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Posts Tagged ‘DM News’

Digital vs. direct mail in 2010

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

DM News article "Digital Shines in 2010" predicts the continued rise of digital spending as a share of total marketing dollars. Two interesting takeaways from a direct mail perspective:

#1) Digital is stealing share away from direct mail

"Just like in the old days, direct marketing used to be the safe haven because it provides quick, measurable results. Online has assumed that safe haven role now," said Adam Smith, futures director at GroupM.

#2) Digital is more measurable than direct mail

"If we send a direct mailer, it's an absolute impression, but is it as trackable? Will the consumer, for example, type Overstock.com/directmailer? It's fuzzy. Some people do and others don't," [Stormy Simon, SVP of marketing and customer care for Overstock.com] explained. "But I do know that when I spend on online marketing, I'm able to say 'I spent a penny and I got a penny [back].'"

The hallmark of direct mail has always been accountability. Digital is beating it at it's own game. The challenge to direct mail is to prove ROI superiority if it is to hold onto a significant portion of advertising expenditures.

See full article here: http://www.dmnews.com/digital-shines-in-2010-forecasts/article/159509/

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Evolving role of the list broker

Monday, March 30th, 2009

DM News published an article today "List companies urged to diversify to survive" that describes some of the ways that list companies and list brokers are adapting to the changing marketing environment. Jay Schwedelson of Worldata and NextMark's own Chris DeMartine are interviewed for the story.

Some things will never change:

"The most important thing for a list broker hasn't changed: Being able to offer their client the right list in whatever medium that may be, DeMartine said."

But many aspects of the role are evolving:

“List companies have become much more well-versed in providing marketing strategy, rather than just offering list recom­mendations,” he said. “A list broker today has a lot more to know.”

With years of experience in reaching niche markets, list brokers are well-positioned as "acquisition specialists" that go well beyond postal lists. Read the full story here.

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DM News proclaims 2009 the year of integration

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Year-of-integrationDM News recently published its 2009 Essential Guide to Lists, Database Marketing, and Data Services in which the feature story proclaims 2009 to be the year of integration. The article says:

"When Merkle CEO David Williams looks back at 2008, he sees something positive among all the relatively dismal economic news: the acceleration of database marketing's evolution. "The wind was at many [database marketers'] backs for a decade," he says. "Now, they're saying to themselves, 'If the economic climate or the consumer climate is going to get difficult, I'm going to have to be more innovative, I'm going to have to be more effective.'"

"Integration, Williams believes, is the key concept surrounding all of these ongoing efforts. Generally, integration has long been the goal of direct marketing, but to improve cost-effectiveness and ensure results, Williams and other experts say database sector firms must also integrate their services to improve cost-effectiveness and ensure continued strong results."

Integration across channels has been happening. Another form of integration is now emerging — integration among marketing service providers. Different service providers working closely together to deliver a seamless solution to marketers.

NextMark is currently working with service bureau partners to bridge the gap between data cards and data and to accelerate and improve list rental fulfillment. The long list of benefits includes easy access to data intelligence and quick access to list data.

And we we are working to realize the vision for a Direct Marketing Operating System that integrates all the marketing service providers needed to carry out a campaign.

Seems like we picked a good year to be focusing on integration!

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