Archive for January, 2009

Obama Should Segment Email List to Boost ROI.

Monday, January 26th, 2009

I heard a report on NPR yesterday about the 13 million email addresses the Obama campaign collected during the campaign.  They plan to leverage them for the creation of a post-election movement to more directly involve Americans in the legislative process.

The report raised the issue that those on the list most likely had varying degrees of partisan viewpoints … from hardcore DNC members to those who were attracted by President Obama’s bi-partisan campaign rhetoric.

This is the perfect case study in waiting for the importance of segmenting customer data.

Let’s exchange the word supporter for customer and then think about how the Obama team can boost the ROI of their efforts.

1. By developing customer profiles from the list, they can readily segment them into various categories. These could range from those who would support any effort put forth by the Democrats to those that would be more responsive to initiatives which included more people “under the tent.”

2. With that knowledge, the team could communicate with and mobilize those that would most likely respond to a particular issue or idea.

3. Metrics could be established to measre varying goals and the results used to predict likelihood of future efforts’ successes.

4. Each sgement could be polled to determine degree of support in advance of introducing legislation or positions.

The same principle applies to any business.  Think about your enterprise.  If you have a list of customers and/or prospects, you possess a valuable asset.  It’s time to leverage it for success.  You can boost your marketing ROI significantly if you take the time to understand your customers.

Once armed with a highly segmented list, you can develop campaigns with pinpoint accuracy that will produce results.

Digital Marketing Can Boost Marketing ROI of Direct Pay Health Care Providers

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

My last post about our dentist resulted in another dentist following my Twitter updates.  First, I was impressed that a health care provider was using Twitter and then when I went to his Web site … I have to applaud his digital marketing acumen.

Check out his site. It is an excellent example of using multiple digital markeitng tools to boost marketing ROI. The site:

  • Uses video which is a great tool for SEO
  • Has two “opt-in” offers that result in list building of qualified prospects
  • Features video testimonials from patients
  • Targets mid-life dentistry issues
  • Contains a blog with an RSS feed

As the economy struggles along it’s vital to develop a realtionship with prospects through a two-way dialogue. Those who offer direct pay medical services can learn a lot from this site. And, that goes for anyone else who is trying to maximize their marketing ROI.

Let me know what you think of this Dentist’s efforts.  He’s my marketer of the day!

The Dentist And Marketing ROI

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

My wife was complaining last night about the dentist our two college age kids see. She was upset that the dentist’s schedule has little room and flexibility during the college holiday break schedule. The dentist happens to be a friend of ours, so I called him with a “customer relationship” suggestion.

I asked him if he wanted to, was it reasonably easy to access his database and produce a list of all of his college age patients.  He said, “sure, why?’ I relayed the perception my wife has about the scheduling issues.

I suggested that he might want to think about sending out an email in October to those parents of his college age patients and informing them of special holiday break appointments he has reserved for those who will be in town during that time.

I told him I thought it would accomplish several things:

1. Using your data to communicate with customers about a specific idea or proposition is always a good idea and strengthens the relationship.

2. By letting parents know that you have special times for their kids set aside during the holiday period signals that you care about their needs and helps distinguish your level of service/brand from others.

3. Regardless if they avail themselves of the offer, it creates good “word-of-mouth” and nothing increases marketing ROI like WOM!

All of us have an opportunity to leverage our customer data and transform it into actionable efforts that will boost marketing ROI.

As for the dentist, he liked the idea and said he looked forward to thanking me in person at my next visit.  Uh,oh.

No More Free Beer?

Monday, January 5th, 2009

This just in … no more free beer at Busch theme parks. Just read this in a news post. It made me think about customer expectations.

As we launch a new year of engaging customers ask yourself what expectations your customers have about their interactions with you.

I have no idea whether or not those coming to a Busch theme park have come to expect free Budweiser as a just reward for standing in-line with the sweaty masses. But if they have, are there consequences?  Will people vote with their feet, or simply shrug it off as another casualty of a faltering economy?

Have your customers developed a set of expectations when interacting with your brand?  Do the expectations carry any value?  Metaphorically, if they expect a “free beer” when transacting with you, does it add value to the brand experience?

It’s a good time to determine what is and what’s not important to your customers.  Engage them in a simple survey, publish the results back to your customers and state your intended actions.

Bottoms up.