Specialist electronics retailer Maplin regularly runs four-week promotional campaigns in-store, online and through its catalogues. In the past, it has had to wait until the end of such promotions to analyse the results. To gain greater insight into its campaigns, reduce the time taken to plan them, and increase response rates, Maplin installed a software system allowing it to see what was and wasn't working on a daily basis.
Maplin is one of a growing number of brands that is investing in multi-channel marketing technology to maximise the effectiveness of campaigns.
At this year's Technology for Marketing show ( see box, page 45), industry experts will be debating the uses and benefits of such technology and will also be looking at the potential for multi-media contact centres.
Maplin's system, developed by Alterian, refreshes and analyses marketing data overnight. This allows Maplin to plan, measure and report on its multi-channel marketing activity on a 24-hour basis, enabling the retailer to manage the campaign, analysis and report functions all in the same environment.
The software allows businesses to accurately assess the cross-channel impact of a particular campaign by, for example, matching a promotion to the customer and the channel, giving them the opportunity to achieve higher response rates and improve their marketing ROI.
Other benefits include the ability to track sales across a variety of channels and enhanced reporting functions, enabling marketers to understand and manage a variety of direct marketing activities within a single interface.
Customer driven
While the concept of the multi-channel environment is not new, it has largely been applied to individual campaigns, where a company will send a mailing, and follow this up with a phone call or an email. But customers now expect a seamless experience when interacting through a variety of channels, which means that any multi-channel marketing activity is now customer, rather than campaign-driven.
"With multi-channel marketing, it's important to have a consistent message for every customer," says Jon Cano-Lopez, European data services leader at Axciom. "In the past, multi-channel marketing has been about delivering a campaign through a direct mail piece and also using other mediums, such as the web or contact centre, to follow up response. These days, it is about putting yourself in your customers' shoes."
Customers will become more satisfied and loyal if systems are designed, developed and implemented from their perspective, making it easier for them to communicate. Neal Anderson, managing director of enterprise software publisher Neolane, says companies need to create a communication process that spans the entire customer lifecycle.
"With only campaign level tools and limited means to deliver personalised direct marketing profitably, few businesses have centralised the process across divisions or automated it above individual campaigns. One benefit of implementing multi-channel marketing technology is that the marketer becomes manager of the process, rather than the campaign. Businesses will become better attuned to customer interests such as their purchase histories and deliver relevant messages through the customers' channels of choice," says Anderson.
Anytime, anywhere
With the range of customer touchpoints that are now available, from direct mail, to web, to telephone, press, mobile phones, radio and TV, it's vital for marketers to have access to updated customer data and combine this with areas such as segmentation and analysis, campaign planning, execution and measurement.
"Multi-channel marketing software improves the ability to target the client at the most opportune time," says Carol Newton, marketing software manager at NCR, a supplier of CRM software. "But achieving consistency across overall channels can be challenging. One of the main issues is being consistent in follow-up. Efficient integration of the channels is a pre-requisite for this."
Key to the success of any multi-channel marketing strategy is not so much the mediums used, but the quality of the data and the ability to update this regularly. Multi-channel marketing technology enables businesses to generate customised data-capture forms giving them a rounded view of their customers' data and responses collected across a variety of channels.
This gives marketers control over how they respond to customer activity.
For example, this could be via personalised emails or telemarketing or a direct mail piece.
"Customers are becoming increasingly sophisticated - so much so, that the channel you use is no longer key, says Henrik Mandel, founder of multi-channel marketing software provider Responsewave. "It's important to link customer data from a variety of sources. For example, email is not as powerful a tool as it was due to the rise in spam, so marketers have to focus on building a relevant dialogue with consumers, regardless of the channel they are using, and the data they collect is key to this."
Responsewave's software enables companies to create multi-channel marketing campaigns to existing customers within a specific timeframe, and analyse campaign feedback in real-time through a hosted web link, so it is easier to assess what is effective.
It has helped companies such as Bridgestone Tyres increase its opt-in profiles. The campaign encouraged Bridgestone's opt-in customers to recommend the tyre company's electronic newsletter to friends, and in return they would receive a reward from successful recommendations. From a seed list of 306, Bridgestone grew its opt-in list to 53,000 from 106,000 recommendations.
Achieving a 50 per cent conversion rate has had a direct impact on sales.
"While most firms know a lot about their users, partners and suppliers, they don't have the appropriate tools to exploit the benefits of strong customer relationships," says Mandel.
Real-time data
According to Neolane's Anderson, the biggest challenge facing those implementing multi-channel marketing technology is gathering and consolidating the data.
"The technology can be most useful for those businesses where there is a short product life-cycle, such as the leisure industry, where you have a defined period of time where you can market skiing holidays," says Anderson. "The finance industry would also benefit, as their products are constantly changing depending on factors such as interest rates. But the challenge here is in keeping fast-changing amounts of data up to date and matching this to relevant messages."
Keeping the database clean, updated and accurate is essential. "With online preference centres, consumers expect companies to manage co-ordinated databases irrespective of mediums," says Paul Crabtree, marketing director of email marketing agency Adestra.
"If they have spent the time updating their details, they expect the company to reflect these changes accurately in the next set of communications."
He adds that companies should be looking at technology that will enable databases to be updated through a number of data collection tools, such as website forms, call centre software and email preference centres, which can then be fed through quickly and accurately to a central database.
Carol Myers, head of marketing at enterprise management company Unica, says that assessing the amount of real-time data required is a key factor in determining the level and extent of technology integration and needs.
"Ask whether it is sufficient to provide daily, weekly or even monthly updates on consumer preferences, product propensities and best offers," she says.
Frequency of updates will ultimately vary from business to business.
What is clear is that with consumers increasingly dictating how and when they are contacted, implementing a multi-channel strategy is vital if marketers are to meet consumer demands.
CASE STUDY - PACKARD BELL
Brief: To create a multi-channel customer loyalty programme Target audience: Customers who have made an initial PC purchase Supplier: Neolane
Packard Bell specialises in the home PC market. It does direct sales in Europe and distributes its products in the UK through high-street store Dixons. It wanted to develop a European customer loyalty programme to consolidate its long-term customer relationships. Shortly after a purchase, customers receive a thank-you message and an invitation to join a loyalty programme.
This consists of regular information, advice, special offers, product launches and discount sales to help customers take full advantage of their PC purchases.
With a database of 850,000 addresses in the UK and Europe, and tasked with delivering 500 marketing messages in eight languages each month, Packard Bell had to manage a range of parameters such as volume, frequency, style, content and language.
Using a software system provided by enterprise software publisher Neolane, each message sent by Packard Bell is individually tracked, with real-time reporting on delivery, opening, click rates and customer reactions. For example, customers interested in a given offer and who want to be contacted by a sales representative are fed to the outbound phone database. Recipients who do not respond to e-mail solicitation can be approached through another channel, such as direct mail.
"It has enabled us to manage huge marketing campaigns in a simple manner and make use of functionality," says Francoise Pourque, European customer marketing manager for Packard Bell.
"In a recent telephone campaign, we achieved a 15 per cent purchase-transformation rate." The programme has recorded opening rates ranging from 35 to 50 per cent, for more than 97 per cent of messages sent.
Packard Bell now intends to implement a multi-channel marketing strategy.
This will include outbound calls for clicked-on emails, but unconverted emails, segmenting hot prospects for different offers and using direct mail for those who have ignored email messages. Packard Bell will also be able to track indirect sales. "We cannot trace the final purchase activity in the high street, but we will be able to do this in the future," says Pourque.
FACT FILE - TECHNOLOGY FOR MARKETING SHOW
Technology for Marketing Show Where: Olympia, London When: 7-8 February 2006 Website: www.t-f-m.co.uk
Why visit: More than 200 suppliers will be demonstrating marketing-related and CRM technology products and services. Exhibitors include Acxiom, Adestra, DQ Global, Data Locator, Microsoft Business Solutions and Sage. The conference also includes a series of workshops and keynote sessions. The Institute of Direct Marketing will host the IDM Academy, offering marketing professionals 12 free seminars, including: how to build successful online strategies, the growing importance of online value exchanges and email marketing for business development.
Keynote sessions
Resist the curse of GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out) 7 February, 1-2 pm
Presented by Drayton Bird, former worldwide creative director of Ogilvy & Mather Direct, this session will challenge marketers to explore how technology can add value and impetus to direct marketing campaigns. Bird will focus on why it's important to know what IT can do and how to use it by sharing lessons learned from case histories.
How to utilise technology to drive profits 8 February, 1-2 pm
Professor Angus Jenkinson is founder of Stepping Stones consultancy and director of the Centre for Integrated Marketing at University of Luton Business School. In this session, he will share research and learning from a study of more than 200 brands on what it takes to win customers and how IT can drive success.
POWER POINTS
- Multi-channel technology software can reduce the time taken to plan campaigns and increase response rates
- The software allows businesses to track sales across a variety of channels and enhance reporting functions
- Achieving consistency across all channels can be challenging
- The key to success of any multi-channel marketing strategy is the quality of data and the ability to update it regularly.
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