Convert Your Mailing List into a Useful Customer Database

I  see a lot of data on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Its become very clear that many companies have a mailing list but only some have a useful marketing database. Now, I realize there are instances where we are only supplied with a portion of information a company may have. However, given the amount of data that is turned over to us and the clean up that regularly needs to be performed, I do believe I see an accurate sample.

It has become clear that companies with a true marketing database always produce a more relevant communication piece than companies who simply haphazardly gather tidbits of data. In the end, some companies market, the rest just mail. 

Put yourself in your recipients shoes... would you rather receive a direct mail piece that speaks to you, containing information, offers, promotions, and products or services you like (or even love)?  Or a generic one-size-fits-all message geared at the heard? Today, widely available tools make collecting, maintaining and efficiently utilizing customer data painless and cost effective for any size business. Crafting a straight forward marketing message targeting customers reaps huge pay-offs. 

It is our experience, based on tracking metrics and analyzation, that direct mail campaigns from companies who spend the extra effort to maintain a database outperforms those who do not.

If you don't currently maintain a customer database there is good news, is its never too late to start! Start by thinking about your clients or customers. You want to be able to identify your relationship with them

Customer Database Basics 

Questions to help you create and maintain a useful customer database to maximize marketing communication and improve direct mail response rates.

Start by thinking about your clients or customers. You want to be able to identify your relationship with each of them. Use the following questions to begin brainstorming what pieces of data you may want to include in your customer database. 

• Who is your customer? 
• Why do this customer do business with you?
• What types of products or services does this customer buy from you? Why? 
• What vertical market is this customer in?
• What markets does this customer service?
• What type of customer are they? High profit or high volume? Are they quick pay? 

These are just a few data points which most businesses can easily identify and collect, converting a simple mailing list into a powerful marketing communication tool.  You can now identify and segment your customers into groups and create messages that speak to the most important or relevant issue for them.

Direct Marketing – When and How Often?

Clients often ask, “How often should I send direct marketing?” The question they really should be asking is: “What will it take for the right people to respond?”

Generally, it takes 7 “touches” for your message to resonate in the mind of your customers. That “touch” can happen in the form of word-of-mouth, multi-media, advertising or in-person contact. Direct mail is one of the best ways to be sure that the right marketing communication gets to the right person. 

For retail marketing and quick sales, “showering” potential customers can work. Multiple direct mail and email marketing bursts, sent a couple of days apart, can generate buzz, create a sense of urgency and build fast sales. Personalizing your messages – based on your individual customer’s preferences and past sales history – will make your offer more valuable to each customer. Backed up with POP, social media and advertising, this concentrated approach can succeed for short-term promotions.

For most B2B marketing and large ticket sales the marketing goal is to put your company FIRST in each customer’s mind. Since the “ripe” time for a customer’s purchase is often unpredictable, a steady, consistent stream of direct marketing would be the best approach. For instance, sending a direct mailing every 3 or 5 weeks allows your direct mail piece to arrive at different points in each customer’s monthly work cycle. Personalizing direct mail messages – based on what you know about a customer’s individual needs and industry demands – will make your message more significant.  

When designing subsequent direct marketing offers, stay committed to the theme but allow offers and graphics to be tweaked based on campaign performance and client responses. Engaging in a regular schedule of direct marketing communication will pay off; clients who do so generally see an 8-10% increase in response rate over the course of the year.

Regardless of individual marketing challenges, presenting useful information and attractive offers will always resonate with customers for both short-term and long-term marketing promotions and campaigns.

Customer Service with Comfort

Really great customer service begins with focusing on our customer’s comfort.

• Cookies on Airlines – Here in Wisconsin, Midwest Express became the preferred airline, based largely on a reputation of comfort and good service. Even after being acquired by Republic Airways, and changing the name to “Frontier”, the famous, comforting in-flight cookies are staying. This simple item builds comfort, translating to trust.

• Follow-Up – After a recent surgery, the hospital staff called to make sure that we arrived home safely and that we had all of the instructions, etc. They gave us a phone number to call 24/7, should we have any additional questions. This added comfort boosted our trust.

• Coffee Sleeves – Coffee shops provide “sleeves” to insulate hands and provide added comfort for their customers. As a bonus, they provide space for additional advertising, and actually save money for the coffee shop.

• Friendly Approach – My senior-citizen mother drives 30 minutes to get to her Toyota dealership for periodic check-ups. When she arrives, the staff greets her at the door, holds the door open for her, offers coffee, donuts, reading material, and a very comfortable lounge. They finish on time, and help her to her car. For my mother, this relaxing, pleasant experience makes the drive negligible.

What are you doing to comfort your customers?

PURLS? GURLS? CURLS?

By now, we all understand the value delivered by personalizing and targeting your message to make it most relevant to your customers and prospects. The technical jargon, however, is still confusing. Let’s clear up what precisely is referred to by “Purls” “Gurls” and “Curls.”

PURL –

A PURL is a “Persistent Uniform Resource Locator”, although most people think of it as simply a “Personalized URL”. The PURL offers the ability to present a “private viewing” of your products or services, or ask for specific information for future action. This level of personalization, in message, name, offer and imagery, allows for the most relevant interaction, based on the individual’s data, history, etc. PURLs, as part of an overall direct marketing campaign, offer the highest response rate.

CURL –

A CURL can be thought of as either a “Customized URL” or a “Campaign URL”. Rather than individual landing pages, a number of “versions” of a landing page can be presented. Market segments such as industry, geographic region, business size, etc., can drive responders to one of several versions. Mail and email can still be personalized, and the landing page will present a more relevant message than a standard website. In instances where you may not have history or data to make a truly relevant PURL campaign, a CURL component can be used to drive interest, and to capture data which can help build a stronger, more personalized relationship into the future.

GURL –

A GURL represents a “Generic URL”. We recommend including this tool in any direct marketing campaign. A specific landing page, developed for each campaign, will allow you to track responses and gather data for future marketing. This is great as a response to generic ads, and as a useful tool to direct people who may not have been included in the campaign at the time of the build.

While highly relevant PURLs are still the most powerful tool in generating response and sales, all of the PURL-CURL-GURL tools can play a part in developing long-term partnerships with your customers.