It’s good to know human beings are nowhere near as predictable as marketers like to think we are. Despite the vast amount of data sites like Facebook hold about members, the social network’s data-driven adverts are still way off target. OK, I may be in my forties and engaged to be married. But that doesn’t [...]
I fell into direct marketing more or less by accident back in 1989. Part creative, part logical, the bit I found most exciting was the concept of targeting: tailoring your offer to a carefully-chosen bunch of people who should be more likely than average to respond. Targeting makes sense in principle. For example, I love [...]
These days when you hunt for something online, Google and co. tailor the results according to your search and click history. We tend to click on stuff we like, approve of, enjoy and are familiar with. Search engines assume we want more of the same, which has its advantages. But the downsides are clear. We’re [...]
What is segmentation? Segmentation means splitting your prospect or customer data into chunks – segments – so you can send a specially tailored marketing message to each. How can you segment your data? Here’s a few examples: customers / prospects recent buyers / frequent buyers / people who haven’t bought for ages marketing responders / [...]
Like all direct marketing principles, targeting is entirely logical. Yes, the world is your database. But it makes sense to aim your products at the people you know are likely to be interested instead of blatting your message out to everyone in the known universe and beyond. Offline, targeting has serious cost implications. It saves a bomb on direct mail postage [...]
