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In this issue:
Marketing Article: Top 10 New Rules Every Marketer Should Know (Part 2 of a 2 part series)
Marketing Article: Direct Marketing: Overlooked, Underappreciated and Unstoppable

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5) Business data must go beyond the basics.

When you’re looking to connect with business prospects and customers, targeting the right audience is essential. Getting business names and addresses is nice, but specialty data takes your efforts to the next level.

Depending on your industry and offer, you can target by business type, sales volume or even the square footage of the building. Once you’ve profiled your ideal customer, your selections become even more obvious. If you’re marketing insurance, make sure you target company headquarters. Or, save yourself time and money by targeting only the decision makers in any given business.

4) Everything old is new again.

Despite all the cool new forms of direct mail, it turns out that using an old-fashioned letter can pull results that are just as positive.

Don’t lose sight of the basics: direct marketing relies on a targeted list, a compelling message, and a great offer with a clear call-to-action. And in that age of instant e-communication, the power of a letter can be easily underestimated. Letters hold our personal attention, and they still represent “important” or “official” communication for many consumers and businesses. Many marketing experts assert that the further away a marketing message gets from the look and feel of a traditional letter, the less impact that campaign will have.

3) Your computer is a valuable tool - and not just for surfing and mailing.

If you’re still using your computer the same way you did five years ago - for emailing, writing and storing documents – you’re missing an amazing opportunity to “wire up” your marketing. Online tools including database management systems, count-and-order sites and data pipes are an absolute must for today’s marketers.

Whether you’re looking for simple ways to collect commissions, a more sophisticated method of enhancing your e-commerce site, or a way to better manage your marketing data, online tools can make it easy for you. All you need is access to the web, and a connection to a smart solutions provider.

2) Target, target, target!

With the glut of marketing messages being sent to consumers and businesses every day, now is the time to place quality over quantity. Why waste money on unqualified leads in a blanket marketing campaign, when there are so many solutions available to help you narrow and improve you focus?

The right data solutions provider can help you uncover which market segments are most likely to become valuable customers, whether you choose them by geography, demographics or business type. They’ll help you target consumers and companies at every level, from a broad, nationwide sweep to a specific, detailed search. It’s the smartest way to harness the power of data, and increase your bottom line.

1) Using one source is no longer enough.

Getting data from as many wide-ranging sources as possible gives you the assurance that you’ll get the very best information available. By using all available resources, multi-source providers deliver more and better data that most other single-source services combined.

Multi-source providers compile their lists from real-time, comprehensive sources. They continually update their records, to ensure that their data – and your access – is ready, any time you need it. And best of all, multi-source providers give you access to industry-best data without the high cost of buying information from several different sources.

Want to learn more about these golden rules – or start using then to improve your marketing campaigns? Whether you’re looking for basic data or sophisticated solutions, Accudata America can help. We’re experts at helping marketers send the ideal message to the perfect audience. Contact us today at 800-732-3440 or info@accudata.com.

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About AccuData America
This report is available courtesy of Accudata America.
Accudata America, a PRIMIS company, is a leading provider of data and database marketing solutions. We help companies identify prospects, capture more new customers and retain and grow their existing customer databases. With real-time access to all major marketing databases, we offer extensive data solutions ranging from consulting and list rental to deliver strategies and solutions for every industry.

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As business leaders and professionals, we all know by now that the success of an organization is driven by one thing: whether or not people choose to buy what you've got to sell. According to a recent survey involving U.S. senior executives, marketing will be the most important area of expertise for the next-generation of leaders.

Every business needs customers, but more importantly every business needs to maintain those customers while constantly retaining new ones. The only successful way of doing this is by learning everything about your customers, including who they are? What do they have in common? Do they share a hobby, an age range, a life stage, or a geographic community? Can you break them down into groups? The answers to these questions hold a wealth of information for you.

Although direct marketing can be overlooked by many businesses, here are statistics proving the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns over the years.

According to the DMA (Direct Marketing Association) 2005 Postal and Email Marketing Report:

* For postal mailings, 43% of direct marketers indicated that their up-front gross response has increased from 2003 to 2002.

* As with postal mailings, when asked about 2004, respondents showed more optimism in their up-front email response rates, with 51% projecting an increase and 32% stable response rates.

* For postal mailers, the top list techniques used to improve 2003 front-end response were enhancements to internal housefile databases (50%), demographic segmentation (50%), and prior mail history analysis (46%). Most list techniques had a success rate of 80% or greater.

According to the DMA 2004 E-Commerce Report:

* The portion of companies having an in-house email marketing list has increased from 74% to 85%

* 43% of Web and email investment is allocated towards marketing, compared to 35% in 2002

The direct marketing industry employs the top minds of our world to analyze and build databases and marketing campaigns to address only the concerns and needs of a selected audience, which history has proven to be accurate 70% of the time. Typically, budgets are based more on analyzing the product, service and/or the consumer rather than playing an ROI guessing game.

Case Study of a Client

Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation (AHMCC), the largest U.S. privately held mortgage banker/mortgage broker initiated a more sophisticated form of direct mail marketing in 2003, which included the use of opt-in email files and multi-level marketing to reach new customers. The results were that AHMCC increased their revenues by 100% and increased their closing ratio by 15% by using email alone. Customer loyalty went up and referrals hit the roof. AHMCC now has 700 offices in 49 states, Guam and the Virgin Islands!

As the marketplace continues to evolve and change due the economic landscape and the need to offset expensive ad campaigns, direct marketing continues to play a major role for the success of any sized business. Regardless of the negative connotations that the public has on direct marketing, the truth of the matter is that corporations are vehicles that satisfy the needs of people and marketing is the channel that helps facilitate this process.

Ultimately, in order to be successful, companies must learn to maintain the loyalty of their customers and get in front of new ones by practicing 1 simple rule: Providing good product and service to the right people, at the right time, in the right place and in the right way.

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Brian Rice is the Co-Founder & CEO of Red Clay Media, an innovative and interactive direct marketing company. Under his leadership and entrepreneurial spirit, Red Clay has developed into a dynamic, cutting-edge firm, servicing thousands of clients in a variety of industries throughout the country. Visit http://www.redclaymedia.com or send feedback to brice@redclaymedia.