One of the biggest misconceptions about 1:1 (personalized) printing is that marketers don’t have the data to drive it. This might be true in some cases, but it also can be more perception than reality.
Often, marketers have more data than they realize. Maybe their data is not in great shape. Maybe they don’t know how to access it. Maybe the data preparation process seems too overwhelming. Whatever the reason, marketers can have trouble getting started.
Putting Data to Work
Here are three ways you can put your data to work right away:
Resuscitate a dormant customer relationship.
If a retail customer hasn’t ordered from you in a period of time, send him a personalized postcard with a coupon encouraging him to come back into the store.
Proactively cross sell and upsell.
If you are an auto dealer and know a customer’s lease is about to expire on a Toyota Corolla, send her a personalized brochure trying to upgrade her to a Toyota Camry.
Create continuity of purchases through a loyalty program.
If you are a local winery, before visitors leave following a facility tour, offer them a free wine tote with your custom printed logo and ask them to sign up for a wine club. This will engage them more to sign-up and obtain birthdates and anniversaries of their family and friends so you can use the information to trigger personalized reminders for gifts for special occasions later.
Places Where Data Hides
Before you can leverage data, you have to find it. Where is your data hiding? In more places than you might think. Here are some places to start:
- Transactional data (both brick-and-mortar and from the online store)
- Web contact forms
- Customer care (found in your CRM system)
- Business reply cards (get that data back from the fulfillment house!)
- SMS/cell phone marketing contacts
- Responses to e-mail campaigns
- Trade shows/events (get those “card swipe” responses back into your system after post-show follow-up)
- Customer and prospect surveys
If you require additional data, you can append it with external sources, such as lists from Acxiom, Experian or InfoUSA to get a more holistic picture of your audience.
Need help with the process? Give us a call and ask! If you’re in education check out our Scope1.com marketing technologies solutions for education!
