Putting It All Together: Multi-Channel Marketing

There are two important developments and five key strategies that helped evolve the media mix concept into what we now think of as multi-channel marketing:

1. A transition by marketing and advertising professionals in the 1990’s toward integrated communications. This marked a shift in focus from transactions to customer relationships. Even outside the marketing arena, engineers and statisticians were contributing by following the lead of successful Japanese industries that reengineered business processes around customers’ needs.

According to Anders Gronstedt, author of The Customer Century, power was shifting to the consumer, and the management of communication processes was being elevated to strategic levels to help build customer relations and drive business results. He contends that leading global companies like Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, FedEx and others helped lead the movement from a “Production Century” model of building products and finding customers to a “Customer Century” model of building customer relationships and integrating communications across multiple channels. In addition, other market realities continued to fuel the trend toward relationship marketing through expanded communication and sales channels. Consider, for example:

• Competition increased while the cost to acquire new customers soared, making it increasingly important to establish solid customer relationships, especially with those who projected high lifetime values.

• Customers in a satisfied business relationship became clearly recognized as the best source of new business. They were the people who knew you, respected you and had a greater predisposition to buy your products and services.

• Privacy concerns and governmental actions such as the new “Do Not Call” legislation placed greater focus on establishing true relationships rather than trying to blindly attract buyers with hit or miss, mass-communication tactics. Consumer response to the national “Do Not Call Registry,” along with previous “junk” fax legislation and “spam” e-mail legislation, continues to send marketers a clear signal. Consumers are pushing back hard against unwanted and irrelevant intrusions in their daily lives. Using customer data more effectively by personalizing communications, coordinating communication channels and getting consumers to opt-in allows marketers to be more effective.

2. The number of channels available to marketers increased. Not only was there now recognition of the importance of building customer relationships and integrating communications, but new electronic media such as Web sites and e-mail also added channels. What’s more, there was less distinction between pure communication channels and sales channels. Increasingly, the two were becoming one and the same.

• Database technologies and personalization advancements were also making it possible to communicate one-to-one through a variety of print and electronic media. And the results of well-executed, personalized communications were stunning. Sellers commonly experienced, and continue to experience, a five- to 10- fold increase in response and conversion rates based on personalized communications. When print, e-mail, Web and telemarketing are combined in integrated, multi-channel communications, the results are even greater.

Five Key Strategies for Effective Multi-Channel Marketing in Today’s Business Environment

• The Customer (Data) is King - Just as an oil company would not blindly drill small holes in the earth in search of oil, your organization shouldn’t contact millions of consumers blindly, banking on a very small portion accepting your offer. Rather, seek out or build a repository that identifies which consumers are more likely to find your offer compelling.
• Get Customers to “Opt-in” - Companies that can build their own opt-in lists, or use qualified industry opt-in resources, are in a better position to communicate and market to both consumers and businesses. Explore methods, such as periodic e-mail newsletters, that provide valuable information and purchase opportunities simultaneously.
• Invest in Personalizing Communications - The overwhelming response to the “do not call” registry underscores consumer frustration with intrusive, irrelevant communications. Research shows that by a ratio of over 3:1, recipients prefer personalized communications. Research also shows that the more personalized an offer is, the higher likelihood of response. It will require an increased investment in creating content and designing campaigns, but you can expect double-digit response rates.
• Leverage More Effective Customer Channels - Design and execute new marketing campaigns that leverage the full spectrum of marketing channels. Personalized direct mail, permission-based e-mail and Internet technologies can be employed to dramatically increase the returns on the marketing dollar. Coordinate marketing campaigns using multiple channels and take advantage of the “multiplier effect.”
• Simplify the Transition by Using Service Providers - Personalizing communications and running multichannel campaigns can be a challenge for those selling organizations that do not currently have the technology or process infrastructure to develop multi-channel strategies, manage customer data, manage marketing content and execute integrated campaigns. Sellers will find that there are several service providers that can help them transition from their current practices to leverage more effective marketing practices.

For further information please call 703.378.4772 or email us at info@minutemanmarketing.com.