Direct mail and online: combining online and offline data

All direct mail campaigns need to give customers the option to respond online – as Richard Higginbotham, marketing manager at CDMS, points out, it’s a must-have option.

And consumers back this up. A recent survey shows that consumers rate the ability to respond online to a campaign as the most important factor in the buying process, making them 20% more likely than average to respond and purchase as a result of promotional literature.

Higginbotham also examines the techniques marketers use to track online response to direct mail campaigns and how data gathered online and offline can help create an integrated, in-depth knowledge of customers and their behaviour.

The technologies covered include:

• Personalised URLs (PURLs) – and individual landing pages which feature customised copy and targeted offers.
• Event-triggered marketing – these can be based on previous customer behaviour or a specific date, such as a birthday or anniversary.