But despite this, only 3.7m from a possible 24.6m homes in the UK have taken advantage of broadband, the speedy and cost-effective way to get connected to the internet. Even with ample marketing budgets, are broadband providers utilising channels such as direct mail as effectively as they should be, to deliver personalised marketing communications to attract new customers?
Broadband Britain features highly on the government's list of priorities, yet still people remain unconvinced of its benefits. So what is stopping people convert to broadband? It can't be blamed on accessibility; 86% of current internet users have access to broadband, with the remaining users having full access by the end of 2006.
The main problem lies with a lack of understanding by broadband providers on how to match up the different types of potential customers that exist with marketing messages that will appeal to them directly, and how they can cost effectively deliver a number of different messages to different consumers, to encourage them to take up broadband.
Various types of broadband audience exist, including "the technophobes"; those who are scared of IT and show concern for the lack of decent IT support, and "digital apathetics", those who know what broadband is but are reluctant to make the switch and believe the hassle of changing to broadband does not outweigh the potential benefits.
Along with a number of others, these individual groups continue to exist due to the way in which current broadband suppliers communicate with potential customers. Often a "broad brush approach" is employed and, as a result, they fail to target customer's individual needs. When using direct mail for example, a standard message is communicated to every consumer, regardless of which group they fit into. Instead of being used as a targeted and personalised marketing tool, direct mail is not personalised to the level it needs to be.
Communication has to appeal to the different audiences at all levels to get them to truly realise the full potential of the medium. For example, the "technophobes" need to be mailed with information that allays their fears about broadband, and advises on the technical support they will have access to; and for "digital apathetics" this wouldn't concern them as much as information on the technological advances that broadband has versus dial-up.
We all know that TV ads are great for raising brand awareness; BT Broadband did a fantastic job with its "Broadband has landed" TV ad campaign that really bought the broadband category to consumers' attention.
But consumers need to be reached in other ways as well for brands to really affect their decisions. Far better results are achieved by using complimentary media, and I don't believe that broadband suppliers are using the direct channel to its full potential; on and offline. I believe this lack of personalisation in direct marketing activity is a result of the customer data that these suppliers hold and the prospecting data they are purchasing.
Often these suppliers have databases with inaccurate customer data because they don't implement rigorous standards of data hygiene, including suppressing data for example, to ensure you know when people have moved. Even when these standards are maintained, organisations generally don't segment their customer databases in enough detail to implement tailored messages to each customer set and tend to use a "one fits all" approach.
Marketers in this sector need to get smarter with their data-driven marketing to reach and communicate with their customers in a way that will deliver personal messages that will really make a difference to the customer. If not, broadband take-up will be far slower than the market really warrants.
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