Sep 16, 2011 11:25 AM, By Beth Negus Viveiro, Chief Markerter.com
Where should marketers allot their budget dollars in 2012? Chief Marketer recently talked to several marketing professionals to get their opinions in several key areas of spending:
• Jim Wheaton, cofounder/principal, Wheaton Group/B2BMarketing.com
• Grant Johnson, president/CMO, Johnson Direct
• Barry Kirk, solution vice president, consumer loyalty, Maritz Loyalty & Motivation
• Michael Kahn, senior vice president, client services, Performics
• Ian Wolfman, CMO, imc2
• Jill LeMaire, senior director, Aspen Marketing Services, a division of Epsilon
• Alex Campbell, co-founder and CEO, Vibes Media
DIRECT MAIL:
WHEATON: Many database marketing professionals think direct mail is an obsolete communication channel. But we have seen direct marketing companies that were significantly damaged—and in one case, destroyed—by a sudden and dramatic shift of dollars from print to electronic media. Often, we find that such unfortunate decisions are driven by a failure to properly measure campaign effectiveness in today’s complex world of overlapping promotional channels.
It is important to be channel-agnostic. Properly analyze the data, and let your findings help guide you to the best ways to invest your promotional dollars across the various channels. We have seen examples in which rigorous analysis indicated that the investment in print should not be shifted to e-commerce. With one company, the data showed that increased expenditures were warranted in both print and e-commerce. With another company, which began as in Internet pure-play, investment in e-commerce turned out to be close to ideal. However, the data indicated that significant incremental investment in print would be cost-effective.
JOHNSON: Mail continues to be the best way for marketers to identify and reach out to prospects. As mail volume is down, the chances of being noticed are even better. Mail will be used by smart marketers to build their customer base; it will also be used after a contact by a prospect was made. It works wonders in taking the engagement started by social media to a marriage by closing the sale, and the amount of personalization that can done based upon that data at hand is remarkable. It’s also more cost effective to uber-personalize than ever before, which makes mail a wise spend. Don’t forget to test mail on the back-end, especially for two-step programs where a prospect has requested additional information. You should also test a letter and other direct mail components in an initial order that has shipped. Test different messaging and offers here, as that’s a trend you will see more and more of in the coming months.
