Branding alone doesn’t demand a direct response
Will my audience engage with my communication and ultimately respond positively?
A well targeted, accurate, responsive database will only work if all of the other aspects of the campaign align well with your goal.
2 key areas for consideration in this regard are:
- Are the targets likely to be direct-responsive people?
- Is my communication designed to incentivise a direct response?
Are the targets likely to be direct-responsive people?
Geodemographic and business level segmentation variables will help you to target people that are eligible for your offer, or that look like your existing customers, but they don’t necessarily offer an insight into the likely direct responsiveness of the individual.
Therefore, when considering a marketing list, ask yourself what behaviour the individual exhibited in order to end up on that list. For example:
- If they joined a list by entering a competition and you have a great prize-related offer, this might map well to their psychographic
- If they previously procured goods from a mailing campaign, this is likely to indicate a higher propensity for your communication to be well received and responsive. In some cases, list selections can be selected according to the recency, frequency and monetary value of previous purchases by the individual
Asking a data owner about how the individuals came to end up on a database will offer insights into the likely responsiveness of a list.
In some cases, and especially with emails, the message may be sent by the data owner as a third party offer. Where this is the case, it is important to understand how recipients currently engage with the brand of the sender in terms of their responsiveness and association with the brand.
Is my communication designed to incentivise a direct response?
In order to create an environment for success, the communication will need to clearly and succinctly outline the offer, with a strong call to action that will progress the sale to the next stage.
For a calling campaign, the representative must get to the point quickly, by professionally outlining their purpose and the true benefit for the individual in listening further in order to advance.
A written communication must demonstrate a level of relevance and professionalism, without sounding generic to the point that the message is lost amongst the plethora of other communications targeting the individual on the same day.
When marketing to decision makers in businesses, remember that you are still marketing to an individual, who will have likely have personal goals in terms of KPIs, career growth and recognition.
Relating to the individual on a personal level regarding their business objectives will improve the level of engagement.
By focussing on the actual or probable needs to the target customer, the communication will progress the sale by demonstrating the personal benefit of moving forward.
