According to a recent study Forrester Research, Inc. conducted, "most companies structure their company around their products or business lines. As a result, they lack a holistic view of their customers and communicate with them from multiple silos." In today's 24/7 marketing environment, marketers face the need to understand the wants, needs, and problems of multiple generations-from the Baby Boomers to Generation Y. Generic campaigns that focus solely on promoting a corporation's brand can lack relevance, fail to engage consumers, and put the company at risk for losing some of their target market.
For over a decade now marketers have struggled to figure out the best way to reach customers with targeted messaging. The emergence of automated technologies is finally making it possible to communicate with consumers in a way that is relevant and improves their experience. Recognizing the impact personalization can have on a campaign, marketers are embracing the practice of utilizing customer-centric marketing techniques and the technology that supports it to build brand awareness and drive sales.
Launching campaigns with complete confidence
Marketing Automation is the term given to this intelligent platform that provides businesses with a closed-loop system that goes beyond traditional web-to-print. These web-based solutions fully support the challenges distributed organizations face, and make it possible to streamline and integrate all messaging-from print ads and sales collateral, to coupons, personalized direct mail, and PURLs with integrated microsites that can offer more detailed information. Corporate marketers are fast adopting this on-demand capability because it enables their local users to confidently create, proof, and execute communications that preserve brand standards and comply with legal requirements.
The ability to "market on-demand" provides benefits to all industries including automotive, financial, retail, telecom, and more. For example, a major telecommunications company was facing the challenge of controlling the direct mail campaigns dealers were creating around the country. Some of the direct mail programs required dealers to use generic "one size fits all" postcards and take several disconnected steps to get the mailing executed. This practice made it difficult to take full advantage of a co-op program designed to promote both the brand and the dealer. Additionally, it was time consuming for the dealers to go from a list broker, to a printer, to an agency separately; and then finally wait for corporate approval to execute one campaign.
Utilizing on-demand technology, the telecommunications company was able to provide dealers the option to use pre-approved templates, or upload their own creative, as well as make it possible to address each consumer or business recipient on an individual basis through variable data print capabilities. Dealers could print personalized images that would appeal to various sub-segments of the market within that campaign to achieve a higher level of relevancy. The end result-the company's dealers now have direct mail pieces that are pre-approved or customizable, and they can rent their list in a matter of minutes, saving significant time since every step is part of one quick organic process.
Delivering big results
Enterprises that choose to employ on-demand marketing solutions will be able to develop integrated campaigns tailored to their local dynamics without overspending or sacrificing brand control. Taking advantage of the comprehensive capabilities of web-based applications that marketing automation systems provide saves time, money, and increases a campaigns success. It may be time to explore how to make these applications work for you in your marketing plan and your bottom line.
Author: John Larkin is the president and CEO of Centiv, a leading provider of complete on-demand marketing automation solutions for instant impact in today's 24/7, web-based world. Based in Chicago, IL., Centiv offers clients a proprietary suite of automated marketing applications in tandem with production capabilities making it possible for companies to safely automate marketing with distributed users, including franchises, distributors, dealerships, and sales organizations of all sizes. He can be reached at [email protected].