BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - June 10, 2010) - One of the top pressures dictating multi-channel marketing decisions of retailers is consumer frustration with disjointed experiences across channels, according to the Aberdeen Group report Restocking the Marketer's Toolbox in the Digital Age. Between February and March 2010, Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (
"Consumers have grown frustrated with disjointed experiences across channels. This stems from disparate pricing and promotions to inventory availability. Channel-specific offers and promotions can be beneficial, but the marketing activity behind these offers should match the customer procurement process," says Chris Cunnane, primary author and senior research associate, Aberdeen.
In response to this pressure, retail organizations indicated that integrating disparate data is the top strategic action. "A centralized marketing database allows for a single view of the customer, and allows all departments to access information about the customer. Additionally, with one centralized database, marketers are able to develop marketing outreach programs geared around demographic or psychographic specific characteristics, without having to consult multiple databases that may have conflicting data. This lack of integrated customer data leads to duplicate marketing efforts that can send conflicting messages," states Sahir Anand, co-author and research director, Aberdeen.
A top capability to emerge from this study is the ability to track multi-channel marketing program response rates. "In order to improve responsiveness, leading retailers are following a two-fold approach to address the responsiveness challenge. Firstly, leading organizations are executing automated purchase frequency offers for store, web, and catalog customers via e-mail or regular mail. Secondly, these organizations are also following a precise plan of offering unit-level offers in specific categories to the 'best or most profitable customers,'" says Cunnane.
To improve multi-channel marketing performance, Aberdeen data has shown that leading organizations are utilizing a mix of both traditional marketing tools as well as emerging digital solutions. Aberdeen's analysis of leading organizations demonstrates that these companies have placed an increased focus on:
- Utilizing segmentation and targeting tools. Avenues must be created for retailers to develop segmented profiles of their customers for seamless multi-channel marketing campaign creation and delivery. A segmented customer profile ensures that offers are personalized and customized to the needs of the customer.
- Deploying database marketing solutions. Database marketing uses customer information collected at the POS or through the CRM, and generates personalized communications, utilizing direct mail and email campaigns. The database marketing application utilizes customer analytics to devise the appropriate offers, based on customer purchase patterns.
- Leveraging email marketing campaigns. Email marketing is an extremely cost-efficient way for a marketing program to reach its target audience. Email, as compared to traditional direct mail campaigns, is significantly less expensive and offers the chance to track the campaigns, from click through rates to actual redemption and response rates either in the store or on the web.
All of the above requirements, amongst others, are part of the winning strategy for multi-channel marketing.
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About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company
Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.
As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.
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