The 50 Best Tips
— Pat Kachura, Direct Marketing Association, Privacy Matters column, “Co-op Databases & Consumer Privacy,” March, Catalog Success
✱ Use all of the co-op databases, not just one or two.
There are six consumer co-op databases to take advantage of. Yes, there will be overlap from one database to another, but each co-op can identify names worth mailing based on its modeling that another co-op might not find.
— Stephen R. Lett, Lett Direct, Strategy column, “Maximizing Outside List Performance,” February, Catalog Success
LISTS
✱ Traditional lists work best for niche products.
Names modeled from co-op databases don’t work for all catalogers. dELiA*s is atypical of the industry. “We sell to teenagers and co-op lists typically don’t include teenagers. How niched the product might be may mean you’re not able to work with co-ops. It’s a unique problem. None of the co-ops are going to be strong for us.”
— Mitch Schultz, dELiA*s, “Traditional or Co-op, Tips To Get The Best Performance From Your List,” Aug. 7, Catalog Success Idea Factory
MULTICHANNEL MANAGEMENT
✱ Establish a cross-channel task force.
“If your chief marketing officer isn’t concerned with consistency across channels, then create an interdepartmental cross-channel marketing team.” Production staff must be aware of e-commerce; and e-commerce staff must know what’s going on with the catalog.
— Susan McIntyre, McIntyre Direct, “Multichannel Integration Tactics,” February, Catalog Success
✱ Sales channel integration.
Track sales and marketing costs at the customer level across channels. Differentiate sales from brand vs. nonbrand search phrases. Monitor efficiency just above and below your advertising cutoff, and start hold-out testing to determine your true marketing drivers of behavior.
— Alan Rimm-Kaufman, Rimm-Kaufman Group, E-commerce Insights column, “Multichannel Planning: A Complex Endeavor,” May, Catalog Success
✱ Use your brand as a ‘trainer.’
Your brand needs to “train” people to recognize you as a company or product. And if done right, it becomes symbolic and a reminder of your company’s unique selling proposition.
