White Papers
Throughout the year, DMA posts papers on specific topics, relevant to the direct marketing industry. Find out how to submit a white paper.
DMA Quarterly Business Review - Q3 2008 - October 2008 -- Direct Marketing Association
Quarter 3's Revenue vs. SQLY (Same Quarter Last Year) Index of 47 is the third consecutive quarter that this index has been in negative territory. Q3 2008 findings point to growth in Profitability, with each of the three segments (Marketers, Agencies, and Suppliers) registering an index that is in the high 50s or better. Projected Revenue for Q4 2008 points to modest growth, with an index of 51. In the QBR index, a score of 50 represents no change in performance. Scores above 50 represent growth, and those below 50 represent a decline. DMA Members can download the complete results at no cost, while Non-Members can order a PDF file by visiting the DMA bookstore.
Successful E-Mail Marketing Methods - September 2008 -- Medical Marketing ServicesMedical Marketing Service, Inc.
E-mail marketing is an increasingly demanding art and science. Competition within the recipient’s in-box is fierce, and recipients are merciless in deleting e-mails that are illegible or irrelevant. Your message has just seconds to capture the attention and interest of the recipient and to be opened, all of which are prerequisite to achieving your objectives; average reading time for a promotional e-mail is 15 seconds or less. Therefore, successful direct marketing requires employing best practices to beat the odds. Based on actual e-mail broadcast results and industry standards, we recommend nine Successful E-mail Marketing Methods to maximize your direct marketing results
Driving ROI Once Your Email is Delivered - September 2008 -- ClicMail MarketingClickMail Marketing
Even with a superiorr deliverability rate, are your email marketing results everything they could be? Getting your email delivered is only the first step in marketing via email. Your emails must arrive in a manner that encourages action on the part of the recipient. This white paper addresses several components of email marketin gthat matter after your're in the inbox, as well as aspects you can contral to encourage more opens, more click-throughs and more conversions.
Latinos Online - September 2008 -- Susannah FoxPew Hispanic
Latinos comprise 14% of the U.S. adult population and about half of this growing group (56%) goes online. By comparison, 71% of non-Hispanic whites and 60% of non-Hispanic blacks use the internet. Several socio-economic characteristics that are often intertwined, such as low levels of education and limited English ability, largely explain the gap in internet use between Hispanics and non-Hispanics.(c) 2007 Pew Hispanic Center, a Pew Research Center project. All rights reserved.
DMA Quarterly Business Review - Q2 2008 - August 2008 -- Direct Marketing Association
Quarter 1's Revenue vs. SQLY (Same Quarter Last Year) Index of 47 is the second time since Q2 2003 that this index has been in the negative territory. Q2 2008 findings point to growth in Profitability, with each of the three segments (Marketers, Agencies, and Suppliers) registering an index that is in the low 60s or higher. In the QBR index, a score of 50 represents no change in performance. Scores above 50 represent growth, and those below 50 represent a decline. DMA Members can download the complete results at no cost, while Non-Members can order a PDF file by visiting the DMA bookstore.
Six 2008 Holiday Email Tips: Exposed - August 2008 -- By Fred TabsharaniVidiemi
This holiday season, ISP's will be policing marginal databases like never before. Old subscriber data and/or bad email addresses will have sobriety checkpoints. If you think you have old data we suggest you omit this data from your holiday mailing list. We recommend that you create a separate database and remarket to this group after the busy holiday season. You don't want to risk getting your messages blocked or have them diverted to the junk folder during the season's rush. In addition, with a less than stellar list your metrics will diminish, causing skewed reporting, thus costing you more money to deploy while not getting a clear picture of who your most profitable subscribers are. Pay special attention to subscribers that haven't opened in the past 6-12 months. Reputation scores have been known to decrease for senders who do not purge customers without any opens or clicks in a 12-month period. By not sending to customers who haven't opened or clicked in the past year, senders can lower ISP complaints and gain higher reputation scores-which leads to better deliverability.
Vision Based On Resources - August 2008 -- By Nelise ZymbergZymberg Marketing Direto
The way companies used to think about strategy until the end of 80s, was related to an external analysis of organizations, where the result of the company was stipulated by its position in the market.
Small Business Guide To Web-Based Video Marketing - July 2008 -- By Paul BuraniClicksharp Marketing
Major corporations awoke to the potential of web-based video a long time ago. Among the most popular channels on YouTube, one can find heavyweights of the entertainment and media verticals, such as Universal Music Group, CBS, Nintendo Wii, and National Geographic. Other industries, however, are also well represented by such global brands as Chrysler, Absolut, Philips, Nike and E*Trade. Each has visibly made online video, whether professionally produced or user-generated content, an important part of their brand marketing agenda.
Ad Networks And How To Choose Them - July 2008 -- By Robert TasSportgenic
The purpose of this white paper is to provide the digital media professional with a comprehensive introduction to digital ad networks.
Bring Unknown Prospects To Life And Make Them Your Customers - July 2008 -- By Paul McConvilleTARGUSinfo
This four-part series white paper explores knowledge as it applies to interactions between customer-facing organizations and the consumers who buy from them. The focus is on the few seconds or, at most, few minutes between a consumer's decision to contact a business and the conclusion of that business, whether over the phone, through a Web site or at the point of sale.
How to Master Customer Acquisition: On-Demand Lead Scoring - July 2008 -- By Kim GarnerTARGUSinfo
This paper introduces a breakthrough solution to these challenges called on-demand lead scoring. It directly and powerfully addresses this new merchant imperative, giving selling organizations deep insight into consumers previously unknown to them (as well as existing customers). Many companies have begun to score leads in recent years but most of them haven't realized the advantages created by scoring leads on demand. The key is having this information at the instant that companies need it most: at the moment of impact for converting a sale.
HTML Design and Rendering Tactis for Improved Email Deliverability and Increased Response - July 2008 -- By Megan OuelletListrak
The following white paper discussing HTML design and rendering best practices, including design tips for different email clients, guidelines for rich media and forms, and testing HTML content via seed lists and third-party rendering services. This white paper will also address many of the myths surrounding images in email so you have the knowledge you need to create strategic, successful email campaigns.
The Loyalty Marketing Mix - July 2008 -- By Rick FergusonColloquy
The COLLOQUY Retail Loyalty Index is built from a survey of 3,000 U.S. consumers across six key demographic segments. It offers a revealing look at the retail brands to which consumers are most loyal, the fundamental factors that drive store loyalty, and the subtle differences in consumer definitions of loyalty related to store brands, retail categories and consumer segments. The survey results demonstrate that, while EDLP tactics successfully build sales through frequency, this success comes at a cost. With the traditional marketing mix taking a back seat to a relentless focus on price, a marketing strategy focused solely on sale prices and promotions not only faces diminishing returns, but can also actually breed disloyal customers.
The Difference Engine - July 2008 -- By Rick FergusonColloquy
A comparison of loyalty marketing perceptions among specific U.S consumer segments.
Economic Impact Analysis 2008: The Direct Marketing Industry Report (Executive Summary) - July 2008 -- By Direct Marketing Association UKDMA UK
In this the third Economic Impact Analysis of the Direct Marketing Industry, the strength of direct marketing is apparent. Showing sustained and healthy growth in 2007, the industry represents an extensive contribution to UK employment, and thus the economy as a whole. Adaptable and resilient, direct marketing continues to provide marketers with the tools needed in the overall marketing mix to react to ever changing market conditions and consumer demands. And it remains a significant element of all marketing activities to businesses of all sizes in the UK today.
8 Tips for Selling a Direct Marketing Campaign - June 2008 -- By Ryan LouL2
Direct marketing campaigns allow marketing professionals to track and improve their campaign response rates. They allow marketers to leverage the customer information they have, personalize messages, content and offers to each recipient and create different follow-up campaigns depending on how each prospect responds. While the potential benefits are tremendous, the initial direct marketing campaign can be difficult and sometimes even the most seasoned marketers or bosses need convincing. This whitepaper outlines 8 tips that will help the innovative marketing professional convince their bosses, marketing colleagues or potential clients about the effectiveness of direct marketing campaigns.
CRM is not only Information Technology - June 2008 --
The concept of Information Technology (IT) has been developed constantly. Nowadays it is more extensive than the assemblage of software and hardware resources and also involves human, administrative and organizational aspects. It evolved from administrative support to a strategic role and not only supports business strategies already existents, but also allows new entrepreneur strategies feasible.
Deciding to Go International - June 2008 -- Asim Khan Khanstellation Group
There are many benefits to marketing a company's products or services overseas, but the decision to go international must be made carefully. Cultural and language barriers, political issues and variations in religious beliefs, societal norms, and business negotiations styles impact how business should be conducted with international counterparts. Two steps can prepare an organization for an overseas effort. First, an international marketing plan must be developed, and second, the organization must determine how it will enter the new market. Since creation of a dedicated export department can be an overwhelming and expensive task, an alliance with an outside party can reduce the time and effort it takes to become established in a foreign market. One option is to establish a joint venture. Another is the use of an export management company (EMC). An EMC has contacts and knowledge of foreign cultures and governments that can smoothly facilitate an international effort.
Real-Time Email Address Validation: Build or Buy? - June 2008 -- Bill Kaplan and Jodi Baier Freshaddress,Inc
You’ve spent countless hours working on your email campaigns—choosing just the right timing, crafting and re-crafting your content and creative both for the email as well as the landing pages, making sure every marketing dollar invested will yield you the highest possible return. Now you’re ready to let it fly. But are you? How many of the resulting online email registrations for which you’ve worked so hard and paid so much will contain typos or, worse yet, malicious email addresses?
2008 EMail Marketing Strategies - June 2008 -- By Fred TabsharaniVidi Emi
Email marketing is more powerful than ever, with retailers reporting record online sales and using email to drive significant traffic.
DMA Quarterly Business Review - Q1 2008 - May 2008 -- Direct Marketing Association
Quarter 1's Revenue vs. SQLY (Same Quarter Last Year) Index of 48 is the first time since Q2 2003 that this index has been in the negative territory. Q1 2008 findings indicate growth in Profitability, with each of the three segments (Marketers, Agencies, and Suppliers) showing indices in the low 60s or higher. In the QBR index, a score of 50 represents no change in performance. Scores above 50 represent growth, and those below 50 represent a decline. DMA Members can download the complete results at no cost, while Non-Members can order a PDF file by visiting the DMA bookstore.
Membership In the Safe Harbor Program by Data Processors - May 2008 -- Christopher Kuner Hunton&Willams
The EU Data Protection Directive restricts data transfers to countries outside the EU which are not deemed to have an adequate level of data protection. One of best known mechanisms for providing an adequate level of protection for data transfers to the United States is the so called Safe Haror program run by the US Department of Commerce. The Safe Harbor is a self regulatory mechanism under which US based companies may voluntarily agree to abide by a set of Safe Harbor Priciples(the Principles) negotiated between the United States government and the European Commission; transfers made to a Safe Harbor member company in the US are then deemed to receive an adequate level of data protection under an adequacy decision issued by th eEuropean Commission. Safe harbor has proved to be a popular data transfer mechanism, and the number of US coompanies joining it has steadily increased since it was originally approved in 2000.
Email Frequency: How Relevancy Tactics Changed The Rules - May 2008 -- Megan OuelletListrak
Marketing are used to planning ahead as most media buys must be schedued months in advance to accommodate external press time and availability, along with the careful orchestration needed to balance the print, radio, TV, and online advertising with the updated corporate documentation, events, and most importantly, budget.
A new model for CRM - May 2008 -- Nelise Zymberg ZymbergMarketingDireto
Globalization brought new changes and paradigms into economical environment, demanding strategic re-aiming and new ways of management. The efforts to implant technology to coordinate relationship with clients (CRM), although presenting positive results, were not enough to lead the companies to a competitive highest degree.
The Brand Persuasion Wheel - May 2008 -- Ulli Appelbaum brandchannel.com
This paper describes the six most important principles of human persuasion available to marketers and organizes them into a simple model designed to help brand builders maintain the persuasiveness of their brands in today's ever-evolving and tumultuous media and consumer environment.
Putting the Relationship back in Relationship Marketing - April 2008 -- Andy Hasselwander and Laird RawsthorneMarketBridge
The goal of Relationship Marketing (RM) is to develop and maintain a base of committed customers who generate profit for the organization. Nowhere is RM more important than in the B2B context, where continued business from an established client base generates the lion's share of revenue. While RM initiatives are standard in B2B enterprises, marketers seldom adopt a rigorous, data-driven approach to understanding and managing their ongoing interaction with customers and the impact of RM activities on their business. In this paper, we propose that managed customer engagement is a critical path to promoting advocacy for your brand and driving business results. We describe insights gained from years of client work across a range of industries, and outline steps for developing an analytics-based RM engagement management and tracking system.
The Benefits of Partnering with an Outside Database Firm - March 2008 -- Susan Williamsonctrac
The demands on businesses to succeed have never been greater. Business today has reached unmatched levels of sophistication, automation, productivity and performance. Along with those increases are maximized pressures for excellence, cost controls and profitability.
Marketing Automation and the Enterprise Opportunity - March 2008 -- Winterberry Group Winterberry Group
Marketing automation is the approach by which marketers harmoniously blend technology development with strict process management to significantly enhance marketing efficiency and effectiveness
Email Marketing Best Practices: Creatiing Relevant Email Campagigns with Dynamic Content - March 2008 -- Megan Ouellet Listrak
For a company's email marketing strategy to succeed, marketers must continually update and enhance their best practices in order to keep up with new technology, subscriber demands, and the competitive landscape. More importantly, marketers must find new ways to use the tools that they already have implemented. Doing so will enhance their email campaigns while keeping costs at a minimum.
Outlook 2008: Essential Email Marketing Deliverability Guide - March 2008 -- Megan Ouellet Listrak
Spam messages are on the rise. According to IronPort, there are over 62 billion spam messages sent per day, up from 31 billion last year. And the threat is greater than ever as spam messages contain viruses and large images that clog email servers. To combat this, ISPs, corporations, and individual end users are implementing new technologies and strategies to secure their inboxes by blocking unsolicited messages. While these precautions are necessary, many times messages from legitimate email marketers are casualties of this war as they may inadvertently contain characteristics used by spammers and are, therefore, mislabeled as spam by ISPs or the end users themselves.
The Art and Science of Email Marketing - March 2008 -- Megan OuelletListrak
In order to craft an effective email marketing campaign, you must carefully balance the needs of your audience, the message you want to communicate, and the technology that allows you to manage the interaction. In order to increase your response rate, you must be sure that your email has all of the correct items in place appealing subject lines, exciting graphics, inspiring content, clear calls to action and tempting offers. Art is all about form and content, and like art, your emails must inspire your audience to perform your end goal.
Implementing RSS as a Marketing Tool: Delivering content to Drive Leads - March 2008 -- Megan OuelletListrak
Even though RSS has been around since the mid 1990s, its potential as an essential marketing tool is just beginning to be realized. Marketing directors, especially those that are focused on using email marketing to reach their intended audiences, need to incorporate RSS as an efficient and cost effective alternative to traditional marketing methods.
Where Did My Customer Go? the Problem of Undeliverable-As- Addressed Mail - March 2008 -- Melissa DataMelissaData
Reducing undeliverable mail can be achieved easily and cost-effectively with the use of proper address management practices. These methods include validating customer address information at the point-of-entry, via a real-time Web service or API, and utilizing a Move Update/premailing processing solution. Implementing these address management practices can significantly reduce undeliverable mail and help you save money. Mailers who apply USPS-sanctioned Move Update processing methods qualify for presort and automation discounts. Maintaining an accurate contact database is the key to building profitable relationships with customers.
A Strategy for Savings:Postal Optimization and the Future of Direct Mail - March 2008 -- Winterberry Group Winterberry Group
Today's direct marketers stand at the crossroads of a two-pronged assault.
Making Mail Relevant: The Perception of the Receiver - March 2008 -- Howard WrightPitney Bowes
This white paper discusses how to make mail relevant. It includes statistics and demographics in the United Kingdom.
A Prescription To Heal the Ad Agency Business - March 2008 -- Catalyst SFCatalystSF
The diagnosis is terminal when it comes to the current Ad Agency model. Many people have put in their two cents and diagnosed this problem, but few have offered a solution. Few have offered a Prescription for what ails this business and a way to fix it for the future. It is time to take an old Biblical proverb and put it into action; “Physicians Heal Thyselves!”
My Keynote Presentation At The Catalog Conference - March 2008 -- Kevin HillstromMineThatData
If I were invited to give the keynote address at the Catalog Conference, now called the ACCM, you would hear a presentation that sounded something like this:
Reader's Digest Adds A New Chapter In Customized Direct Marketing With The Xerox 1:1 Lab - March 2008 -- Peloquin, MathieuXerox
Find out how Reader's Digest Canada has gained significant benefits since testing Terminal Van Gogh's 1:1 marketing solution under the Xerox 1:1 Lab with the fully customized package delivering an average increased response rate of 67% over the control package and an average increase in sales of 74% over the control package. Just as importantly, Reader's Digest found that relevant messages based on affinity patterns changed customer behavior and broke some of the silos in the current business model.
DM ANALYSIS 2007 - March 2008 -- Laszlo CsankHungarian Direct Marketing Association
The Direct Marketing Association, together with Szonda Ipsos, performed a comprehensive research on direct marketing in order to produce a detailed study of this business segment. Various techniques were used for in-depth research, including a nationwide survey of the general population, focus group discussions, telephone interviews with advertisers and agencies, as well as in-depth interviews with experts. This complex research exercise satisfied long-standing needs by revealing information, data and attitudes relevant to the entire market.
Quarterly Business Review, Quarter 4, 2007 - February 2008 -- Direct Marketing Association
Quarter 4's Revenue vs. SQLY (Same Quarter Last Year) Index of 55 is the eighteenth consecutive quarter of positive results, with favorable index numbers for Marketers, Agencies, and Suppliers. Q4 findings also indicate strength in Profitability, with each of the three segments showing indices in the low 60s or higher. In the QBR index, a score of 50 represents no change in performance. Scores above 50 represent growth, and those below 50 represent a decline. DMA Members can download the complete results at no cost, while Non-Members can order a PDF file by visiting the DMA bookstore.
Web Analytics - A Reporting Approach - February 2008 -- By Robert Blakeley WebMD
A web analytics program consists of many elements. One of the important elements in the process is the reporting. This step often does not get the attention it should, taking a back seat to the effort of getting and compiling the numbers (on the Analytics side) or day-to-day operations (on the Business side). It is sometimes abbreviated or omitted altogether in an attempt to save time. This is a mistake. This article focuses on that reporting.
Digital Marketing Services Transaction Activity: Transforming The Marketing Landscape - February 2008 -- by PetskyPrunier PetskyPrunier
Transaction activity in the digital marketing services industry (including the full range of execution-oriented online marketing applications) has never been more fervent. During 2007, 225 digital marketing services transactions were completed, representing over $16 billion in aggregate value—more than the total value of all digital deals completed in 2004, 2005 and 2006 combined. The motives behind such ferocious deal making reflect a similarly profound array of changing dynamics: the advent of the Internet as a primary marketing tool, a cluttered media environment, channel proliferation, growing consumer sophistication and demand for analytically-driven marketing solutions being foremost among them
2008 Direct Mail Format Report - February 2008 -- By Ballantine CorporationBallantine Corp
The Ballantine Corporation surveyed their marketing contacts regarding their 2008 direct mail campaigns and compiled the responses into this 9-page industry whitepaper.
Robust Email Intergration Delivers Increased Conversion Rates - January 2008 -- By Charisse Tabak Acceleration
This white paper discusses the strategies that allow for relationships with existing customers to be strengthened - and the conversion rate of prospects into actual customers to be increased - by integrating contact center functions with email marketing tools.
Promoting A Film Festival For The Long Tail: A Digital Marketing Case Study - January 2008 -- By Paul Burani Clicksharp Marketing
Originally an abstract concept introduced in a WIRED Magazine article from 2006, "The Long Tail" is now a mantra of digital marketing. Applied to marketing in film, the pre-Long Tail mentality was to conceptualize an artistic work with a specific target in mind, and then develop it to invite as big an audience as possible. Marketers would then direct their resources toward the audience within distribution range.
Increasing Response Rates with 1:1 Campaigns - January 2008 -- By L2 L2
The essence of one to one marketing campaigns is relationship marketing. One to one marketing campaigns are a potent tool to enhance lead generation, increase product usage and promote brand awareness.The only significant obstacle for most marketing professionals is the time and expense needed to implement the campaigns and manage the upswing in responses
Market Research In The New Marketing Strategy Paradigm - January 2008 -- By Joy Josephs eNumerys Global
Firms typically go to market when they have products or service that has a target market, which they can sell with a better quality or with better benefits or at a better price than existing market players. Historically firms have tried to pursue specific strategies to market products or services based on where they perceived their competitive advantage lay:
Postal rates have gone up. Now what? - December 2007 -- by Gary Seitz C.TRAC information solutions
Over the past several months, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has implemented the most dramatic changes in the past 30 years. More than simply rate hikes, essentially the USPS has begun changing the way it does business. If your business relies on the mail either to sell, communicate with customers, or to provide products and services, one thing is certain.
Half Again as Much - December 2007 -- by Gary Seitz C.TRAC information solutions
One of the marketing advantages of living and doing business in the digital, Web-connected world in which we live is the immediacy and low cost of e-mail. But when you're dealing with 7.5 million e-mail addresses, even the low cost of an e-mail broadcast can be substantial.
Outlook for 2008: Essential Email Marketing Deliverability Guide - December 2007 -- by Megan Ouellet listrak
Spam messages are on the rise. According to IronPort, there are over 62 billion spam messages sent per day, up from 31 billion last year. And the threat is greater than ever as spam messages contain viruses and large images that clog email servers. To combat this, ISPs, corporations, and individual end users are implementing new technologies and strategies to secure their inboxes by blocking unsolicited messages.
Desktop Widgets: Engaging your Customers Beyond the Browser - December 2007 -- by Vishal Jain Rategain
There was a time when the big question in the minds of all traditional brick and motar businesses was whether and how to have an online presence. An online presence would automatically ensure a growth in revenue. With internet penetration and growth slowing down in the developed markets "everyone" is competing for the same group of eyeballs.
Finding Value in an Email Marketing Service Provider - October 2007 -- by Goldlasso Goldlasso
Many email marketers look for the lowest price point and equate that to the best value, but the lowest cost may not be the best value. The industry overall has not done a good job of defining what constitutes a good value. Email service providers. . .
DMA Quarterly Business Review - Q3 2007 - October 2007 -- Direct Marketing Association
Quarter 3's Revenue vs. SQLY (Same Quarter Last Year) Index of 57 is the seventeenth consecutive quarter of positive results, with favorable index numbers for Marketers, Agencies, and Suppliers. Q3 findings also indicate strength in Profitability, with each of the three segments showing indices in the mid 60s or higher.
Seven Deadly Mistakes Multichannel Marketers Make - July 2007 -- Solar Communications
Find out how to reach anyone in this fragmented market!
How America Searches: Financial Products and Services - November 2006 -- Survey conducted by Harris Interactive, Report written by iCrossing
Searchers for financial products and services, while not yet a large portion of the online population, do merit attention from retail financial services marketers. They tend to be well educated, report having above-average credit and be interested in applying for financial products and services online.
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