Problem:  With rising postal costs our customer was interested in cutting back on their mail campaigns without cutting back on ROI.  What previous customers and new prospects are most likely to respond to a promotional mail piece?  Is there a way to make predictions based on past behavior?

Solution:

Part 1:  An RFM matrix was designed and applied over 3 years of historic sales data. 

Trends were analyzed and tested regarding:

• Repeat purchasing patterns.
• Amount of lapsed time in between repeat customer purchases.
• Average dollar spent per purchase/per furniture category mix.

 

Part 2:  Additional tests were performed on new-mover files.  How long after one moves to a new home do they go out and purchase furniture?  What is the average dollar spent?   

End Result:  When decreasing mail quantities, it can be done with confidence.  RFM trends indicate the likelihood of a customer to buy again.  New mover files are prioritized based on type and home value.  Mail quantities are adjusted on a per-campaign basis using custom-logic.  Embracing this new insight, ROI is not compromised.

 

 

Problem:  Our client wanted a clearer picture of how their annual promotions affected total store sales.  What percentage of sales is a direct result of a direct mail flier?  What percentage of sales are previous customers not mailed a flier?  What percentage of monthly sales can be attributed to walk-in traffic?

Solution: 

Part 1: A response analysis template was designed and then tailored to reflect various in-store promotions and mail-piece drop dates.  Match-back programming is applied to store sales files and original promotional mailing lists.  Responders are tallied by type; customer VS rented list VS un-solicited walk-ins.

 

Part 2:  During complex promotional periods, priorities are built based on strict purchase dates and product mix.

End Result:  A custom-built, more-robust picture of sales by store, geographic market, and customer type (mailed customer, non-mailed previous customer, rented list first-time buyers, and new walk-ins).  Our customer is not only able to monitor the success of each individual sale effort, but learn which rented list proved most successful.  Subsequent marketing efforts stand to improve building on the success and lessons of the past.

 

Problem:  How do you craft a direct marketing piece so enticing that even members of Forbes’ 500 wealthiest American’s would feel engaged?  Attracting Hollywood’s brightest stars and big-business CEO’s requires every detail be held under scrutiny.  To avoid the appearance of “junk mail” – our client came to us with a need for nothing short of perfection in database and address hygiene. 

Solution:

Part 1:  Specific business rules were drafted to cater to our client’s unique and precise needs.  Formatting rules for salutation and address lines, and special casing and drop record rules were drafted down to the most minute detail. 

Part 2:  As a result of heavy, routine spot-checking, new business rules are drafted on a per-job basis.   As new situations come into play, C.TRAC tailors programming work flow at each and every step of the way, even drafting special programming software to build the best  mail file on the market today. 

End Result: This wasn’t our every-day, routine database hygiene project.  For each and every job, a custom work-flow chart is built ensuring the client an unprecedented level of accuracy is being met.  Each mailing is deployed only after 1-3 hours of manual spot checking.  Under this new process, our client’s undeliverable as addressed mail diminished substantially; affecting ROI in a positive way.