10 Ways for a Marketer to 

Maximize their Retail Database

1. Understand the data that you have

2. Take responsibility

3. Remember that not all customers are created equal

4. Determine customer value

5. Consider starting from scratch

6. Collect and USE customer preferences

7. Keep it simple

8. Personalize your communications

9. Pare down

10.Connect the insight

Philosophy

(It's all about the customer)

Customer - Centric

 Customer Equity

 Satisfaction versus Loyalty

Measurement Tools & Strategies

(It's all about the customer)

1. CRM (Customer Relationship 

Management)

2. CEM (Customer Experience Management)

3. CPM (Customer Performance 

Management)

4. Marketing Dashboards & Scorecards

5. NPS (Net Promoter Score)

6. Win-Back Strategies

When an organization 

positions its customers at the 

center of its business

It’s the alignment of 

People, Process & 

Technology

Customer’s needs come first

Customers call the shots 

since they are the source for 

the company’s profits

Happy customers are the best 

way to forecast future 

success / revenues

Usually the most 

valuable component 

of a company’s value

 More important than  

physical assets and 

intellectual property.

Value Equity

 Logical / rationale

 Retention Equity

 Have used company 

for their most recent 

purchase

 These customers 

MUST be nurtured

 Brand Equity

 Emotional, subjective 

& sometimes irrational

Categorizing and understanding your customers in advance is 

essential to being a customer-centric business

 All customers are NOT CREATED EQUAL!!

1.     Most VALUABLE Customers (MVCs)

2.     Most GROWABLE Customers (MGCs)

3.     Most COSTLY Customers (MCCs)

Satisfaction reflects how well a 

Company fulfills customer expectations

 Loyalty is a repetitive behavioral process that 

builds value over time

 Not all loyalty programs are based upon 

customer satisfaction

 Segmentation is key way to build loyalty

Encompasses multiple 

stages of a customer’s 

relationship with a 

Company

 Company offers different 

products & services to 

accommodate the 

Customer at various times 

in their lifecycle

 A clear understanding 

of the lifecycle process 

is essential for 

successfully managing 

customer relationships

Customer Relationship 

Management is a business 

strategy that maximizes 

profitability, revenue & 

customer satisfaction by 

1. Organizing around customer 

segments

2. Fostering behavior that 

satisfies customers

3. Implementing customercentric processes.

3 Factors Greatly Influence 

CRM

1. The People Factor

2. The Process Factor

3. The Technology Factor

LOYALTY PROGRAMS ARE MUCH BETTER

Frequency Programs:

Reward Customers for 

their purchases

 Loyalty Programs:

Capture vast 

amounts of data

about your 

Customers

Marketers can manage the Customer 

Experience with Consistency & Relevancy

 CEM solely focuses on those times that a 

Company directly or indirectly interacts with 

its customers

Extension of CRM & 

CEM theories

 Includes quantifiable 

measurements of 

performance (profits & 

revenues)

 It is not enough to just 

please customers. 

 Long-term, it must also 

be profitable for the 

Company

NPS Asks the “Ultimate Question.”

Would You Recommend Us To A Friend?

Enforces that Companies MUST satisfy their 

customers. 

 Much more profitable to market to existing customers 

than to prospects.

 Happy customers keep a company successful and 

profitable

 Positive word of mouth is ESSENTIAL

 NPS Premise is a formula that asks… Would you 

recommend us to a friend?

NPS

(3 TYPES OF CUSTOMERS)

1. Promoters

2. Passives

3. Detractors

How to calculate NPS

% of promoters - % of detractors

 More cost-effective to reclaim former 

customers than to generate sales to 

new prospects

 When a customer is lost, the 

Company should generate a Lost 

Customer Report

 Requires a formalized Win-Back 

Strategy

 Differs among each segmented group 

of former customers

1. Intentionally pushed away

2. Unintentionally pushed away

3. Pulled away

4. Bought away

5. Moved away (on)

List / Media - 40%

Offer - 20%

Layout/ Format - 15%

Copy - 15%

Timing - 10

A Dynamic Offer can Succeed Even if 

the Selling Copy is Fair to Poor…

But, dynamic copy 

CANNOT make a poor 

Offer succeed

 The ultimate goal of 

the Direct Marketer is 

to make a dynamic 

offer that is supported 

by dynamic ad copy

The Offer is the terms under which a 

specific product or service is 

promoted

 It is the promise of the transaction - 

Tells the customer What they’ll get

when they respond to the ad

 It must capture the consumer’s 

attention

 It must create the “sense of 

urgency” or emotional desire to reply 

or respond NOW!

IT MUST CUT THROUGH THE CLUTTER

Direct Marketing vs.         

Brand Advertising

The “Offer” is truly the undisputed 

difference, the Holy Grail that distinguishes 

Direct Marketing from Brand (General) 

Advertising.

 In Direct Marketing, the Advertiser is trying to get an 

immediate response from the Consumer to initiate a 

transaction. The Offer is their best tool to accomplish this.

 In Brand Advertising, we are trying to create or reinforce 

an impression in the Consumers’ mind, so that at some 

time in the future, they may purchase the product or 

service.

What Do Direct Marketing & 

the Law Have in Common?

Basic framework of all US 

contractual law is that one party 

makes an OFFER and the other 

party ACCEPTS.

 This premise is what Direct 

Marketers worldwide are trying to 

accomplish with their advertising. 

 The Consumer WILL accept                      

their Offer.

Marketing Objectives 

Determine the Offer

 Offers are shaped to meet the 

goals and objectives of the Direct 

Marketer

 Offers need to be more impactful to 

motivate someone to “buy now”

versus to seek additional information 

elsewhere

 Offers are also limited by certain legal 

and ethical factors

 Financial service firms minimize their use of 

monetary promotional offers

 Pharmaceutical companies usually don’t 

offer free sample

Product & Service Quality Count More Than 

the Offer

The focus of the offer should always be 

the product or service

 Keep the offer at the center of your strategy

and make sure that incentives and other “offer 

elements” remain consistent with it. 

 In the end, it is the quality of the product that 

will determine if a campaign is truly 

successful

Free Trial Offers are very powerful 

because they demonstrate the 

Advertiser’s confidence in the product

 LTV of a consumer is very important and 

usually depends on incremental sales

 If the product fails to live up to the 

offer / promise, the consumer will not 

return

10 Questions the Marketer must ask 

themselves before the Offer can be 

developed and the Creative started

1 - What consumer 

problems, desires and 

needs is it designed for? 

2 - Why is the product made 

the way that it is?

3 - What is special about it or 

why is it better than its 

competitors?

4 - Does anyone else believe 

that besides us?

5 - How can we prove it?

6 - Evaluate the Features & 

Benefits objectively?

7 - How could we improve 

this product?

8 - Who are this products’ 

“heavy users?”

9 - What “irresistible offers” 

would generate strong 

sales?

10 - What premiums or 

incentives would best hit our 

prospects’ “Hot Buttons?”

Incentives are the 

“sweeteners” that motivate 

prospects to respond

 Include Free gifts, 

information, discounts…

 Must be applicable to their 

target audience

 Must be tested because 

Marketer must be certain that 

consumers are not buying the 

incentive instead of the 

product

 Will result in product 

returns, 

cancellations…

BOGOs & BOGOFs are very 

popular incentives and they’ve 

been used for years

 Buy

 One

 Get

 One

Social Commerce...

Offering OFFERS at a Record Pace

Social commerce is the fastest growing segment of 

the e-commerce marketplace today growing by over 

200% from the prior year

 Focuses on local / retail advertisers

 Provides an online version of traditional coupons that 

consumers previously received via mail or in Yellow Page 

directories

 Social Commerce site offers discounts on goods 

& services for a limited time, but only if a 

“critical mass” of consumers agree to buy off on 

the deal or make a purchase 

17

 Social Commerce sites provide a 3-way payoff

1. Consumers / Subscribers get a better price

2. The Merchant gets a guaranteed amount of incremental business

3. The Social Commerce website gets a piece of the sale

Special Offers or Discount coupons motivate 

prospects to purchase products 

 But they turn price sensitive or bargainfocused

 Sampling allows consumers to try products 

WITHOUT training them to look for price deals

 In-store: COSTCO / Remote: Sierra Mist

21

 External sampling

 effective but costly - Postage, packaging

 Sample sizes may be too small

 NEW TREND - PREPAID CARDS FOR FREE PRODUCTS

 Substantially lowers postage / shipping costs

 Allows consumer to TRY ACTUAL PRODUCT, not a tiny 

sample size

 If consumer likes product, they will buy in future and not just 

seek discount pricing on it

 Provide reassurance or 

peace of mind to the 

Consumer

 They are not venturing into 

the “Point of No Return” - 

they can go back!

 Demonstrates the 

confidence of the 

Marketer that the 

consumer will be satisfied 

with their purchase

 Guarantees go beyond 

merely warranting the 

product or service being 

offere

 Mail

 Telephone

 Telemarketing

 Texting

 Web

 Banner Ads

 E-mail

 Fax

To optimize success, the Direct Marketer needs to 

correctly “merchandise” their offer to their target market

1. Free Gift Offers

2. Multi-Gift Offers

3. Referrals

Structure the Offer Based 

Upon Your Objective

Identify the goal of your program

1. To grow your Customer base ASAP

2. To generate repeat business / renewals ASAP

3. To recoup expense and turn profitable ASAP

4. To clear excess inventory

Different Offer tactics are utilized to 

achieve each objective

When the “sizzle” outweighs 

the steak.

 Free Offers and Sweepstakes 

are Soft offers

 Less loyalty. Consumers may 

just want in for the “freebie”

When the 

respondent 

must exchange 

something      

(= PAY for) the 

Offer, it is 

called a Hard 

Offer

 Overall, 

respondents 

to Hard 

Offers are 

better 

qualified 

buyers than 

Soft Offer 

respondents

Always use caution to ensure that the Offer is not so 

overwhelming that it overshadows the product or service

 “As you make your bed, so shall you lie in it.”

New customer generation

 Existing customer database 

is not sufficient to maintain 

all future sales

 Helps target Business or 

Consumer prospects

 Supports a company’s Direct Mail efforts

 More than $49 Billion was invested in 2011 

 Highly profitable for List Owners

Add These Words To Your 

Mailing List “List”

 Rentals

Lists are ALMOST ALWAYS rented

 Record (Listee)

The sum of the various data elements that 

together create each name / prospect on your list

 Re-mail

Advertisers typically rent a list for one time only. 

When they want to use the list more than once, 

it’s called a “re-mail.”

Requires an additional fee

 Seeding (Ringers)

Bogus Records that List Providers utilize to 

ensure that their rented lists are used in the way 

that they were contracted for and for the correct 

number of times

 Nixies

Records that are undeliverable

The Quality & Value of the 

Record Data Impacts Cost

All lists are rented 

and priced in 

thousands (CPM)

Basic Records 

Specialty Records

Hotline Records

1. House Lists

2. Response Lists

3. Compiled Lists

The internal database of a 

company

 Includes:

 Current customers 

(purchases within past year)

 Former customers

 Inquiries / prospects 

 List data must be 

constantly updated

 USPS forecasts that 

14% of US population 

moves each year (45MM 

address changes)

 Significant monetary 

waste via outdated lists

Are the “House Lists” of 

other companies and 

organizations

 Comprised of individuals with a 

specific interest or type of 

behavior

 Past behavior is a great 

indicator of future  activities

 Most often used within the 

Consumer marketplace

 Marketers can more

accurately forecast results for 

future programs with these 

types of lists

Various Types of

      Response Lists

Subscription 

Lists

• Donor Lists

• Credit Card 

Holder Lists

• Merged 

Database Lists

*Buyer Lists

• Attendee / Membership / 

Seminar Lists

DM Advertiser does not know the specific 

“willingness to respond or buying 

history”of Records, but is confident that 

they all possess certain defined and / or 

identifiable traits

 Available for Consumer and Business prospects

 3 Types of Compiled Lists

1. Consumer Compiled

2. Consumer Lifestyle Enhanced

3. Business Compiled

Why Direct Marketer’s Use List 

Profiling Tools

Help companies identify and target their 

optimal list prospects via demographic, 

lifestyle and business characteristics

 Profiling tools help companies to better understand 

the likes and dislikes of their customers and list 

prospects

 Profiling tools enable companies to compare their 

existing customer data with national data to make 

projections and determine potential

 Increases chances for success for future DM 

campaigns

 Identifies opportunities for upgrades, cross-selling…

When Selecting A Perspective 

Mailing List

The Direct Marketer 

needs to ponder multiple 

factors including

1. List Size 

2. CPM

3. Data Card

4. Average Order Size

5. List Origination

6. List Traits

7. List Usage

8. Selections Available

9. Frequency of Updates

Key Criteria

1. Description

2. List Source

3. Affinity

These are thousands of lists to choose from. 

 They can be obtained from 3 key sources

 1 - List Owners

 Make the final decision on who gets to 

rent a list

 They’ll often utilize List Managers to 

maintain their lists

 2 - List Brokers

 The “LIST EXPERTS” who middleman 

the list acquisition process

 Choose a Broker based upon referral 

or by their “area of expertise”

 3 - Compiled List Owners 

 Sell direct to Advertisers 

LIST HYGIENE - 3 Steps To Keep Your 

Lists Accurate, Lean & Mean

Merge / Purge  

 Merging multiple files to 

eliminate duplicate records

 Results in significant Direct 

Marketing / postal cost 

savings

 List Standardization

 USPS offers significant 

discounts for simplifying the 

postal delivery process

 Updated Addresses

 Without it, 7 to 10% of DM 

are Nixies

 Opt-out versus Opt-in

 Direct Mail offers Opt-Out 

whereas Online utilizes Opt-In

 Considering revenues obtained 

from List Rentals, it is unlikely that 

Opt-In will ever be incorporated 

into traditional Direct Mail

> $49 BILLION in 2011

 Data compilation and usage 

are sensitive

 Consumers don’t mind sharing 

info if they feel it is relevant

 Often, secondary usage of the 

info is what causes concern to 

prospects

Prospect Databases

Or How To Keep Making Your List 

Better & Better

1. Identify your target market

2. Review available lists with the 

greatest affinity for your 

product, category or offer

3. Rent various lists & merge / 

purge

4. Conduct a sample mailing to 

your prospects

5. Perform an analysis on those 

prospects who responded

6. Focus on them and begin 

the process again

1. Reassure the Public

 Reinforces the brand

 Tells us that WE ARE 

ALL IN IT TOGETHER

2. To Move Product

 Increase Sales

 Increase New Lines of 

Business

Growth made life more 

complex

 More business 

 More customers

 Too many transactions for an 

individual to process

 D-Base Marketing

 Enables Companies to 

stay focused of their 

business and plan more 

successful programs by 

using past buying habits 

and trends to project future 

outcomes through the 

analysis of data

Databases Aggregate Customers & 

Break Them Down into Increasingly 

Smaller Groups…

That share similar behaviors, attitudes, demographics or 

lifestyles

 By analyzing or combining these elements, Direct Marketers 

can identify customer segments with similar needs so that 

promotions, offers, products or services can be customized to 

their specific needs…

 and thus become MORE SUCCESSFUL

A Marketing Database is a 

Customized Application

Takes a variety 

of variables into 

consideration

 Requires a 

combination of 

internal and 

external data

1 - Flat-File:

 A list sorted in a single 

sequential order

• 2 - Relational:

 A system that can link 

a virtually unlimited 

assortment of 

characteristics or 

variables together in a 

dynamic array

Database Marketing & 

Customer Relationships

Despite MISSION STATEMENTS, all customers are NOT created equal!

 Varying value / $$ 

 The first sale matters most

 “Get em in the door and KEEP THEM!”

 Database Marketing enables Companies to better understand customer 

motivations

 Customized marketing programs increase LTV

3 Bits of Data “Data” 

To Remember

When compiling data

 1 - Avoid “TMI” (To Much Info)

 Remember the goal of your D-base

 What are you using it for?

 2 - A Good Database is non-static

 Keep adding and subtracting from it 

as these changes occur

 3 - Think of your data as “fresh vegetables”

 Highly perishable - things change all the time

DATA CENTERS: 

2 Ways to Access Data

Data Warehouse:

 Think 

 Centralizes data from a 

large number of separate 

transaction systems into one 

place

 Creates a set of 

standardized fields for all the 

different data elements

 Makes it easer to obtain and 

report data from multiple 

transactions processing 

systems and external data 

sources

Data Mart:

 Think

 Better solution for heavy 

data processing or 

modeling

 Extract the information from 

the Data Warehouse and 

put it into a Data Mart, 

where data can be better 

summarized and analyzed

 Designed for smaller 

number of users requiring 

specialized data apps.

Keeping the temperatures 

for computer servers cool is 

a priority for Data Centers

 Data Centers currently use 

1.5% of all electricity 

worldwide



Traditionally, they used the 

same refrigeration techniques 

as home refrigerators



Internet traffic is projected 

to increase 4X over the 

next five years



Creates exceptionally high 

electrical costs

Tremendous demand in the 

marketplace for Data 

Scientists

 Help companies to make sense 

of the massive amounts of data 

that’s collected

 Specialists are required to 

capture, sort & figure out 

which data is most relevant

Finding “Gold” in the 

info by prioritizing data

1 - Cluster Analysis

 Demographic & Financial 

 Behavioral

 Segmentation - PRIZM

 2 - Market Basket Analysis

 Places like products or services together

 Helps determine new products to offer to existing 

customers

 3 - Neural Networks

 Predictive / Forecast  

 Via algorhythm

Statistical analysis 

formula based upon 

prior outcomes 

“predicts / forecasts”

which Baseball players 

will excel

Databases that capture 

international data must be 

flexible and “country-centric”

 International mail codes

 Larger name fields are required

 Multi-names 

 Different and additional 

“character sets”

 Foreign alphabets

 Punctuation - accent marks

 Postal and address coding 

differences

 Just 1/3 of countries have 

“sophisticated” postal delivery

 Just 20% use Street Names 

for address ID

Privacy is a top concern 

for Marketers and 

Consumers

 Challenge occurs when 

there is a conflict between 

the Customers’ and the 

Company’s perception of 

what is private

 The Fed. Government has 

shifted from Regulatory 

into an Enforcement mode

 Much legislation designed 

for privacy protection

User privacy has always been a 

major challenge to Facebook and 

other sites

 In IPO filing papers, Facebook 

acknowledged the need for its users’ 

privacy to be protected 35 times.

 The challenge is everytime a 

user makes any type of 

comment, like or status update, 

they are leaving a digital 

fingerprint that MAY be made 

available to Advertisers and 

Marketers.

 In 2011, Facebook 

agreed to allow the 

Federal Trade 

Commission to conduct 

independent Privacy 

Audits on its site for the 

next 20 years

Without a Formal Plan, Sometimes the 

Best Strategy Could Fail

Plans need to be reviewed, 

updated and modified 

constantly to ensure that 

they are accurate and 

working.

 In the past, companies made 

Annual Plans, 3 Year and 5  

Year Plans

 Today, plans are 

repeatedly being reviewed 

and modified far more 

frequently as internal & 

external factors change.

Plans are Blueprints that will take 

companies into the future

• Keeps companies focused and 

on-track 

• Forces them to look “long-term” 

while also setting guidelines for 

the short-term

• Enables them to brutally 

evaluate themselves and 

optimize their “uniqueness” 

• Provides benchmarks / 

measurements to Management

Planning Techniques Vary Depending 

Upon Where the Company is…

Start-up Companies

 Need business 

knowledge & expertise 

from Senior Management 

or company founders

 Established Companies

 Optimize the experience 

of both Senior and 

Middle Management & 

empower individual 

Departments to submit 

their recommendations

 Senior Mgt. may veto

1. Where should we 

focus our greatest 

effort and why?

2. What do we bring to 

the table?

3. Do our core 

capabilities suit our 

position?

Primarily written to raise money 

for a new business idea or to 

make a significant change to an 

existing business 

 Selling a company

 Merging a company…

 It summarizes…

1. The key concepts of the business

2. It affirms that there is a market for its 

product or service

3. Outlines the organizational structure

4. Includes financial projections

 5 Key questions Investors want answered 

regarding the Business Plan

1. Is this a valid business? 

2. Is this business “unique” enough to 

succeed?

3. Is the Management Team competent 

enough to pull it off?

4. How have other potential investors 

responded to this plan?

Does anyone else WANT IN on 

this business?

5. How will they recoup their 

investment?

Shows HOW the 

Company will Achieve Success

 Blueprint for short and longterm activities, strategies and 

work plans

 On-going process lets 

company define its mission 

and vision for the future

 Should UNITE the entire 

company with a shared focus

 Must be customer-centric too

It’s the 

Company’s 

Highway 

towards success

1. Addresses the organizations’ purpose for existing

2. Defines its business and what it does

3. What does this business really do and what does it 

hope to do?

4. What makes this business, organization or brand 

unique?

1. Paints a picture of the 

organization’s future

2. What will the business look like 

in one to three years

3. Must be consistent with the 

company’s Mission Statement

4. Must be strategically sound

5. The company must “walk the 

walk”

The Multi-Channel Direct Marketing 

Plan is Both, STRATEGIC & TACTICAL

 It’s the roadmap for a company’s 

marketing plans

 Estimates the value of prospects, 

customers and segments of the market 

to determine the right investment 

strategies for each group

 Sets measurable goals & objectives

 Indicates how the organization will 

compete

This Multi-Channel DM Plan Consists of:

1. Introduction

2. Executive Summary

3. Situation Analysis

4. Opportunity & Issue Analysis (uses SWOT results)

5. Goals & Objectives 

6. Marketing Strategy

7. Tactics

8. Budget

In no more than 30 to 

60 seconds

 or until this elevator 

gets to my floor

1. What your company does

2. What markets you serve

3. How you’ll generate revenues

4. How you compare to other businesses

5. Why you’ll succeed

6. Ultimate plans for the biz

Ad budgets typically get reduced / 

cut / slashed / decimated / “SLICED 

& DICED”…

 However DM and its respective mediums 

typically fare better than Brand (Awareness) 

advertising since the results are more 

measurable, more immediate and can often 

be modified more expediently

DIRECT MARKETING DRIVEN SALES ARE PROJECTED 

TO GROW AT A 5.1% ANNUAL GROWTH RATE BETWEEN 

NOW AND 2014

Direct Marketing versus 

Brand Advertising

What is the key difference 

between these 2 types of 

advertising options?

• BRAND DIRECT is the 

merging of traditional 

BRAND advertising and 

response DIRECT 

Marketing

• Will occur more frequently in 

a Recession

1. “Direct Marketing is the interactive use of 

advertising media 

2. to stimulate an immediate behavior modification

3. in such a way that this behavior can be tracked, 

recorded, analyzed and stored on a database for 

future retrieval and use”

 Let’s THINK like a 

Marketer

 How do you determine 

how to BEST REACH 

your prospect?

 How do you determine 

how to best reach your 

prospect AT A TIME 

THAT THEY MAY BE 

MOST LIKELY to buy or 

respond?

Proposition

 Enticement to buy

Creative = 30% 

How It’s Communicated?

 2 Parts

 Layout / Format - 15%

 The visual

 Copy Points - 15%

 4 types

 Benefits / bennies

 Description / features

 Support

 Sweeteners

 Reaching customers 

when they are in the 

market and ready to 

buy

 More important than 

ever before

Timing Matters!!!

 Sometimes Marketers 

use timing to create a 

sense of urgency

The ultimate goal 

of the Direct 

Marketer is to 

build and extend 

upon the longterm or lifetime 

value of a 

customer

1. Lifetime value

2. Recency

3. Frequency

4. Monetary

 Why is it so important?

 Avoids Churn

 Law of Economics

 Referrals

 Examples: 

 Airlines: Frequent Flyer Pgms

 Retail:    Frequent Buyer Clubs

 Concentrated Effort: Group 

Love” for the customer

 Learn to think like your 

customer 

1. Defining customer needs

2. Identifying the value of the 

relationship

3. Focusing on customers based 

upon their value

4. Integrating all customer 

contact channels (sales, 

marketing, customer service, 

top mgt.)

5. Measure, measure & keep 

measuring

6. Constantly seek improvement