Special Report Matchbacks
Stand-alone products. With matchbacks becoming ever more popular and marketing channels becoming more diverse, several matchback solutions have become available during the past several years. One such solution, ChannelView by Abacus, provides you with timely access (as often as daily if you need it) to Web-based metrics that track performance for up to six channels, and by campaign or promotion. It even provides metrics on promotional investments by campaign. Costs can range from $10,000 to more than $30,000, depending on order activity and mailing volume. Abacus recommends its solution for direct marketers that mail six or more times per year; have annual circulation of 2 million or more; and have unsourced orders exceeding 15 percent. Visit: www.abacus-us.com.
BenchMark by Catalog Marketing Services incorporates SKU-level matching into its response-analysis program. This has proven a good solution for marketers who mail frequently and whose products vary between mailings. For example, what if a customer ordered in January, but ordered a product available only in the December catalog? A standard matchback process would attribute that order to the January mailing (assuming this customer received both mailings). By serving as a central database for both mailing- and product-level data, BenchMark can attribute the order to the December mailing. Visit: www.cmscms.com.
Matchback tools also can be added to your existing order management software. These programs offer immediate matchback capabilities by integrating mailing data and order information into a single database. When orders are received, they're automatically matched to a mailed record. Two examples of these software solutions are the Media Matchback Module, which runs in Response Direct Commerce Software by CoLinear Systems, and the Matchback Response Analysis feature of WiseGuys by Desktop Marketing Solutions. The latter links to several standard order management software programs. Costs for these types of tools can range from $1,000 to $3,500 depending on what commerce software you use. Visit www.colinear.com or www.desktopmarketinginc.com.
