A Direct Marketer’s Destination…..Think Canada Post
As a direct marketer, I appreciate the effort it takes to launch a full-fledged direct marketing campaign. Typically, the following components must be developed, documented and communicated to the business team:
- Build a marketing brief - describe the campaign, objective and offer
- Pull data to confirm the hypothesis - define/profile your target and then pull data internal and external based on this
- Build a marketing campaign plan - objectives, go- to-market plan, approach, goals
- Define the measureable outcome - response rate, revenue goals or subscribers
- Review with market management
As technology and applications continue to get introduced and improved, there are many third party resources available to help those of us, whether we are novice or seasoned marketers who are responsible for direct mail campaigns. One useful resource is the Canada Post direct marketing website.
From my personal persepctive, the real asset of this resource site is that all the tools that you require for your campaign are together. Canada Post has cleverly pulled together the components in an easy to follow step by step process within its application called Direct Marketing Online. There are standardized templates and forms available that help you define, plan and manage your campaign. The document flow allows the user to clearly see steps necessary in order to prepare for the launch of your marketing campaign.
The site provides you with helpful links about products and services, rates and specifications - to help you get a better idea of the type of campaign that will align with your objectives. When you access the products and services page, you are asked some basic business questions to confirm what you intend to do with your campaign. Your answers determine the site’s recommended approach to your direct marketing campaign needs. At this point, the most beneficial part of the site tool is that it provides you with campaign pricing in order to assist you with building your business case for the campaign. Other resources include success stories, tips on campaign production and tips on campaign planning.
The most important part of any direct marketing campaign is the customer list you’ll be using. The site resource contains an application tool called Smart Data Cleaner, which can help you scrub the data.
To refine your campaign, there are user friendly tools on the site that are easily accessible: AdCard Service, residential and business counts along with maps, electronic shipping tools, a campaign calculator and you can download indicia artwork.
This one-stop shop offers myriad resources to demystify direct marketing and optimize your campaign.
Mamie Leung
Sr. Director, Direct Marketing Communications
Rogers Communications