Database Marketing/CRM - Page 1 - Direct Marketing News

Bridge data for a holistic view

Dennis Kooker, KBM Group

Today's consumers are not just individuals we actively sell to; they are informed buyers.

Manage data in order to improve your bottom line

Joel Ingersoll, Lorton Data

There are some simple steps every organization can take to make sure they are saving money and reaching the right customers for any marketing campaign.

Insert media scores: a free ounce for promo inserts

Leon Henry, Leon Henry Inc.

The U.S. Postal Service has clarified the rules offering a free ounce for promo inserts to businesses mailing automated pre-sort First-Class Mail — and the industry should take advantage of the offer at once.

Use data more effectively by placing it in the cloud

Shannon Duffy, Data.com

The way data is consumed today has changed dramatically from the past.

The Holy Grail of database customer marketing

Rod Ford, Merkle

For more than five years now, the direct marketing industry has possessed the analytics and intuitive tools to create and execute individually personalized contact strategies for customers. However, there has existed one single limitation keeping these innovations from seeing the light of day, and keeping us in our spreadsheet-driven, file-passing entrapment.

What to have on your database shopping list

Jack Sturn, SolutionSet

When shopping for a database marketing services company, there are "must-haves" that should be on everyone's list.

Top integrated marketing ideas for multimedia magic

Michelle Farabaugh, Merkle

Integrated customer marketing is the key to driving increased loyalty, customer lifetime value and overall return on ad spend.

Vital multichannel marketing tactics in a b-to-b world

Greg Grdodian, Reach Marketing

How digital profiles reveal greater marketing insights

Jay Henderson, IBM

Typically, the most insightful digital profile attributes come from one of three primary sources.

Three ways to get integration initiatives implemented

Mu Hu, Golfsmith International

It is not uncommon that the retail side of a business doesn't know what the Web side is doing.

Uncovering proven optimal customer contact methods

Karren Madson, Epsilon Targeting

One of the best ways for database marketers to maximize their budgets and increase ROI is to find the appropriate mix of contact methods for each customer segment.

Improving experience and driving engagement

Dave Duszynski, Experian Marketing Services

Marketers must develop a consistent, repeatable approach toward optimizing customer experience.

Structural Equation Modeling -- The Other 'SEM'

Sam Koslowsky, Harte-Hanks

While the arsenal of tools available to market researchers has certainly grown over the years, perhaps none has been more insightful than what is referred to as structural equation modeling.

Five ways to invigorate your database marketing in 2012

Dana Hayman, Infogroup Targeting Solutions

Here are our top five best practice tips for implementing better database marketing.

Segment your customers to further drive engagement

Bob Massie, Marketing Infomatics

Follow these few simple steps to get a good start on mining the value of your customer data.

Database marketing: the secret weapon to higher sales

Keith Turco, gyro New York

Unlike a traditional ad campaign, a well-executed database marketing campaign never ends.

Data on-demand: Small investments pay big dividends

Rick Witsell, Alliant

Rising costs, channel proliferation and fragmented consumer attention make it tough to turn a profit on acquisition campaigns.

Data: With great power comes even greater responsibility

Lawrence Kimmel, Direct Marketing Association

Marketers must leverage data in service of the consumer and protect their information like never before.

Segmentation optimizes customer experiences

Judy Loschen, Aspen Marketing Services

When connected to different lifecycle marketing stages, marketers can more effectively message their customers to produce a better customer experience and stronger results, and increase retention rates.

Marketers prolong TV-centric approach

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

Twice a year, the marketing business pauses in its reinvention to expose its fear of fundamental change and highlight the disconnect that exists between what it says and what it does.

To know me is to target me

Scott Donaton, Ensemble

While privacy concerns are understandable, what most people care about at the end of the day is the price-value equation. They're willing to give up personal information about themselves if it helps a marketer target them more effectively and efficiently. If you can use past behaviors and stated preferences to deliver a better experience and waste less time, go for it.

Twitter-ready insights on marketing follies

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

A picture is worth a thousand words, but not every one of my observations is worth a full column. Or so my editors tell me. Most, however, are worth at least 140 characters. With that in mind, and to help ring in 2012, I proudly present my Twitter-ready views, insights, unsolicited tidbits of advice and meaningless random thoughts on the absurdities of modern marketing.

O come, all ye shoppers!

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

Be my Valentine! Now, let's see what I can buy/purchase/consume to  express how I feel. A greeting card, for starters, pre-printed with someone else's sentiments, a frilly box of chocolates complete with a picture chart so you can avoid biting into the one with that weird green cream, or a dozen red long-stems.

Street-smart NY storage ads tell it straight

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

Walking the streets of New York City after a recent Sunday brunch, an out-of-town friend delighted in the sight of a woman making her way home in what seemed to be the outfit she had worn out the night before. "That's what I love about New York: the anonymity," my friend said.

Data management drives ROI

Tim Altier, director of business analytics and insight, Bridgz Marketing Group

Data opens the door for marketers to connect with customers at a personal, emotion-charged level. But this portal to customer-centric marketing remains locked for many organizations — both client-side and agencies

Cross-channel cross-selling

David King, EVP of Fulcrum

Marketers must invest in a cross-channel platform to deliver relevant communications.

Looking outside your industry to keep customers inside your organization

Linda Armstrong, EVP and practice leader, DMW Direct

Look to competitors and companies outside of your industry to develop enhanced customer experiences.

Social Media is not Social CRM

Patrick Dorsey, Avectra VP of marketing

Social CRM is about more than "likes" and followers

Digital ascends but print still rules catalog business

Slade Kobran, CMO, Infogroup

Marketers in the publishing and catalog industries predict digital will serve a greater role in their campaigns over the next three years, but it will not completely replace print.

Eureka! Turning social data into golden customer relationships

Kristin Hambelton, VP of marketing, Neolane

Integrated within the CRM system, social media data can now be used to power more effective email campaigns.

Thank goodness for Darla

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

Darla is a customer service rep for American Express. But to me, she is more than that: she is the face, or more precisely, the voice that saved the brand's image in the mind of one loyal longtime cardholder.

Targeted marketing tools for the rest of us

Gary Cottingham, president of Cottingham Data

Small businesses, with their small ad budgets, tend to be a forgotten entity in the advertising and marketing arena.

Everyone loves a playground

Michael Leis, VP management director of digital at Draftfcb

Instead of treating loyalty programs like old-time banks, we should treat them like playgrounds.

The who, where, how and why of lead nurturing

Elle Woulfe, senior marketing programs manager, Eloqua

Lead nurturing is about cultivating leads that aren't ready to buy and keeping prospects engaged.

Plug-ins: CRM

With the advent of social CRM, companies can now track and monitor customer behavior to inform segmentation and customization of marketing messages.

B-to-b response data compares favorably to compiled data

Ruth Stevens, founder of eMarketing Strategy, and Bernice Grossman, principal consultant and founder of DMRS Group

The data available in response databases is generally quite similar in accuracy and completeness to compiled data.

Assessing an organization's multichannel maturity

Brian Dames, group managing director of database marketing, Harte-Hanks

Marketers must figure out how to embrace new channels while maintaining performance in existing ones.

Start-up to upstart: four moves to launching a marketing technology company

Philip Chischportich, CEO of Conversen

There are four crucial moves that every innovator must make to succeed in this new economic and technological landscape.

Tap into your knowledge assets: Five steps to insight-driven marketing

Martha Bush, SVP of strategy and solutions, Sigma Marketing Group

Building customer insights into every interaction, and listening to the response, is at the core of smart multichannel marketing.

In with Tina Brown: CRM maven

Mat Zucker, chief creative officer, OgilvyOne Worldwide

What makes great editors great is that they are able to connect to both the heart and the head. They know what makes their audience laugh, think, stick around and respond. Great editors also have a head for business.

It's not just about leads anymore

In the coming year, b-to-b marketers must shift to account-based marketing — online and offline — moving away from delivering individual leads to delivering qualified accounts.

Break from the acquisition cult

Ernan Roman, president, Ernan Roman Direct Marketing

I have heard many marketers complain about the escalating cost of acquiring customers in our fragmented, distracted media environment.

Don't neglect the R in CRM

Neil Rosen, founder and CEO, eWayDirect

The advent of group discount sites, search engines, auction sites and product review sites have eroded brand loyalty and made it more difficult for marketers to maintain strong customer relationships.

Let's be direct about it: Junk mail sucks

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

Direct marketers still spend more time than they like trying to prove to the rest of us that their industry is not populated solely by junk mailers and cheesy infomercial pitches. They have a good case. It can easily be argued, and has, that all marketing in the digital age is direct marketing.

Focus on two-way conversation

Karin Stroh, VP of marketing, XMPie

When you think of direct marketing, do you think of a static print piece addressed to "occupant," a printed direct mail piece personalized with an individual's name, or are you thinking of a customized cross-media campaign where  individual recipients are sent relevant marketing materials regardless of media channel? Over the last two decades, direct marketing has transformed dramatically, but the main purpose has not changed.

Watson caters to the customer

Michael Haydock, chief scientist and retail analytics leader, Global Business Serrvices, IBM Corp.

I was fortunate to be in the audience during the taping of the historic Jeopardy! match pitting IBM's Watson computing system against the game's all-time champions. As Watson proved its speed and accuracy in  answering questions across many different categories, it was clear this type of groundbreaking technology will benefit a broad range of industries.

Integrate marketing automation, sales force automation and e-mail marketing

Kristin Hambelton, VP of marketing, Neolane

In a world inundated with communication, everything we do creates a data point. But, the reality is, your company probably doesn't use information as effectively as it could.

Segment a b-to-b base into 'high' and 'low' value

Steve Khederian, director of analytics, Catalyst

As marketers we seem to have an innate temptation to complexity, perhaps driven by the range of analytics tools and processes at our disposal.

Moving from a single view to a customer marketing view

Simon Lawrence, CEO Information Arts

Brilliant customer insight can only become an asset to your business if analyzed intelligently and used in the right way.

Leverage accurate titles for segmentation and messaging

Steve Juedes, president of Direct Hit Marketing

The use of b-to-b titles in segmentation and messaging can prove fruitful, if handled correctly.

Integrate Web behavioral data for full customer profile

Peter Vandre, senior director, Merkle’s quantitative solutions digital practice

Companies are looking for ways to apply direct marketing measurement and targeting to Web audiences while creating an integrated customer experience..

Go beyond matchbacks to solve the attribution fallacy

Jake Hall, director of database solutions, SolutionSet

One of the first things a client usually wants to discuss when building a new marketing database is order attribution and matchback techniques.

Build interactive marketing programs upon solid data

Joel Book, principal in the marketing research and education group, ExactTarget

Database marketing mirrors social media marketing in that everyone talks about it; few do it; and of those participating, very few do it well.

Data can power the central nervous system of marketing

David Danziger, director of data and targeting products, Acxiom

In 2011, data will really be harnessed in a coordinated way to drive marketing results.

Make the switch to the cloud and get better data quality

Joshua Evans, VP of product development, Lorton Data

Consider how Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications can be leveraged for data quality.

Mine data to model and  predict customer behavior

John Keenan, managing partner, Anthem Marketing Solutions

Many companies use their customer databases to predict when, what and how much customers will buy in the future.

Data management begins by setting the proper processes

Rick Miller, SVP, Creative Automation Company

Marketers continually look for innovative ways to improve the overall quality and accuracy of their databases.

When you ditch bad data, costs decline and ROI soars

Beatriz Santin, marketing director, Experian QAS

A company's prospect and customer database is critical to every marketer. While the message and the medium are crucial to effective marketing, these tools are meaningless if the intended recipient is not reached.

Be choosy when buying any data to improve conversions

Kathy Greenler Sexton, VP of marketing, ZoomInfo.com

Better automation does not always translate into higher marketing response or sales conversion rates.

Make a quality audit the first step in direct mail campaigns

Cindy Kilgore, manager of creative development, EU Services

Experience demonstrates that the right direct mail mailing list is crucial and may be even more important than what you put in the envelope.

7 critical data sources

Bob Massie, CEO, Marketing Informatics

A rapidly growing data multiverse of consumer data both complicates and eases a marketer's task. Knowing how these data universes are connected and what exists in each will ensure a cohesive marketing strategy.

Does this wine go with my social strategy?

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

Do brands need to dabble in social media just to be there, or is presence without relevance more dangerous than absence? This is a question I had been toying with, and one for which my brain wasn't producing any satisfactory answers.

Marry GIS applications with mapping data for competitive advantage

Robert Salta, principal, DirectMail.com

In the most simplest terms, GIS merge cartography, statistical analysis and database technology. The latest iterations wed data analytics with satellite mapping to better locate and identify prospects/customers.

Customer relationships improve with data integration

John Foley, Jr., CEO, interlinkONE

As the number of marketing channels used to promote our brand, products and services continues to multiply, so does the number of places used to store data about our target audience.

Track down 'drive-by' website visitors

Austin Bliss, president/cofounder, Fresh Address

Capturing valuable data about potential customers who have shown enough interest to visit your website is crucial to succeed in today's industry.

Let data, not price, dictate campaign targeting

James Burrows, EVP of global sales, e-Miles

As marketers we know that deeper knowledge of the consumer allows for broader engagement through the offering of more targeted and relevant content.

Warning to retailers: Don't clutter my e-mail inbox

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

Just minutes after the ball dropped to usher in the new year, my Blackberry buzzed. I had already hugged or called my closest family and friends but was happy to accept the good wishes of another.

Marketers must keep up with mobile-social equation

Greg Jenko, executive director, Accenture

Mobile social media is evolving from a marketing and brand-building tool for companies to a fully-functioning interaction channel.

The path to customer engagement begins now

Jeff Hassemer, VP, product strategies for data management services, Experian

Earlier this decade, we saw the emergence of several new marketing channels that have fundamentally changed the way direct marketing works.

Earning and keeping the Generation Y customer

Craig Fitzgerald, editorial director, IMN

With $500 billion in buying power and an estimated $3.4 trillion by 2018, marketers are increasingly turning their attention to Generation Y - consumers born between 1977 and 1995.

Moving beyond standard selects

Kathy Sexton, VP, marketing, ZoomInfo.com

In today's crowded marketplace, "reaching" your audience is not enough.

Tech marketers should lose geek speak

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

Across from the desk in my office is a framed black-and-white shot of a veteran Joe DiMaggio and a rookie Mickie Mantle at the old Yankee Stadium.

Centralize customer sentiment data for better results

Seth Redmore, Lexalytics' VP product development

It is doubtful anyone believes they do not need numbers to run their business.

Put aside department differences for better database marketing

Michelle Eichner, VP, product management, Unica

Knowing how to leverage the enormous amount of data generated by our modern-day marketing ecosystem is a difficult but necessary task.

From broadcast to narrowcast

Tim Suther CMO, Acxiom

It's no longer sufficient to simply focus on product, brand, media or channel. Customers are the center of today's marketing conversations.

Make accurate customer data the center of loyalty efforts

David Northridge, VP, client retention, Experian QAS

Your customers are your most valuable asset. It will always be important to secure new customers, but businesses also need to leverage relationships with existing customers for up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.

Best is yet to come ... if marketers build it

Scott Donaton,CEO, Ensemble

It is a time of intense transition in the music business. New technologies are changing the definition of content and distribution. A young singer competes in a popular show and wins the audience vote. His victory is just the beginning as he is plugged into a marketing machine.

Use holiday cards to deepen customer relationships

Robert Blackman

Many companies abide by the traditional holiday practice of sending a greeting card to their customers, but how many actually try to accomplish more with their card than simply sending a generic "one size fits all" message?

Analytics' role in today's creative agency

Ira Helf, director of analytics, JWT North America

According to global intelligence firm IDC, "In 2010, 1.2 zettabytes of digital information will be created." A zettabyte is one trillion gigabytes! More than ever, we are surrounded by data.

Avoid new database vendor problems

David Bernard

After selecting a new marketing database vendor, marketers can become complacent. After all, if the marketer just spent considerable effort putting vendors under a microscope, the last thing they want is to be hands on afterward.

Leverage data to grow customer loyalty

Scott Olrich , Sandra Zoratti

Have you ever received a promotion from a company for a product you've already purchased from them? If so, you're not alone.

Are you giving your customers value?

Carol Krol

Value. As I perused the final draft pages of this month's issue, it struck me how many of our stories involve the idea of providing value to customers.

CRM segmentation eliminates costly guesswork

Vivek Thomas, president, Maximizer Software

Attracting and keeping long-term, loyal customers through targeted marketing campaigns and messages is a primary goal of most businesses.

Good analytics lead to better decisions

Dhiraj Rajaram, CEO, Mu Sigma

Good data provides the underpinning for good decision making. Yet many firms don't invest enough time or money in analytics.

Examine your data before taking loyalty further

David Northridge, VP, client retention, Experian QAS

It will always be important to secure new customers, but businesses also need to leverage relationships with existing customers to promote upsell and cross-sell opportunities.

Honest analytics take trust and commitment

Steve Khederian, director of analytics, Catalyst

According to the old saw, the great thing about direct marketing is it's measurable — and the bad thing about direct marketing is it's measurable.

Using CRM to improve content and boost readership

Heather McKim, SVP for strategy and interactive at HNW

Like most web users, your partners expect you to know their collective surfing habits well enough to gauge content. By tracking their surfing behavior with either simple analytics or a CMS or CRM system in conjunction with your site's analytics package, you'll gain their trust — and clicks — while also creating the feel of customized content.

Databases help refine direct response lists

Alan Zamchick, VP, list management, Media Horizons Management.

Once upon a time, a prospecting database was a compiled list of data brought together from numerous time-consuming compilations of information from a variety of sources.

Sheer volume of data requires a move beyond relational databases

David King, CEO, Fulcrum

Relational data has limitations in multichannel marketing, but technology is progressing to fill the gap.

Attitudinal data is important for 21st century marketers

Ken Geis, VP, agency services for Merkle

Today's empowered and social-media-savvy consumers make attitudinal data more important than ever. Yet, it's these insights that are most often the missing ingredient in marketing programs.

Forget loyalty, just get my name right

Scott Donaton, CEO, Ensemble

So-called privacy experts wring their hands almost daily about the amount of personal information being harvested by corporations for marketing purposes. But if those companies prove to be as inept at interpreting that data as my least-favorite hotel clerk, consumers have little to worry about.

Using CRM and marketing automation to improve sales

Jim Meyer, VP of eTrigue

A company's CRM and marketing automation solutions are two of the most important technologies in an organization. However, far too often, the information passed to the CRM system is not sufficient, meaning crucial information is lost in translation and sales are lost in the process.

Automate to get a grasp on overflow of Web data

Gina Cerami

When it comes to information monitoring of your brand online, many marketers might pray for an extra hand. It's common to keep track of company mentions on search engines and social networks, but how many companies have resources in place to monitor every reference to their brand across the Web?

New data sources for b-to-b lead generation

John Coe, president, Sales & Marketing Institute

The majority of b-to-b marketing campaigns and budgets are devoted to lead generation. It is also widely accepted that at least 60% or more of the success of a lead generation campaign is dependent on the degree that the list matches the targeted audience and its accuracy.

Minimize the impact of customer churn in b-to-b

John Hood, president, MCH

One of the big challenges facing business-to-business marketers is churn in the customer file. Churn is the result of the struggle to replace customers who leave with new customers.

Better analytics drive better creative

Chuck Sharp

Many marketers hate math. Really it's not their fault. Most had some dramatic experience in college where an evil math professor confused them so profoundly that they were scared for life.

Simple list segmentation for small businesses

Janine Popick, CEO and co-founder of VerticalResponse

List segmentation can feel scary for a small business. There's usually little time to try new things when the old ways seem to "work just fine."

Getting started with social CRM

Michael Della Penna

Social CRM is causing quite a stir in the marketing world. Marketers are anxiously looking for help with combining e-mail and social activity with existing customer data and profiles to create a single view of the customer.

What not to do in a loyalty program

Ryan Chatelain

If you're looking for one of the worst examples of customer relationship management, look toward Columbia, SC. In 2008, the University of South Carolina introduced a loyalty program, which allowed students to earn points to be used toward tickets for popular sports such as football and men's basketball games.

Getting to know you: digital body language

Dennis Dayman, chief deliverability officer, Eloqua

Local e-mail service providers and industry experts talk a great deal about the importance of relevance in keeping recipients engaged, or at least keeping e-mails out of trash bins and spam filters. Of course, this is easier said than done.