...Invest In An Experienced Direct Marketing Professional
Revenue growth, shareholder value, customer lifetime value and return on investment are the realities of today's business culture.
If you were to ask a Chief Marketing Officer these questions would they quickly be able to provide a specific and detailed answer:
- How much revenue growth and shareholder value has your department created?
- What is the lifetime value of you customers?
- Exactly what is the return on you marketing dollars?
- How can you turn customer information into a strategic asset?
The answers to these questions were NOT traditionally in the purview of the marketing department but they are now. Therefore, traditional marketers are struggling with the transition to these direct response initiatives.
In fact, according to Stephen Diorio, keynote speaker at the Winter 2003 National Center for Database Marketing Conference, "One of the
CMO's major concerns is creating revenue growth and shareholder value with less money by shifting more dollars into investments in data, direct marketing and direct-to-consumer promotions."
However, most direct response initiatives are more than likely being performed by managers within the marketing department. If so, they are the worker bees performing the process from a tactical and not strategic level and without singular managerial oversight.
So, how do you begin to transform your direct response initiatives away from a tactical perspective and into a key revenue driving strategy?
The answer is simply to invest in a veteran direct marketer. Why, because true direct marketers are accustomed to functioning in the world of actual results. They know that direct marketing is a strategy and not a tactic—that it is a commitment to get and keep valuable customers.
Just think about how much it may have already cost you by not having an experienced direct marketer onboard. A recent study by Bain & Company shows that every five years, U.S. Companies lose half their customers. Cutting these losses by just 5% can double profits!
In an article in the Harvard Business Review, "View Your Customers as Investments," Edward C. Bursk observed, "A company's investment in customers can be just as real as its investments in a plant and equipment, inventory, working capital and so forth. And can be more valuable in dollars and cents."
For example, "Every dollar spent for direct response advertising generates $9.03 in sales," says Robert H. Weintzen, CEO of The Direct Marketing Association.
Because a CMO is busy with the traditional tools of marketing such as advertising, public relations, branding, trade shows and events can they also effectively develop and manage your direct response initiatives? Or will you lose half of your customers this year?
By making your next investment in an experienced direct marketing professional, you will have an expert onboard who can quickly and easily answer the four questions posed at the beginning of this article.
Remember, every minute that you wait to make this investment brings you that much closer to losing half your customers.
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Carla Joye is a veteran marketer with 23 years of experience in every aspect of direct marketing. She has answered ROI and customer performance questions for companies such as MCI, Fidelity Investments, Citibank, The Procter & Gamble Company and many others. She can be reached by email at cljoye@yahoo.com or at 770.722.4347.
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