THE
KING IS DEAD - HAIL PERSONALIZATION
By Steve Stallman, Stallman Marketing
"Free"
has long reigned in the #1 position for attracting attention,
awareness, and most importantly trial or initial purchase. These
offers have enjoyed being King - an offer that has been a proven
winner, something that you could always count on.
Now the King
is Dead, and the successor is set to have a long reign as the
new King. Although "free" is still one of the best techniques
available, it doesn't hold a candle to personalization, specifically
using your target customer's name. Think about it. If you are
in a crowded room and hear your name, you immediately become more
attentive. The same holds true with the many marketing vehicles
that can support personalization.
These all
work very similar in why they work, it is the personal connection
that makes it click. All of these methods can offer a wide degree
of personalization. Ideally, all your communications should be
database driven. The trick is to collect this information and
then present it in a way that stimulates. Common information to
capture in addition to the name, are the specifics of their interest
or how they might use your product, the date when they might be
most likely to act, the specific products they have purchased,
when they might need a replacement product or service, etc.
Let's touch
on just a few of the most widely used personalization vehicles
and how they can help you achieve your goals.
Email &
Newsletters
Even the most basic personalization, simply including the person's
name at the beginning of the email or newsletter, has proven to
be more widely read and remembered. Like any use of the personalization,
it does require an extra step of programming, but it is basic
and you should utilize it. Also like any of the personalization,
you will need to have your data stored in a format that can easily
be accessed. The typical way is in Excel or Access - having a
separate cell for each possible item that you might want to personalize.
This can easily
be taken a step farther by folding in either specific information
about them, or specific areas of interest. In the case of the
newsletter, you might have 10 topics. If you know the person's
interest, you might just include their top three in the order
of their interest. If you think about it, that is quite a powerful
tool.
Direct
Mail
This is certainly one of the most interesting personalization
vehicles. So much is said about direct mail. Outside the industry
you hear terms such as "junk mail" and many people believe
it does not work. Inside the industry, they know the truth, that
direct mail is the most measurable and successful vehicle available
to marketers. Ever year direct mail expenditures increase at a
faster pace than almost all forms of traditional advertising.
According to the Direct Marketing Association's US Direct Marketing
Today: Economic Impact 2005 report, 2005 direct mail ad spending
was expected to hit $49.8 billion, a 6.4% increase over the previous
year. The reason why spending keeps increasing is simple, companies
measure it and the results are positive. One other key thing that
the experts know, that it is critical to have a great list, so
you are only sending your information to potential customers -
people who are likely interested or have a need for your product.
Sophisticated mailers never send "junk mail" as it this
would be a waste of money. They only send mail to recipients who
have a high likelihood of needing their product or service.
The most basic
type revolves around just using the person's name. If you want
to gain the most dramatic effect, you design the creative to include
a place for personalization, such as showing a white paper with
their name on it.
PURLs.
Personal URL's
This is a very simple technique that has also been paying off
well. It can appear as a link in an email or newsletter, or written
on a post card, something like www.JohnDoe.scsc.org . When they
arrive at the web page, it usually says something like "Welcome
John Doe", or "John, learn how we can save you money!"
These do not cost much to set up, and can boost your results.
Remember,
you won't know how well you are doing unless you measure the results.
Be sure to build in mechanism to track the metrics that are most
important to you. Then it becomes easy to decide where to spend
you efforts and money for the future.
Hail personalization!
Long live the new King!
© Stallman
Marketing, 2006
Want
to learn more? Be sure to attend the March 23rd SCSC IMPACT event
"Personalize
Your Marketing Plan". Panelists include experts in email,
direct mail and personalized web pages. This will be an interactive
session, allowing time to ask the experts your questions.
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Steve
Stallman is the principal of Stallman Marketing, the chair
of IMPACT, the marketing SIG of SCSC and the President of
the DMAsc (Direct Marketing Association of Southern California).
He helps companies maximize their ROI on their brand. For
more information visit www.BrandingForProfits.com.
818-772-1963
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