a direct order scenario to warrant a whole lot of consideration. Surprisingly, direct response television (0.21%) does not perform as well in a direct order scenario as it does in traffic generation initiatives. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 11 Fund Raising Metrics Fund Raising Rates 24.13% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% Mail E-mail Telephone Source: DMA; SMB Consulting Analysis 5.08% 0.88% While fund-raising isn’t the primary goal of traditional businesses, non-profits, associations, churches, community outreach programs, and other civic initiatives should benefit from the information contained in the chart above. As evidenced by the chart, e-mail (0.88%) is not an effective medium in a fund raising scenario yet the telephone (24.13%) and direct mail (5.08%) are very good fund raising marketing tools. Teaming the two together is a logical strategy for those organizations looking to raise funds for their survival. The “Big 3” in a Nutshell Since direct mail, e-mail, and the telephone are the most common methodologies to reach prospective buyers, a summary graph may help you make an informed decision as to which tactic to use in your next marketing campaign based on your overall objectives. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 12 Direct Response Rates 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% Overall Lead Order Traffic Fund Direct Mail E-mail Telephone Source: DMA; SMB Consulting Analysis As mentioned in the narrative above, the response rates for telemarketing are based upon follow up calls after a direct piece had been sent so keep that in mind as you map out your strategy. For lead generation, a combination of e-mail and telephone appears to be a strong strategy. To influx the business with direct orders, e-mail and direct mail perform equally on the front end with telephone follow up incorporated. Traffic is best created with a combination of direct mail and telephone follow up. Fund raising seems to generate strong responses from a similar combination of direct mail and telemarketing follow up. 4 Year Comparison on Direct Response Rates 4 Year Comparison of Direct Response Rates Lead Generation Direct Order Traffic Building Overall Average 2004 2.60% 1.60% 4.60% 2.93% Direct Mail 2005 2006 2.30% 2.20% 4.60% 3.03% 1.30% 2.20% 4.60% 2.70% 2007 1.61% 2.15% 5.35% 3.04% 2004 2.80% 1.00% 2.30% 2.03% Email 2005 2006 3.15% 2.07% 1.54% 2.25% 2.50% 0.30% 0.80% 1.20% 2007 4.09% 0.48% 0.21% 1.59% 2004 5.80% 3.10% 5.30% 4.73% Teleservices 2005 2006 8.25% 6.41% 4.64% 6.43% 2.60% 1.70% 7.80% 4.03% 2007 2.46% 2.53% 2.50% Source: DMA, SMB Consulting Analysis http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 13 4 Year Direct Response Averages Objective Lead Generation Direct Order Traffic Building Mean Response Direct Mail 1.95% 2.04% 4.79% 2.93% Email 3.14% 0.96% 1.21% 1.77% Tele 4.78% 3.44% 5.91% 4.71% Mean Response Rate 3.29% 2.15% 3.97% 3.13% Source: DMA, SMB Consulting Analysis As the chart above depicts, telemarketing provided the strongest response rates over the past four years (2004-2007). Its overall mean response rate was a strong 4.71%, but that was the result of follow up calls versus cold calls. Telemarketing proved to be particularly strong in traffic building initiatives with a 3 year average response rate of 5.91% although that does not include statistics for 2007. The four year average response was 4.78% for lead generation and 3.44% for direct order scenarios. All very strong numbers. Direct mail generated a four year (2004-2007) mean overall response rate of 2.93% which included response rates of 1.95% for lead generation, 2.04% for direct order, and 4.79 for traffic building. Email flexed its muscles in lead generation for the four year comparison period by getting people to respond at a 3.14% clip, second only to telemarketing. While the four year average for direct orders (0.96%) and traffic building (1.21%) may seem low, the cost factors are much lower for email meaning more opportunities for responses. Its overall mean response rate for the four year comparison period came in at 1.77% which is very respectable especially when factoring in cost considerations. Additional Direct Response Facts to Consider • Recipients of catalogs and other direct mail have a combined online purchase rate of 28%. Source: USPS, The Multi-Channel Catalog Study, 2004. 73% of wired households prefer to get information on new products and promotions via direct mail. Source: ICR Research Group, "Connected Households Still Prefer Regular Mail," icrsurvey.com, 2001. Online shoppers who interact with brands using multiple media spend 30% more than those using a single medium. Source: USPS, Mail and the Internet, 2006. • • http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 14 Increasing Profits with E-mail, Direct Mail, and the Internet One size doesn’t fit all, and each set of prospects will react differently to various media and the offers contained within your marketing messages. Incorporating a mix of direct mail, email, catalogs, telemarketing, and Internet marketing (aside from e-mail) could inch the profitability needle much higher than one medium alone. For instance, a common successful approach many marketers use is to send an e-mail or direct mail piece to a highly targeted segment that demonstrates a high probability to responding to guide them to a Personalized URL (PURL) or website to learn more about an offer. The more personalized or customized that offer, the higher the response rate (generally speaking). As evidenced by the graph below, getting customers to interact with your business across multiple channels can increase their value by as much as 465%. Value of Cross Channel Customers Cat, Web, & Retail Retail & Website Catalog & Retail Catalog & Website Retail Website Catalog $243 $127 $124 $99 $43 $90 $69 $$50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $300 Source: Double Click; SMB Consulting Analysis E-mail Can Build a House List that is. It is practically every marketer’s dream to build a hugely profitable house list (one that the business owns through its own lead generation efforts) so the reliance on outside list brokers is minimized. Since e-mail is the least expensive medium and provides reasonable returns, it makes a lot of sense to start a marketing campaign by procuring a highly targeted e-mail list to begin building your house database or list to market to over time. As you will see in a bit, your house list will become more and more profitable as you gain valuable insights into the http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 15 behaviors and desires of your prospects. First, let’s look at ways you can get your e-mails opened, read and acted upon. Most Popular Days to Send & Open E-mail Send Days Q3 2003 Sun 1.4% Mon 15.1% Tue 25.4% Wed 23.3% Thr 18.3% Fri 15.6% Sat 0.9% Q2 2003 Q1 2003 1.5% 1.8% 14.1% 14.1% 26.7% 22.4% 23.7% 23.2% 22.4% 22.8% 10.6% 15.2% 1.0% 0.5% Average Open Days Q3 2003 1.6% 14.4% 24.8% 23.4% 21.2% 13.8% 0.8% Sun 4.1% Mon 15.1% Tue 19.6% Wed 22.8% Thr 19.7% Fri 13.7% Sat 5.0% Q2 2003 Q1 2003 3.9% 4.0% 13.3% 13.8% 20.7% 18.6% 22.0% 22.2% 21.5% 21.5% 14.3% 15.4% 4.3% 4.5% Average 4.0% 14.1% 19.6% 22.3% 20.9% 14.5% 4.6% Source: Email Labs, SMB Consulting Analysis Tuesday (24.8%) and Wednesday (23.4%) are the most popular days to send e-mail while Wednesday (22.3%) and Thursday (20.9%) appear to be the days people open their e-mail most frequently. For the sake of pure simplicity, the easiest solution for beginning e-mail marketers may be to send out marketing e-mail messages on Wednesday. E-mail Click through Rates E-mail Click Through Rates 20.8% 17.1% >15.1% 2.51-15% <2.5% 51.8% Don't Know 10.3% Source: Internet Retailer, 2007; SMB Consulting Analysis http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 16 A majority (51.8%) of e-mail marketers are experiencing click-through rates between 2.51 and 15%. Surprisingly, nearly 1 out of 5 don’t even know their click through rates. Click through Rates by Industry Click Through Rates by Industry 70.0% 60.0% 57.5% 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 23.8% 23.4% 8.1% 14.2% 11.0% 10.9% 9.5% 9.5% 0.0% Source: Harte-Hanks Postfuture Index (Jan-June '06); SMB Consulting Analysis The restaurant (57.5%) and publishing (55.6%) industries lead the way by a good margin when it comes to getting their prospects to click through while the automotive (5.7%) and retail (6.0%) industries have some work to do to improve their CTRs. “In 2007, we sent personalized emails directly from the sales account executive instead of a generic email address and received a 40% open rate. We also learned that it is not enough to blast a single message to all of our prospects as if they all had the same wants and needs. Personalizing and segmenting our email messages so our prospects would perceive the email topic as relevant to them individually really maximized the response. One week after the first blast, we increased our click-throughs 75% when we re-blasted to recipients who had not initially opened or clicked through. “ --Kathryn Ross, Delta Dental of California E-mail Newsletters E-mail newsletters are a great way to stay in contact with your prospect and customer base, and they cost far less than their printed counterparts of yesteryear. The most frequent question asked by marketers is how often should an e-newsletter be sent? Marketing Sherpa provided the following insight: 8.6% 10.0% 6.0% 5.7% 20.0% 55.6% http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 17 E-Newsletter Frequency 42.4% 33.9% 1/Month 1/Week Less than 1/Month 11.9% Source: Marketing Sherpa, 2006; SMB Consulting Analysis As evidenced by the pie chart, most marketers send their e-newsletter less than once per month (42.4%) while roughly 1/3 send them out once per month. Only 11.9% send them once per week which suggests that may be overkill for an e-newsletter. E-mail Promotion Frequency Another question about frequency stems from e-mail promotions to which another Marketing Sherpa study aims to answer: E-Promotion Frequency 5.8% 32.7% 21.2% 1/Week 2-3/Month 1/Month 36.5% <1/Month Source: Marketing Sherpa, 2006; SMB Consulting Analysis While nearly 1 in 20 businesses send an e-mail promotion every week, the slight majority (36.5%) tends to send one per month and another 1/3 send less than one per month. Much like e-newsletters, bombarding your prospects and customers with promotional e-mails may not produce the results you’re striving for so take caution when designing your promotional e-mail campaigns. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 18 20 Good E-mail Subject Lines & 20 that Suck The subject line of an e-mail is very similar to that of a headline for an article in a newspaper, magazine, or blog posting. 80% of the reason someone decides to read further is due to the head or subject line so the insight provided below may help you craft e-mails that get opened and generate a higher response rate. MailChimp has provided an overview of tested e-mail subject lines that perform best on their site. For comparison purposes, e-mail marketing consultants consider an open rate of about 20% and a click through rate of 4-5% to be a highly effective e-mail campaign. (Source: Internet Retailer, 2006) To review the entire analysis, please visit http://www.mailchimp.com/resources/subject-line-comparison.phtml, but a summary can be found below: “I saw in a MarketingSherpa report that short email subject lines (particularly of fewer than 35 characters) would impact response rates noticeably. The next email campaign we ran was a web-based customer satisfaction survey. We sent identical email invitations to two different groups, selected randomly. The only difference between the emails sent was the subject line – one was 38 characters and the other had 50 characters. The shorter subject line had a 12.4% response rate compared to a 7.9% response rate for the longer one.” --Andy Mindlin, REALWORLD Marketing, Inc., http://www.realworldmarketing.com Writing E-mail Headlines for Mobile Users Karen Gedney of ClickZ has a great article about writing headlines for mobile users. In summary, she recommends making the first 15 characters count in the headline if you want your message read. With more and more executives reading their e-mails through mobile devices (Research in Motion, manufacturer of the Blackberry, alone reports greater than 12 http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 19 million users worldwide), crafting messages that get read by this segment is something to keep an eye on. To read Karen’s entire article, visit http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3596166. House vs. Prospect Direct Order Response Rates Medium Direct Mail Catalog Email Telephone Response Cost / Revenue Rate Contact /Contact 2.29% $ 0.366 $ 61.68 3.34% $ 0.699 $ 33.51 0.40% $ 0.014 $ 0.68 3.81% $ 14.150 $ 39.64 House List Prospect List Medium Direct Mail Catalog Email Telephone Response Cost / Revenue Rate Contact /Contact 1.65% $ 0.423 $ 36.20 1.12% $ 0.554 $ 11.49 0.19% $ 0.021 $ 0.10 3.74% $ 32.490 $ 71.64 Source: DMA, Response Rate Trends Report For catalogs and telephone prospecting efforts, the numbers indicate that using a prospect list should generate enough revenue to maintain a continual marketing push to grow a business. Clearly, a house list is much more profitable with direct mail and e-mail initiatives. The numbers also indicate strong returns on catalogs to a house list. Telephoning a house list provides marginally better response and return numbers. All of this being said, considering the costs involved, e-mail is the best way to go when initializing a campaign especially if revenue generation is the primary goal. Furthermore, 73% of those surveyed by Epsilon in 2007 stated they made an online purchase as a result of receiving an e-mail offer. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 20 House vs. Prospect Lead Generation Response Rates House List Medium Direct Mail Email Telephone Response Cost / Rate Contact 1.41% 2.24% 1.79% $ 0.496 $ 0.006 $ 11.590 Cost / Lead $ 35.19 $ 2.70 $ 64.75 Avg. Conv Rate 24.95% 36.13% 23.67% Prospect List Medium Direct Mail Email Telephone Response Cost / Rate Contact 1.53% 2.39% 3.21% $ 0.438 $ 0.245 $ 15.290 Cost / Lead $ 28.57 $ 10.23 $ 52.61 Avg. Conv Rate 11.01% 18.18% 20.30% Source: DMA, Response Rate Trends Report Upon first glance, one might think the numbers are backwards based on the chart for direct order response rates. Consider the economies of scale that list brokers, print shops, and telemarketing firms have at their disposal to undertake a new lead generation campaign and it begins to make more sense why a prospect list can compete cost wise with a house list on lead generation. That said, a house list converts at a higher clip than a prospect list, and that is likely due to familiarity and a pre-existing relationship with the company. A house e-mail list clearly outperforms a prospect list when taking into account the cost per lead and the average conversion rate. Incorporating tactics such as tell-a-friend scripts, forward to a friend, and signature links to guide the reader to a lead capturing web page can play a big role in growing a lead database for savvy marketers. “Use your house list! One of our clients has a house email list of more than 50,000 people. They had never used it. We created an email for that list based on successful landing page campaigns. They saw a 5x increase in sales the next day. --Ian Lurie, Portent Interactive, http://portentinteractive.com Challenges of E-mail While e-mail is a great medium to reach your intended recipient because of the low costs involved, it does have its drawbacks including: • • • • Spam Viruses Filters Regulations http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 21 • • User disinterest due to volume (36 billion total person to person messages/day to 1.2 billion e-mail users according to IDC; that translates into 30/person per day) Competition from other marketers To stand out amongst the clutter, it is imperative to develop relevant, timely, and personalized messages that propel the prospect to read your message and take action which is not a small order in today’s marketplace. Somewhat in line with the IDC statistic above, Jupiter Research states “consumers are getting an average of 35 e-mails per day.” Don’t Neglect Direct Mail – Your Top Competitors Won’t Annual spending on U.S. direct mail advertising is approximately $60 billion a year, and it's growing at a healthy clip: seven to eight percent a year. In 2005, companies and other groups sent out 100 billion pieces of direct mail, up 16 percent from 86 billion pieces in 1999, according to the United States Postal Service. Source 1: DMA, SMB Consulting Analysis As evidenced in the pie chart above, direct mail accounted for $60.6 billion in marketing costs and direct response print expenditures neared $22 billion in 2006. Combined, the two accounted for 45% of overall direct marketing costs in 2006. What this bares out is that companies spend the lion’s share of their marketing budget on what has worked in the past and what they feel will work in the future. Therefore, neglecting or drastically cutting back on direct mail or direct response print marketing would http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 22 be a mistake. It also suggests that teleservices should be included in the mix to complement other direct marketing tactics. 7 Direct Mail Benefits 1. Easy comparison and note taking 2. Does not face strict filtration of e-mail 3. Faces less competition than e-mail 4. Drives web traffic 5. Address doesn’t need to be 100% accurate like e-mail or web addresses 6. Provides solid ROI 7. Considered more personal than the Internet Challenges of Direct Mail Direct mail, like any other advertising and marketing medium, has its challenges. • For starters, an incomplete profile of prospect and customer data can lead to poor returns due to the fact that assumptions have to be made based on a broader set of data versus specific information. Privacy is always a concern when it comes to direct mail because anyone can access someone’s address information by “snooping” through mailboxes. Postal policies may force creative types to adjust the design of a mail piece which may render it less effective. Customers may not understand the true features and benefits of an offer in a mail piece, and that may turn them off to the company or brand. It’s difficult to predict when regular mail will be delivered to an exact moment so marketers attempting to coordinate follow up procedures with the arrival of a direct mail piece are left to guess somewhat or build in time cushions which may impact response rates. • • • • http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 23 Lifting Response Rates with Timely, Relevant, and Personalized Communication For a marketing campaign to succeed you need to send the right message to the right audience at the right time. In other words, you need solid segmentation practices, ways to personalize each communication with each prospect and customer, and methods to monitor and improve each piece of marketing communication that leaves your organization. The good news is personalization is in its relative infancy even though the concepts and theories have been around for awhile. In the past, a lack of shared data access, limited printing technologies, and scarce expertise made it cost prohibitive to implement truly personalized marketing campaigns. A lot of that has changed, but personalized marketing is still growing in popularity and adoption. For instance, David Daniels of Jupiter Research stated that “only 4% of marketers personalized messages. Of the marketers who do personalize, 76% use five data points or less in the personalization process.” With all the data at a business’ disposal, the time has come to start leveraging that data in the form of increased revenue and market share. The Case for Personalization Effects of Personalization Order Value Order Frequency Profit Response Time Response Rate 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 24.5% 47.6% 31.6% 33.9% 36.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% Source: InfoTrends/CAP Ventures http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 24 If your goal is to exponentially grow your business, there can be little argument that personalization can play a large role based on the graph above. For instance, personalization has been shown to increase order frequency by nearly 50% and order value by almost 1/4. Those are two of the three primary ways to effectively grow a business (the other being acquiring more customers). Furthermore, the rate at which people respond is improved by 36% and the time it takes them to respond is improved by a little over 1/3. All of this leads to increased overall profitability of 31.6% as a result of personalization. In and of itself, this is a strong enough argument for incorporating personalization into your marketing efforts, but there are more benefits to experience. Benefits of Personalization • Reach the ideal customer • Break through the clutter • Capitalize on cross-sell and up-sell opportunities • Create company and brand “ambassadors” • Engages & prepares prospects to buy • Rescues inactive customers • Strengthens relationships • Creates loyalty Personalized Direct Response Mail As mentioned in the opening paragraph of this report, consumers are hit with more than 5,980 marketing messages each day. The USPS estimates that the average American household receives 110 pieces of mail each month of which 60% is junk. That equates to 792 pieces of junk mail per year. SMB Consulting estimates the total number of mail pieces per household to grow to 1,500 in 2009, 2,000 pieces by 2010, and greater than 2,500 by the year 2011 (see graph below). Only relevant, timely and personalized messages can break through the clutter barriers, grab your targets’ attention, and propel them to act. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 25 Mail Per Year 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 418 1970 469 1980 669 733 1320 1990 1998 2008 2009 2010 2011 Source: USPS, SMB Consulting Analysis Expon. (Mail Per Year) What Factors Make a Difference for Direct Mail? Which of the following makes a difference as to what direct mail you open? Timing of the piece arriving and my need for the service The package looks interesting My name is on the front of the envelope A special offer or discount The package looks important Dated material enclosed 2001 58% 48% 58% 34% 37% 24% 2005 69% 63% 59% 51% 49% 33% % Increase 19% 31% 2% 50% 32% 38% Source: 2007 Vertis Customer Focus, SM B Consulting Analysis Consumers want you to communicate with them on an individualized, customized, personalized one-to-one basis, not as "Current Resident," “Valued Customer,” “VIP,” “Head of Household,” or as just another person in the “herd.” Benefits of personalized direct mail include the ability to: • • • • • Expand market reach Increase response rates Generate real-time leads Deepen customer relationships Capture valuable customer preference data http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 26 • Be perceived as relevant (non-junk) mail thus leading to a greater likelihood of the mail piece being opened and read Comparison of Direct Mail Variables in Action Source 2: Digital Printing Council; Romano & Broudy Results Overview Static black and white mailer. Adding a name increased response rates by 45%. Adding full color increased response rates by 45%. Adding a name and full color increased response rate by 135%. Applying database information to construct the offer increased response rates by 500%. Furthermore, adding a discount increased response rates by 1000% Statistics Source: Digital Printing Council http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 27 How Targeting Impacts Campaign Performance Category Untargeted Broadcast Open Rate 20.0% CTR 9.5% Conversion Rate 1.1% User Triggered Campaigns Lifecycle Messaging Campaigns 27.0% 26.0% 9.3% 9.3% 2.3% 2.3% Clickstream-based Campaigns 33.0% 14.0% 3.9% Source: David Daniels, Jupiter Research Eric Schmidt, the CEO of Google, estimates that up to 95% of the world’s advertising is of the untargeted variety. An example of untargeted broadcasts in traditional advertising would be television advertising where a large group of viewers are shown a commercial that appeals to the interests of only a minority. Untargeted direct response broadcasts of e-mail, mail, and web ads are very similar in nature as the recipient likely isn’t expecting your communication and probably isn’t interested in what you’re offering unless it is timed perfectly. That said, an open rate of 1 in 5 is well worth the time and effort especially considering a 1.1% conversion rate. User triggered campaigns are those that the user initiates by signing up to receive more information such as what you likely did to receive this report. Essentially, you have “triggered” an automated campaign by signifying an interest when you registered. These types of campaigns tend to produce greater than 1 in 4 opens and a conversion rate of 2.3%. Lifecycle campaigns utilize predictive modeling to an extent in that there is an expected behavior based on previous behaviors. When a prospect purchases an item, for instance, there may be a series of follow up messages encouraging the new customer to purchase a complementary item (an up or cross sell opportunity). If that customer doesn’t take the action desired in the timeframe expected, it may trigger a secondary campaign to send a different set of messages. This type of campaign requires more insight into “typical” behavior so that the statistical probabilities are accurate enough to predict future behaviors. Lifecycle campaigns produce similar results to user triggered campaigns with greater than 1 in 4 recipients opening a message and 9.3% clicking through which leads to an overall conversion rate of 2.3%. Clickstream campaigns are the most effective but require the most work on the marketer’s behalf. Based on the series of clicks a user makes when visiting a website, a campaign is initiated (provided the customer is known and track-able). Let’s say you run an online shoestore, and you’re running a special on a specific kind of shoe so that you can initiate follow up sequences to increase the frequency of purchase. Once someone clicks on that particular shoe, you may initiate a follow up sequence if the person adds the shoe to the cart yet doesn’t end up making the purchase. That’s an example of a clickstream campaign, and their effectiveness is very good with 1 in 3 recipients opening an email, 14% clicking http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 28 through which leads to an overall conversion rate of 3.9%. Clearly the best performer of the bunch but also the most difficult to setup and enable. “If you take the time to listen, customers will provide very valuable insight. The key is to ask the right questions and provide an easily accessible channel for customers to communicate. Las year, we posted an ongoing survey that addressed motivations for unsubscribe requests from our online newsletters. We are amazed that it consistently pulls 10,000 survey completions per month. These subscribers not only appreciate being heard, but they also have identified holes in the subscriber experience.” --Scott Wolf, ArcaMax Publishing Inc., http://www.ArcaMax.com Personalized URLs (PURLs) PURLs, or personalized URLs, are micro websites used to capture direct mail, email, and direct response media campaign responses. Studies show that using PURLs with a relevant message increases response rates two to five times. PURLs are cost efficient, fit seamlessly into a marketing campaign, and customized PURLs can be created dynamically, based on your house database or prospect list. PURLs are most effective when used in conjunction with a multi-channel campaign. Source 3: Fulfillment Concepts Benefits of PURLs • Increase response rates http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 29 • • • • • • • • Send qualified leads to sales Send real-time alerts to staff to follow up on “hot” prospects Customize interactive marketing efforts dynamically Gain valuable preference and behavioral information about consumers Convert more prospects into sales Create loyal customers that become ambassadors for your company and brand Manage customer relationships efficiently Track and measure campaign responses in real-time The Power of a PURL in Direct Mail by Travis Batting What is a PURL? It's simply a Personalized web-site (URL) that is customized to the person visiting the web site. It is often used with to further increase results with Direct Mail campaigns. On the direct mail piece there would be a web-site listed that would encourage the recipient to log on to the PURL. How does it personalize it? When the direct mail recipient logs onto the PURL, the information from the database is used to tailor the web page experience to that person. Moreover, once the individual logs in, the Web site can track the respondent's activity and continue to tailor the information based on his behaviour. This information can also be used to further tailor future print and Internet communications. Okay.....Interesting, but why would I need this? Well, the more you can communicate to your customers in multiple channels the better. The PURL's often capture information that can be used to help you understand your clients but also the value of your marketing money and what is being effective to drive you results. Also, once information is captured on the PURL you can have the information relayed to your cell phone or blackberry, allowing you to get in touch with your client right away. So not only are you capturing valuable data and communicating with your clients on more than one direct mail level, you are virtually able to increase dead air time and touch base with them without delaying their buying process. Definitely they're to increase your results and improve your professional image. By combining both media, marketers can take advantage of the comfort, tangible appeal, and quality of commercial print, plus the immediacy, tracking, and instant response of the Internet. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 30 A PURL is powerful because it creates a comfort in the user because it relays little effort on their part (no mail order or phone call) just simply going to the web site to relay the info. That's all....simple steps. Simple works. It's well known that the longer the process, the lower the results meaning lower response, money and knowledge flowing through the person mailing the campaign. In the Numbers Doing some research it was hard pressed to find other companies numbers to show the success rate. There was a bank that was not succeeding on getting clients to switch over to electronic banking with their direct marketing approach. They switched to Variable Data Printing combined with the PURL method to help get users switched over and show them the benefits and the security information. The bank increased enrollment from .4 percent to 2.5 percent, an increase of 625 percent over its previous marketing methods. Of those who went to the site, eight out of 10 enrolled. Combining your Postcard Marketing Campaign along with the PURL's is affordable for your business. Our company specializes in bringing this all together for you to help you succeed. There is nothing better than your success story to compliment our business. An account is free with us to start building your CRM to launch your next multi touch campaign. About the Author Travis Batting founded Postcard Marketing Group in 2005 with a vision in creating an ease of ordering for customers and driving ROI. The company has quickly evolved and offers clients above average tools to be a leader in the industry and brings knowledge to keep the customers on top of their business. Customized Offers & Discounts We’ve all been offered something “special” in an attempt to get us to take action. Some of the more common offers used by direct response marketers include: • Free trial or shipping—this is one of the more popular options used to get people to take action. Essentially, you’re accepting a portion of the purchase risk by allowing the customer to try it out for a set period of time or absorbing the shipping costs to get the product(s) to them inexpensively. Money back guarantee—another risk reversal technique that attempts to ensure the customer’s happiness by offering to refund their money should they become less than 100% satisfied with their purchase. Typically, this is used to overcome “buyer’s remorse” just after someone has made a purchase. • http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 31 • Free gift—an attempt to “sweeten” the pot by offering more value to the purchase decision. Limited time—convincing the customer they have a limited time to take action works wonders when there is a scarce quantity of an item. A limited time offer should be no more than 4-6 weeks and no less than 24 hours. Forced opt-out—this is more or less a “continuity program” where the customer is billed each month for a pre-determined time frame unless they take specific steps to signal that they no longer want the product or membership. A lot of makeup and vitamin retailers use this tactic to increase monthly revenues by shipping a specific product every 30 days until the customer calls to cancel or revisits the website to opt-out of the program. As long as everything is spelled out clearly before someone completes their purchase, this is a solid tactic to increase revenue. Installment payment plan—on larger purchases, breaking up the payments into smaller installments tends to be an incentive people will take advantage of even if there is a little interest applied to the installment plan. Sweepstakes—offering a chance to win a prize at the end of a certain period creates a sense of competition amongst customers and can really drive revenues skyward if handled appropriately. • • • • With all of the potential offers and discounts available, making one clear offer is often better than offering multiple options. This theory is supported by Marketing Experiments (2006) when they stated “emails offering one service compared to emails offering a choice of services bring higher conversions.” So if you’re undecided about making multiple offers or one solid offer, stick with the solo offer to minimize confusion and distraction. Tidbits from eROI (2006): • • Free shipping is the #1 offer that customers look for and will respond to in an e-mail. 31% of people surveyed prefer a percentage off, with only 22% favoring a dollar amount off. “It seems to be often believed that free shipping is an important motivator for online consumers when shopping Internet retail websites. For niche retailers, as we are, we’ve found that it’s not overly relevant. Our shopping cart tabulates shipping costs specifically to what is in the cart (weight and size) and the distance it will travel. Delivery options include a total of five choices, two with U.S. Postal Service and three with FedEx. The default method is USPS Parcel Post and, here’s the interesting part, more than 50% of the time customers don’t bother to hit the ‘Check Shipping Rates’ button. They just let the default option go through. It’s mystifying to us that with a simple click, a customer could make an informed and often cheaper choice. But it seems about half of our shoppers don’t care. Also noteworthy, when we’ve conducted email campaigns offering free shipping or 15-20% off an order, the percentage discount garners more orders than the free shipping. If the discount is only 10%, http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 32 the free shipping wins. --Deborah Busch, Hello Traveler, http://www.hellotraveler.com Consistently Test & Measure Everything Send Readapt Analyze Reanalyze Resend Adapt A common approach for marketers to follow is outlined in the above continuous cycle graphic. A commitment to continuously analyzing, adapting, and testing will provide tremendous insight into the behaviors, preferences, and mindset of your prospects and customers. Your marketing strategy won't yield the desired results unless you're committed to ongoing testing, analyzing, and adapting to better interact with the customer. Each test result provides you with data and insight on ways to modify and sharpen your “pencil” to craft more relevant, timely, and personalized messages. Your metrics will help you measure how effective you are in understanding your prospects and customers along with how well you modify future interactions. Testing Still Baffles Marketers Testing and measuring everything so that improvements can be made seems very logical and sensible, yet according to Internet Retailer: • • • • Nearly 1/5 of respondents reported that they do not know how their e-mail marketing performs. 18.7% don’t know their open rates 16.7% don’t know their click-through-rates (CTR) 23.3% don’t know their conversion rates http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 33 • 29.6% don’t know if their conversion rate has changed within the past 12 months Common Metrics to Monitor Here are 20 of the most common metrics marketers monitor when it comes to direct response marketing: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. Deliverability rate Open rate (unique opens / (# sent - # bounced)) Click through rate (unique clicks / (# sent - # bounced)) Unsubscribe rate (unsubscribes / (#sent - # bounced)) Spam complaints Return on Investment (ROI) Revenue generated Costs (including costs per piece and overall costs) Number of purchases Subject lines or headlines Font styles and colors Length of copy Landing pages used Graphics layout (including # of images) Signatures Testimonials Responses generated including # of phone calls, web visits, referrals, and response e-mails generated 18. Taglines or subheadings 19. Bullets and/or numbering 20. List segmentation (i.e. which recipients received which correspondence?) There are numerous other variables that could/should be monitored, but this is a decent list to begin with. Should you desire more information, there are numerous books published on this topic which go into far greater detail than the scope of this report. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 34 Personalization Case Studies What follows are 7 case study examples of companies doing personalized marketing well. Caterpillar Challenge • Supply outside sales representatives with a steady supply of appointments (leads) that would reduce wasted time and drive sales. Incorporate different copy, art, graphics, and offers based on various criteria. • Solution • Variable data postcards were customized to new business prospects and mailed to their business locations. Copy and offers were tailored to each lead’s demographic information that included: industry, number of employees, revenue, and other relevant factors. Personalized URLs (PURLs)were generated to survey visitors based on variable data fields throughout. Call to action: fill out survey for a chance to win various prizes that varied by region. • • SOURCE: JFM Concepts Results • • Every prospect that visited the PURL generated a real time alert to the appropriate sales person. Response rates in excess of 4% that delivered a healthy ROI. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 35 Charter Bank Background For over 30 years, Charter has been serving the unique banking, mortgage and insurance needs of New Mexico. Charter offers a combination of great rates, local expertise and personal service. Charter is recognized as the premiere real estate bank in New Mexico, offering loans from land acquisition to permanent mortgage in both residential and commercial real estate. (Source: charterco.com) Challenges • • Generate new investments for Charter Bank. Print multiple campaigns in one run, pre-sorted for mailing discounts. Solution • • • Standardizing all campaigns with one database. Short runs folded into one longer run. New campaigns added easily. SOURCE: XMPie Results • 10x increase in new investments for Charter in just 7 months. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 36 Shoe Carnival Background Shoe Carnival stores definitely have their own style. The open format, catchy music, and friendly associates set the stage for a wonderful shopping experience. Throw an unbelievable product assortment, great brand names and value pricing in the mix, and you get a one-stop footwear destination that satisfies the needs of the entire family. (Source: ShoeCarnival.com) SOURCE: PODI.org Challenges • • Connect with customers who had not visited a Shoe Carnival store in 60 days or more. Offer inactive customers an incentive to shop within a fixed period of time. Solution • Personalized direct response postcard mailings incorporating database information based on the customer’s purchase history. Results • • Response rate greater than 26% Net sales (after discounts and expenses) of more than $200,000 http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 37 West Marine Background West Marine Inc. is the nation’s largest specialty retailer of boating supplies and apparel with 383 stores and more than $680 million in annual sales. The company’s catalog and Internet channels offer customers access to almost 50,000 products along with the convenience of being able to exchange catalog and Internet purchases in its retail stores. SOURCE: PODI.org Challenge • Boost sales during the Christmas holiday season which is typically a slow period for boat accessory sales. Solution • Split test variable data full color postcards and static colored postcards to gauge effectiveness to 60,000 existing customers. Half received the static mailer with “SOS” spelled out in the sand, and half received the same postcard with their name spelled out in the sand (see below). Offer $20 off any purchase of $100 or more when the customer shopped from December 16-24. SOURCE: Trekk Cross Media • Results • • Static postcard generated 11% response rate (versus 2-3% on previous static mailings). Variable postcard generated 14% response rate with recipients spending more than 2x the static recipients. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 38 D’Youville Background Based in Buffalo, NY, D’Youville College offers 2,400 full and part-time students a unique learning experience that features an opportunity to interact personally with faculty and students alike. SOURCE: PODI.org Challenge • Promote the college’s distinctive offerings in a manner that stands out from competitive college mailings in order to drive more filed applications and registered students. Solution • Personalized brochure sent to each prospective student based upon variable images, content, gender, intended major, commuting or residential student, campus activities and varsity sport (if applicable). SOURCE: Kodak Result • 55 new student applications with eight new enrollments. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 39 Continental Warranty Background Based in Seattle, WA, Continental Warranty is the nation’s leading consumer-direct auto warranty company. By offering warranty coverage directly to the consumer, Continental Warranty is able to cut out middlemen markups, like auto dealerships, and offer affordable comprehensive plans. The company covers most vehicles up to 10 model years old and up to 150,000 miles. With over 15 different plans, consumers are guaranteed to find a plan that fits their needs. Challenges • • • Increase lead volume Improve lead quality Better understand target audiences Solution • Adaptive micro-sites designed to respond in real-time to the behaviors or profiles of individual visitors, targeting each with their ideal on-site experience thereby increasing their likelihood to convert. Utilize varying copy, graphics, offers, layout, capture paths, navigation and more. SOURCE: magnify360 • Results • • • • 42% increase in leads in the first 10 days 90% increase in leads in the first 4 months $125,000 increase in monthly revenue $1.5 million in additional annual revenue http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 40 Pantone, Inc. Background Founded in 1963 and headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, Pantone is a worldwide leader in color communication and technology. Challenge • Create excitement and generate sales for a new Pantone monitor calibration system while demonstrating the accurate reproduction of PMS colors in a VDP environment. Solution • Leverage variable data printing technologies to create a high impact multi-channel campaign that includes personalized e-mail, print, and web pages. Results • • • Record response rates of 7.9% compared to 2% response rates of non-personalized campaigns. Incremental sales increase of 81% Personalized web pages were accessed by 6% of recipients and 79% of those respondents completed a questionnaire which provided Pantone with highly valuable marketing input and feedback. All of these results were generated through a campaign that spanned just 39 days. • SOURCE: Adobe http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 41 What’s Next? For starters, if you can say with 100% confidence and conviction that you have derived absolutely zero value from this report, do nothing. Otherwise, you owe me at least two referrals or one testimonial. Spread the word to your friends, associates, and colleagues by visiting http://personalizationprecept.com/taf/ and receive a free copy of “Cross Media Marketing” by James Michelson. You’ll also receive three more free marketing reports once you have spread the word to your constituents. Secondly, join in the conversation on the SMB Consulting blog at http://smbconsultinginc.com/blog where you can share opinions, insights, and commentary on this report and other things marketing related to improve your business. If you’ve come this far and aren’t sure where to turn next, call or email me to discuss your situation and exchange ideas. The first consultation costs nothing, and I’d enjoy learning about your business. I can be reached at (502) 394-0460 or e-mailed at roger.bauer@smbconsultinginc.com. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 42 MORE RESOURCES FROM SMB CONSULTING If you like what you have read in this report, you may wish to register and receive any or all of the other free reports produced by SMB Consulting and its partners. Here’s a rundown of a select few along with a brief synopsis and how to register SEO COMPARISON GUIDE An overview pricing comparison of the top 50 SEO firms around the world to help you better decide which firm may be a good selection for your outsourced SEO campaigns. Visit http://seoComparisonGuide.com for more information and/or to register for this no-cost 12 page report. TOP GOOGLE RANKINGS – HOW MUCH ARE THEY REALLY WORTH? A look behind the scenes at the potential value of a top ranking website. Free to download – no registration required either. Visit http://imoPrinciples.com/report to download the report along with the Excel file to do your own analysis. SEO PRECEPT A look “beneath the hood” of basic SEO principles and methodologies to aid you in gaining a better grasp on search engine optimization. This is an SEO resource for the beginner to intermediate level marketer. Visit http://seoPrecept.com to register to receive your complimentary copy of this 67 page eBook. 10 Costly Online Real Estate Marketing Mistakes Another free report that looks at 10 costly online real estate marketing mistakes. Download a copy by registering at http://smb-seo.com. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 43 THE EDGE OF SUCCESS Another eBook that was created by one of SMB Cosulting’s top Partners, InfusionSoft, and their president Clate Mask. This eBook looks at 9 building blocks to double your sales. Receive a free copy by visiting http://Infusion.smbConsultingInc.com. IMO Principles While this is not a free resource, it is a very valuable one. It covers Internet Marketing Optimization Principles and will teach you everything you need to know to dominate the search rankings and improve your online presence by utilizing social media marketing. The eBook can be purchased for $67 by visiting http://imoPrinciples.com/book. http://PersonalizationPrecept.com/ 44 About the Author A Louisville, KY native, Roger Bauer has been involved in business for most of his life having grown up around a family restaurant business. It is this upbringing that led to Roger want to become as well versed in business as possible, and his desire to help other small business owners drove him to start this consulting firm in 2005. He has worked in several industries including: retail, education, healthcare, technology, logistics, and hospitality in a technical support or sales and marketing capacity. Roger values honest communication, quick results, teamwork, and low pressure tactics. He enjoys watching Jim Cramer's Mad Money, bicycling with the Louisville Bicycle Club (http://LouisvilleBicycleClub.org), and University of Louisville (http://louisville.rivals.com/) athletics in his spare time. He is also an automobile enthusiast, general sports fanatic, animal lover, and always interested in improving himself. Roger is a Sullivan University (http://Sullivan.edu) graduate with a BSBA with Emphasis in Computer Science. He achieved a 3.86/4.00 GPA while completing his undergraduate degree and takes great pride in his academic accomplishments. Roger is the founder of SMB Consulting, Inc., a nationally recognized sales and marketing consulting firm specializing in personalized marketing campaigns, search engine optimization and strategic initiatives. To learn more about the firm, point your browser to http://smbconsultinginc.com. To learn more about SEO, please visit http://imoPrinciples.com. About SMB Consulting SMB Consulting, Inc. is a nationally recognized, Louisville, Kentucky based small business consulting firm specializing in: • • • • • Strategic Planning Personalized and Relevant Marketing Campaigns Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Social Media Marketing Sales Development, Coaching, and Training SMB serves the lower 48 United States and currently has clients as far west as Arizona. SMB Consulting is also an official InfusionSoft Certified Consultant Partner helping clients design and implement automated eMarketing campaigns.