By Peter McCormick

Reaching consumers in a personal, targeted way is the key to successful marketing campaigns. While this is hardly news to marketers, it is surprising how many fail to put this in practice, especially in multi-channel marketing programmes using email, SMS, and social media. While some companies get it right and are bearing the fruit of their efforts in increased sales and optimised customer relationships, many more are still struggling, treating email like direct mail and subscribers like lists instead of individuals.

A new email opt-in law which recently came into effect in Germany is currently creating trepidation for marketers across Europe as they wonder if this might signal wider legislation. While the law doesn’t prevent companies from sending marketing messages to potential customers, it does place restrictions on emailing out to mass audiences. Blanket communication however is never as effective as targeted communications so this news should only be of concern to organisations that do not have the customer at the heart of their communications philosophy. It can be surprising though how many companies think they are customer centric yet fail to take customer preferences into account in their marketing campaigns.

According to recent research conducted by Forrester on behalf of ExactTarget, 80% of marketers surveyed claimed customer preference is a key factor in communications, however only 12% ask customers their preferred frequency of email messages. 47% of marketers surveyed also don’t take any actions at all based on customer preferences.

Encouragingly, the report shows that 70% of UK marketers demonstrate a significantly higher understanding of multi-channel marketing than any other country, harnessing the power of multi-channel messaging more frequently than marketers in other regions. Yet despite this, only a third (29%) actually understands how their customers behave across multiple channels.

Consumers today demand to be understood and know that they have choices. Those that choose to be ‘subscribers’ freely provide their contact information and, in return, expect to receive something of value. Marketers therefore must strive to deliver meaningful information tailored to their individual needs. Increasingly, consumers also don’t want to hear from companies that they have not invited to contact them. According to the research 29% of consumers now believe unsolicited promotion is unacceptable through any channel.

If marketers truly want to put the customer at the heart of their communications they need to incorporate permission-based, email, SMS and other forms of digital communications into their marketing outreach to subscribers, customers and partners. Now more than ever, marketers need to act on the fact that consumers hold the power. Market to them in the right way and you will be rewarded with new levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty; market to them in the wrong way and your messages will be deleted and your reputation will likely suffer as a result.

Organisations will build better and lasting relationships if a foundation of respect governs the communications that companies have with their subscribers. They will also get better results if subscribers are given the means to dictate and control the manner and frequency by which companies can communicate with them.

This is why ExactTarget has started a campaign called Subscribers Rule! This subscriber-centric philosophy is based on three tenets: serve the individual; honour each individual’s unique preferences with regard to communication, content, frequency and channel; and deliver subscribers timely, relevant content that improves their lives.

The goal is to help marketers create, target, track and manage permission-based communications, ensuring the right message is delivered to the right person, at the right time, through the right medium. As soon as the broader marketing community stops treating email like direct mail, and subscribers like lists instead of individuals, results will go up. Return on marketing investments will improve and customer relationships will be strengthened - ultimately leading to increased sales.

The good news is that marketers don’t need a huge budget or advanced technology to field great permission-based email or multi-channel campaigns. What marketers do need is good planning, creativity and above all, a respect for their list members - the essential individuals that have ticked the box for marketing.

Marketers must also use all the customer data they have – both behavioural and preference based – to allow them to map a communications strategy that is optimised for their business.

The potential for tighter regulation around email campaigns and opt-in email laws shouldn’t pose a threat to UK marketers. Instead, marketers should welcome the opportunity develop true customer-centric communications with digital marketing efforts focused on the foundation of permission – to their subscribers, customers and partners. In fact, in order for the digital direct marketing industry to continue to grow and provide a high level of return on investment, it is essential that all one-to-one marketing efforts are built upon permission. Remember, Subscribers Rule!

About Peter McCormick, Co-Founder and General Manager, ExactTarget

Peter co-founded ExactTarget in December 2000 and now leads the company’s international operations as general manager of ExactTarget Global. Peter serves as the company’s senior executive outside of North America and oversees the sales, partner development and client service operations for customers around the globe. Peter has held numerous executive positions at ExactTarget with responsibility for partner development, services, product development and marketing. Prior to co-founding ExactTarget, Peter held sales and channel development leadership positions with Divine, Inc., Target, Inc., and Steelcase, Inc. Peter earned a degree in Finance from the University of Minnesota. He also holds an MBA with a Marketing and Human Resource Development emphasis from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. Peter and his family reside in London.

About ExactTarget

ExactTarget is a leading global provider of on-demand email marketing and one-to-one marketing solutions. The company’s software as a service technology provides organisations a single platform to connect with customers via email, SMS text messaging, voice messaging, social media and landing pages. Supported by collaborative global services teams, ExactTarget’s technology integrates with more sales and marketing information systems than any other in the industry, including Salesforce.com, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Omniture and Webtrends among many others. ExactTarget’s software powers permission-based multi-channel communications for thousands of organisations around the world including Expedia.com, Aurora Fashions, Papa John’s, Sun Microsystems, Value Retail, World Society for Protection of Animals and Gulf Air. For more information, visit www.exacttarget.co.uk.

Other Links

http://www.subscribersrule.com/