“Taking Cues From the Customer: ‘Omnichannel’ and the Drive For Audience Engagement”

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Paradysz Research

Omnichannel is about more than just standing up a set of outreach capabilities that span media. And it’s about more than integrating the basic components of marketing communications—cadence, branding, offer—so as to present a unified identity to would-be customers. Instead, it speaks to the development of a true customer-centered promotional approach, one that’s driven by the contiguous needs to identify and engage with ideal customer audiences, optimizing that dialogue over the long term so as to align with the overarching business strategy (all while providing meaningful value to the customer).

From our perspective, an omnichannel approach is absolutely key for marketers today.  But there are many pressing questions to be answered in order for this approach to be defined and executed:

  • What makes “omnichannel” different from other approaches?
  • What does it mean to be omnichannel?
  • What are the benefits that marketers (as well as their media partners) stand to enjoy from adopting such strategies?
  • And what real-world constraints are standing in the way of those seeking to make this transformation?Taking-Cues-from-the-Customer-Omnichannel-White-Paper[2]

To help address these questions, Paradysz co-sponsored the white paper, entitled, “Taking Cues From the Customer: “Omnichannel” and the Drive For Audience Engagement” in collaboration with the Winterberry Group and the IAB.

Click here to download the paper >

Posted in Analytics, Direct Marketing, Omnichannel | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Co-operative Database Review

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Paradysz Research

Having 23 years of experience working with some of the most recognizable nonprofit organizations, including March of Dimes, American Diabetes Association and World Wildlife Fund, our team at Paradysz is constantly tracking this space to understand potential impacts and opportunities for its clients.  Clearly the need to effectively and efficiently acquire new donors continues to be at the top of the list.

Co-op Watch White PaperCo-operative databases have been a staple of nonprofit direct mail acquisition programs for many years, but there’s no denying their proliferation and influence has increased significantly in the past few years.  As one of the largest media buyers in the nonprofit space, the team at Paradysz constantly tracks this space to understand potential impacts and opportunities for our clients.  The latest “Co-op Watch Report” highlights the team’s broader market perspective on the acquisition volume and performance trends from these sources.

Read more in the latest release of Co-op Watch, recently published by Paradysz

Posted in Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Nonprofit, Offline Marketing | Leave a comment

Relationship Marketing: Hand-in-Hand with the Customer

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Sarah Alderman
We are pleased to introduce guest blogger, Sarah Alderman, as part of a special series featuring the 2012-2013 DMEF NextGeneration Leader Associates. In this series hear insights and perspectives from some of the best and brightest new talent in the direct marketing industry.

Relationship marketing has become a common term in the direct marketing community. As someone who is relatively new to the direct marketing industry, I decided to take a step back and review the ‘behind-the-scenes’ work, which is often overlooked by retailers, to acquire, retain or re-engage customers.
Continue reading →

Posted in Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Listening and Learning, Offline Marketing, Online Marketing, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Runway Strategies from a Data Fashionista

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Andrea Timmerman

As Yves Saint Laurent once stated “Fashions fade, style is eternal.” As marketers, we often become distracted by the Fashion of marketing and not the essence of Style. For marketers, Style is data. The underlying reasons for who, what, where, when and why lead to data. Decisions based on emotion and passing trends often lead companies into a downward spiral but understanding and defining the data “Style” of your company is like finding fashion’s golden compass.
Continue reading →

Posted in Analytics, Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Insert & Print Media, Offline Marketing, Online Marketing, Paid Search | Comments Off

Intent-to-Buy Analytics: Capturing buying behavior, not just geo-targeting “footprints”

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Kevin McGowan

A colleague of mine recently posted on the importance of defining unique audience segments and, more importantly, designing creative messaging and contact strategies that “speak” to each distinct segment. Why? Very simply stated, connecting with the donor or customer will increase the impression value, and the chances that they’ll look to you when making a decision to donate or purchase.
Continue reading →

Posted in Analytics, Direct Marketing, Retail | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Attribution

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Chris Paradysz

The word on every marketer’s mind. Sometimes, it lives in dreams because we can truly picture a 360-degree view of customers. Other times, discussions become nightmares because there isn’t corporate conviction or courage to take on the challenge.  A year ago it was an important issue on the list to solve. Now, it’s a requirement. The questions are straightforward but the data is murky and coming at us at a faster pace. Marketing budgets are proportional to revenue and incremental investments are rare. They only come from disproportionate growth.  But, where to spend the growth dollars when you’ve earned them? And, when it’s time to squeeze costs out, where do you turn?

Inevitably, they get answered when marketing and executive teams come together to decide the business rules. And, both need to be there because there is real compromise to be hashed out. Data and technology only tells the story we’ve set the structure for. Continue reading →

Posted in Listening and Learning | Comments Off

‘Any color…so long as it is black’

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Angelo Licursi

Ford Model THenry Ford’s quote seems quaint in today’s consumer marketplace. But a century ago, the demand for the Ford’s Model-T was so high that he didn’t have to cater to consumer preferences. Sales grew by over 100% every year between 1908 and 1914. In the nonprofit fundraising world, there was a time where mailing one offer in either acquisition or cultivation was enough to meet budgeted revenue goals. That logic, like the Model-T, is also quaint and can lead to difficulty in growing revenue.

Continue reading →

Posted in Direct Mail, Direct Marketing, Nonprofit, Offline Marketing | Comments Off

Potential Impact of the 2012 Election on Fall Direct Mail Results

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Patty Ruch

It’s easy to think our own appeals can’t possibly stand out as much when millions of additional direct mail pieces related to the election are in our donors’ and prospects’ mailboxes. When I was responsible for a direct mail program with a national nonprofit organization, I heard anecdotally that some mail was not being delivered due to the heavy volume through the postal system, and it raised concern with my own program.  As fundraisers, it’s a good idea to understand previous implications as we plan forward.

Continue reading →

Posted in Direct Mail, Nonprofit, Offline Marketing | Tagged | Comments Off

Do you mail to anyone under 50? You’re crazy.

Posted on May 10, 2012 by John Ernst

One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Albert Einstein:

“Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results.”

I thought of this quote often this past week as I worked through updated audience profile studies for a number of our clients.

We’ve done dozens of these analyses over the last year across our nonprofit and publishing client base.  One overwhelming theme continues to emerge with each one– current direct mail strategies are driving responders who are old… and getting older at a rapid rate.  A recent analysis gives a good picture of the response differences we have been seeing across the board:

Continue reading →

Posted in Direct Mail | 1 Comment

3 Trends Shaping Offline Media and Why It Matters

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Dennis Erickson

Offline media such as print and insert is changing rapidly. Unfortunately, marketers are too quick to place the “traditional” label on these media as they centralize focus and resources around digital media. The result in many cases is a channel centric media mix that ignores opportunity and the ability for offline and online to work together.

The reality is that offline media and consumers use of it, are changing at a faster pace than marketing strategies. The gap needs to be closed which starts with a deeper understanding of the changes taking place within the media landscape.

Here are a few trends marketers need to take note of.

1. Consumers increasing shift to Digital Media

At an increasing rate, consumers are seeking their news and entertainment from online sources. Digital newspapers now have over 100 million viewers on a monthly basis. Subscription revenue from online magazines is expected to grow from $4 million in 2010 to $611 million in 2015. Rapid growth of tablets and tablet content from publishers is fueling this growth along with our desire to be armed with instant information.

Continue reading →

Posted in Offline Marketing, Online Marketing | Comments Off