The Future of Direct Marketing - Implications for Publishing and Media

The Future of Direct Marke1ng

http://www.acxiom.co.uk/

Direct marke1ng – the best inven1on since sliced bread?


They say sliced bread is the pinnacle of human achievement – though we’ve landed on the moon, split the atom and more.


At Acxiom, we believe Direct MarkeAng should be held up as the greatest markeAng invenAon we’ve

had; today marking the way for Digital MarkeAng’s future.


At Acxiom, we believe Direct MarkeAng should be held up as the greatest markeAng invenAon we’ve

had; today marking the way for Digital MarkeAng’s future.

But why? And what exactly is Direct MarkeAng?


Contents:

What is Direct Marke1ng?


The Implica1ons of Direct Marke1ng for Publishing & Media

How Acxiom helped The Guardian


This slideshare is designed to share Acxiom’s thoughts on the future of Direct MarkeAng and help you when considering your own

strategies and plans around direct and digital markeAng.




For many people, when they hear the term Direct MarkeAng, they think this means only Direct Mail.



For many people, when they hear the term Direct MarkeAng, they think this means only Direct Mail.


But Direct MarkeAng is much more than that.


Direct mail is a form of Direct MarkeAng, but along with telemarkeAng, and to some

extent email markeAng, it is not the only form.




The most important aspect of Direct MarkeAng is the principal behind it. Marketers using it must be aiming to:


Get a message or offer DIRECT to an individual







That is based on the ability to RECOGNISE them,






Which means you can develop an UNDERSTANDING of them,






Which means you can develop an UNDERSTANDING of them,

Then PERSONALISE the communicaAon and dialogue, and improve abiliAes to

understand ATTRUBUTION.


DIRECT > RECOGNISE > UNDERSTANDING > PERSONALISE > ATTRIBUTION this principal

is Direct MarkeAng at its best.



The link between Direct and Digital Marke1ng



With Digital MarkeAng, there are greater capabiliAes but more complexity with much more fragmentaAon.



Digital markeAng works wonders, especially:





For mono-‐channel ecommerce brands.





If customers are always logged in.





If customers are always logged in.

When maintaining current customer relaAonships.


But how, in the real world should you make sense of this new markeAng-‐world

order?



If you consider a consumer hoping for a consistent seamless experience across

touchpoints, or a marketer wrestling with varied digital channels to deliver that connected experience, a massive and obvious challenge becomes clear.



Addressing the challenge



When it comes to the customer, the best way to understand and engage with customers across mulAple media, channels and devices

is directly through data.



Recogni1on is key to success



The next stage is using data connecAvity to achieve seamless customer

recogniAon, on or offline.



The goal is to get a direct message to a recognised

individual, based on informed understanding.



Following the Direct MarkeAng principals, the next steps are to personalise and aSribute – measuring the impact and opAmising over Ame.






Is there a place for what was tradi1onal DM?



With the advance of digital, is there a place for tradiAonal Direct MarkeAng; direct mail, email, telemarkeAng?



The answer is of course yes; we’ve seen direct mail increase, email mature with prospecAng easing, and telemarkeAng is

finding its place.



However Direct MarkeAng will sAll change, conAnuing not only in its tradiAonal

form but driving changes in omni-‐channel.



The key takeaway?



The future of Direct MarkeAng is Digital MarkeAng.


But in turn -‐the Future of Digital MarkeAng is Direct MarkeAng!


The Implica1ons of Direct Marke1ng for Publishing &

Media

Implica1ons of DM for Publishing & Media


The Publishing Challenge



Something Acxiom have

observed when working with

publishers in the UK, mainland

Europe and the US, is that they

feel more challenged

recently than other sectors.




Why?


Because of the impact of

the digital revoluAon;

from smartphones

to social media.


Why?


However, although publishing and media has been massively impacted, it has great

advantage compared to other industries, parAcularly those trying to nurture customer

relaAonships.




For example: Insurance providers: Customers are only interested in speaking with them at an increasingly small window: once a year at renewals Ame.



For example: Car manufacturers: They may only get to engage (via dealerships) once every three or four years when customers are replacing their car.



For example: Phone manufacturers: Apart from Apple, these are in most cases intermediated by network providers or OS providers, and are relevant every 24 months on average.


These and many other industries struggle due to intermediated relaAonships and/or only an occasional opportunity for dialogue.




Why do media/

publishing companies

have an advantage

other industries and brands don’t

have?



Because they spent decades

delivering content that

people want, and

trust, building loyalty.


By delivering that content to more touch points they have started to manage

fragmentaAon, and as a result, the publishers we speak with believe their best customers

are more engaged than ever before.



UlAmately, content is driving a level of engagement that enables customer-‐

centricity.



Embracing innova1on



Although publishers have engaged audiences they must sAll embrace new innovaAons, such as third party publishing and markeAng pla[orms.



To compete, publishers need to be creaAve and innovaAve but embrace change, and recognise that there may be advantages to being open to third parAes.



It certainly isn’t easy to predict what new innovaAons will impact businesses in any

industry in the next few years!



Data is key to success



Acxiom believes the key factor in maximising potenAal from today’s

complex customer touch-‐points and new innovaAons, lies in harnessing the data generated, using it to understand what’s

happening, then opAmising customer engagements.



Aligning Marke1ng Technology and Publishing



In the last few years publishers have experienced significant changes and

enhancements in the technology they use for direct markeAng.



At the same Ame technology has quickly evolved allowing digital pla[orms to deliver content -‐ and supporAng the need to grow

digital adverAsing revenues.



However, the MarkeAng-‐to-‐customers paths of Direct MarkeAng and Digital MarkeAng

have been operaAng almost separately, with neither side really understanding what the

other does.



A combined view



Soon we expect direct and digital to work closer, as the insight direct marketers use is

leveraged by digital pla[orms, and the behavioural informaAon collated through digital greater informs direct markeAng.



The technology to combine these worlds exists, and Acxiom is working with publishers

in the UK, Europe and the US to do so.



Acxiom’s technology enables off-‐line insight to be ingested

into Data Management Pla[orms and also within

Premium Publisher networks (like Facebook, EBay and

Twi^er) so adverAsers can reach their audiences directly across our publishing client properAes

and beyond.



Data Mone1sa1on Journey



UlAmately the merging of CRM and digital insight is an important step towards organisaAons being more data driven.



Data driven enterprises harness data assets and use empirical evidence in decision making.



More data enables be^er measurement of what is actually happening, from the effecAveness of third party pla[orms to ad revenue.


Consider the innovaAon (and disrupAon) that publishers & other industries experience today.


With consumers creaAng exponenAal digital footprints, and advanced data management

technologies, now is the ideal Ame for organisaAons of all industries to embrace

data moneAsaAon.



The importance of data and consumer privacy; the ethical

use of data



It is said in racing that while you can’t win the race at the first corner, you can certainly lose the race at the first corner, and in the

data industry there is an equivalent.



We may feel we’ve been racing for a while now but there is a massive corner looming

large ahead for all -‐ recognising the importance of data and consumer privacy;

the ethical use of data.



Misjudging or ignoring the importance of

privacy and the ethical use of data is fatal.



Trust is the #1 reason consumers share their data. Looking more closely, trust typically comes from security

and value;



Security in that we keep it safe from hacking, loss and misuse, including security

against aggressive use/ selling to unrelated

organisaAons.



Value in the sense that the consumer gets value in return for sharing data.

Ask for data without valuable return, and responses will be

negaAve.



Deliver a great customer experience through the ethical use of data, and offer exchanges of value, and you’ll build frui[ul, trusted, data-‐enabled relaAonships.



What are the implica1ons for Direct Marke1ng in Publishing?



In publishing, the Direct MarkeAng team has

tradiAonally been a small oasis of data

experAse within

publishers.



Now, as more data becomes available, the demands on

the data teams will grow, and sophisAcaAon levels of how

data is used for Direct

MarkeAng will advance.



Today, when compared to financial services, publishers

don’t tend to have the skills for creaAng propensity

models for cross selling, or recommendaAon engines to

personalise content.



This is just one of the areas we see being a real boost to Direct MarkeAng capabiliAes

within the publishing sector as they become more data driven.



How Acxiom Helped the Guardian



The Guardian asked us what else they needed apart from the technology to be successful as part of a change to become

more consumer centric.



Becoming consumer-‐centric and data-‐driven should go hand in hand to achieve success.



Within publishing, breaking down some of the organisaAonal silos is key to taking

advantage of new opportuniAes and leading in the use of data for direct markeAng in a

digital world.



To find out more about how we helped Guardian News & Media boost global engagement, read the case study


http://www.acxiom.co.uk/resources/guardian-news-meida-boosting-audience-engagement-across-the-globe/

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