Remember the scene in the movie, Forrest Gump, where the character, Bubba, rattles off all the
different ways to prepare shrimp? The list went on forever!
The same can be true for marketing. There’s direct mail
marketing, email marketing, B2B marketing, B2C marketing, interactive
marketing, multi-channel marketing, mobile marketing — and the list goes on and
on.
Each of these types of marketing has best practices
guidelines to help you meet your goals and objectives. Yet, marketing success
often boils down to preference management. The best-crafted email or direct
mail pieces are worthless if the content is not relevant to the recipient or is
not delivered by the preferred communication method.
Many marketers may simply be confused about the concept of
preference management and how it can work for them. The task of collecting and
organizing consumer preferences may seem daunting. On top of all this is the
need to honor compliance legislation requirements such as CAN-SPAM, Do Not
Call, wireless consent rules, and text messaging rules.
The use of technology and marketing solutions such as
marketing automation, web analytics, social media tools, and customer
relationship management have been around for some time. Unfortunately,
marketing data can end up in “data silos” all over the organization which makes
it difficult to make the data actionable.
Using an enterprise preference management tool with your
existing marketing applications can enable opt-ins, handle opt-outs, and ensure
compliance with multiple regulations. The preference management application
helps you deliver the right content to the right audience by the preferred
communication channel. A good preference management solution can integrate with
and leverage your existing technology investments.
What do you think? Let’s hear your comments!
Scott Frey is the CEO of PossibleNOW and CompliancePoint. Scott leads the strategic mission to maintain its leadership position in global direct marketing compliance by closely monitoring changes in consumer privacy legislation, industry trends, and delivering innovative products and services to meet client’s needs.
Follow me on Twitter: @ScottFreyPN | Connect on LinkedIn: Scott Frey
Thanks
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading!
ReplyDeleteUsing technology for marketing is a big advantage however, I still see a strong effectiveness from direct mail marketing especially for small businesses who have a smaller target audience. It is best to mix and match the old and new ways to market.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Maylie. No matter how you market – whether it is direct mail, email, phone calls – it helps to know and honor the desired communication preference of your audience. That’s how technology (and a persistent preference center) can help.
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