“Marketing is rapidly becoming one of the most technology-dependent functions in business.” In 2012, consulting firm Gartner predicted that by 2017, a company’s chief marketing officer will be spending more on technology than its chief information officer.” (Harvard Business Review, July-August 2014) Wow, technology expense as a variable marketing cost is quite a concept! It […]
An email marketing program can be one of the most flexible, measurable and intelligent marketing channels for your business. Especially now that smartphones have put email at easy reach anytime, from anywhere. But in order for emails to be most effective, they have to be part of a carefully considered contact strategy. So, whether you’re […]
Marketing strategies and tactics are like putting a puzzle together. There are simple 100-piece puzzles that can be solved easily, and there are more complicated versions with 1,000+ pieces that require patience, persistence and perseverance. Marketing challenges range from simple emails to multipart annual campaigns. But no matter how big the puzzle or how complex […]
Twenty years ago, we discovered the power of transactional data. Lo and behold, it turned out that certain aspects of human behavior were very predictable. Once a consumer’s wallet was opened and purchases were made, certain details of those transactions, known as RFM, turned out to be very trustworthy indicators of future purchases. Fast forward […]
“Facebook Inc. is largely ruled by algorithms. But ultimately people must make judgments about what to show its 1.6 billion users and how.” -May 11, 2016 Wall Street Journal People actually have something to do with what you see on Facebook – oh my! According to the article, there are “allegations that Facebook workers manipulated […]
$#%^#@*%)! I recently changed to a new phone service provider and within hours of my new phone number being connected, I started receiving sales calls for the “owner of the house.” Yes, within hours!!! This is direct marketing on a steroids with a healthy dose of rudeness. I was not offered any “opt-out” of marketing […]
Adding Human Behavior to Traditional RFM Models
Direct marketers are shoppers too. We can learn a lot just from observing ourselves as we make purchasing decisions, appending human behavior to our traditional RFM segmentation.
by Chris Hayes, EVP Brand Strategy When Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast…” he really wasn’t thinking about the world of marketing, much less social media. But he was unknowingly articulating one of the biggest challenges marketers face in their quest to understand and respond to the always-changing preferences of their customers… how to get timely, accurate […]
An examination of classic A/B testing, a regular diet for all of us direct marketers, made it to NPR’s Morning Edition last week under the guise of a “real world field experiment” conducted by two economists. I guess direct marketing must then be considered unreal and out in left field? The story explored these economists’ […]
