What is the biggest mistake you see retailers make in direct mail campaigns?
Many retailer’s ad agencies overemphasize the impact of creative, and underemphasize the impact of selecting targeting compelling offers. The rule of thumb for direct mail campaigns is this: targeting strategy explains ~50% of the campaign's success, the offer 25%, and the remaining 25% by the creative and messaging. Get the targeting and the offer right—and you're off to the races.
What advice would you give a multi-channel retailer?
Invest in developing and using a behavioral segmentation schema. A very powerful, practical, and measurable approach is based on Customer Value Gap. If you understand your customer's current and potential value—by and across channel—you can determine how much revenue opportunity would come from converting single-channel shoppers to multi-channel shoppers. This is extremely important for multi-channel retailers and those companies that understand this value gap are competing very well in retail. This approach works equally as well for single channel retailers. Plus, the CFO will love is since it’s grounded in revenue behaviors.
Talk a little about Datamarts and who benefits the most from utilizing one.
Not everyone needs a marketing datamart, but many companies who could benefit from one haven't made that investment. If your marketing cycle includes frequent or complex programs, and if your approach is grounded in analyzing your customer's and prospect's behaviors and values, then a datamart is right for you. If you only do 2-3 campaigns each year, or if your targeting and programs are driven by subjective criteria, a datamart doesn't make sense for your company.
Marketing datamarts fit best for organizations with large numbers of identifiable customers, where transaction behaviors can be tied to those customers, and where your business requires that you execute marketing campaigns that are frequent, varied, need to be executed quickly, and where quantitative measurement of results is a priority.
Describe a "Who Is My Customer" analysis and its benefits.
Buxton's "Who Is My Customer" (WIMC) analysis is a deep-dive into the demographics, attitudes, behaviors and psychographics of your customers and customer segments. If you want to understand how your best customer is different from your average customer or your infrequent customer, this analysis will give you those insights.
In addition to providing a very rich profile of your customers, Buxton's approach is unique in that it includes sophisticated geo-spatial insights. Where your customers and prospects live explains much of what they do and how they live their lives. Understanding them more fully will make you a more effective marketer. WIMC makes it easier to get the right message with the right offer to the right customer or prospect at the right time. Smart application of the WIMC improves ROI and reduces waste, whether your marketing objectives are acquisition, activation, growth, retention, or winback.
