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EBM Direct Marketing Services LLC
On and off the net marketing you can count on
™ 
 
www.ebmdirectmarketing.com 
Consider the following scenarios:1.
 
Any salesperson knows a lead has to be nurtured. Why? Because mosteveryone you initially speak to is not ready to buy. There are varioussteps a prospect must go through before purchasing. Would you throwout the "non-purchasing" leads? This allows the salesperson to "work thelead" gathering information, follow up calls and/or visits culminating in apurchase. Equally important, prospects are handled differently based o
 
ntheir specific requirements and actions. Some will need additionalinformation, others a call back in "x" days.2.
 
Now think about the traditional marketing process. A direct marketingprogram is executed generating sales from responders. Often themarketing department plans the next marketing campaign for anothertarget audience. Or, in some cases, non responders from the pastprogram are re-solicited with another campaign.The two scenarios are diametrically opposed. The second scenario represents "lostopportunity" in sales dollars by not nurturing the "non-purchasers".Historically, it would be a manual process of developing various queries through theIT department identifying each "group" based on their pre-determined marketing"actions". The marketing department would take the data and coordinate withexternal printers or email providers to launch the targeted message to those groups.Secondly, you would incur minimum production costs. It would be financiallyprohibitive to launch one piece of communication. Finally, the logistics of trackingand analyzing responses would be a manual process requiring another request intothe IT department. All but the largest companies, having ample financial resourcesand time, could develop this type of sophisticated marketing program.Now, you can. Recently, I came across a company specializing in, what I call triggermarketing. What is a "trigger"? It is a responder's action (or lack of action) such as:
 
A request for information by telephone
 
Filling out a web form and requesting specific information
 
Responding to an email via a web form requesting follow up in a specifictime period
 
Making a purchase
 
Filling out their birthday for special announcements
 
Not making a purchase in a specified time period
 
Making a particular type of purchase indicating a particular preferenceencouraging cross and up selling opportunity
 
Requesting a follow up phone callThe company targets small to mid size corporations. Their platform, called "SmartTracks", automates the sales and marketing process through the development of specific "touches". What is a "touch"? Simply, it is a series of emails, phone calls ordirect mail pieces sent to an individual contact at a predetermined time. It is anOutbound Communication compared to an Inbound Inquiry. You create a series of Touches in Smart Tracks using personalized post cards, emails and business letters.
 
EBM Direct Marketing Services LLC
On and off the net marketing you can count on
™ 
 
www.ebmdirectmarketing.com 
You assemble the series of Touches in a Track and the Track is assigned to aCampaign.Campaigns are set up with all pre-defined collateral (i.e. emails, direct mail, webform(s)) along with rules determining which prospects receive which series of "touches" based on their "triggers". Once the rules and budgets are established, themarketing campaign is on auto pilot. It starts and stops based on the yourpredetermined instructions and budget. Responses are collected within the sameplatform facilitating response analysis and ROI.The software integrates with your website. Specialized web forms can be cre
 
ated tocollect specific information from a campaign's visitors. Based on the selection(s)through the web form, (they will be stored in the internal database), the prospectwill be funneled into a particular track based on pre-defined rules.Another technical feature is something called Variable Data Printing (VDP). This is ahigh tech printing, (email or print), feature allowing any collected data elementchange the message for each recipient. Why is this valuable? Because response rateincrease when communication is personalized to the individual receiving it. Examplesinclude:
 
Changing the name and address
 
Changing images
 
Changing promotional offersWhat is especially cost effective is that the software will execute (on demand) oneresponse or 1000's of responses. Smart Tracks is customer relationship marketing atits best.In an earlier post, "Your Marketing Database",I discussed the importance of a database in collecting and storing information about your company's prospects andcustomers. Your database along with Smart Tracks goes to the heart of customerrelationship marketing. Customers will generate the greatest return on investment(ROI). Therefore, focus your marketing dollars on your customers and highlyqualified prospect leads that require nurturing.Think of the possibilities using Smart Tracks:
 
Develop a campaign to cross sell customers after they make purchases.Specific products are tailored to customers based on their specificpurchase. Based on specific customer triggers, automated communicationis emailed or mailed.
 
Sales executives can automate their follow up communication with aseries of touches to each qualified lead to increase their closing ratio.
 
Birthday announcements can be tailored to each specific announcement.For example, a picture of women's clothing can be included in oneannouncement, and men's clothing in another based on gender (Thegender would have to be a data element stored in the database).
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