Cross-Industry > Direct Marketing Campaign Management


What is Direct Marketing?

The Direct Marketing Association says, "Direct marketing is broadly defined, in media terms, as any direct communication to a consumer or business recipient that is designed to generate a response in the form of an order (direct order), a request for further information (lead generation), and/or a visit to a store or other place of business for purchase of a specific product(s) or service(s) (traffic generation). The goal is to provide the customer information relative to their needs and interests…a cyclical process with six distinct phases:
  • The creative and design phase...where a marketing plan and media channels are selected;
  • Data compilation...where both internal data, such as customer lists...and outside data from a database company or list broker are assembled in preparation for phase three, which is....
  • Database management...where the information is purged, enhanced and standardized;
  • Database analysis...which further focuses on an optimal target market;
  • Next...execution and fulfillment...where customer inquiries and orders are acted upon...and that information is passed on to selected media channels; and.
  • And finally...response analysis...where the results of the campaign are examined for effectiveness before this cycle begins again."

arvato systems supports direct marketing in many channels in all these areas:

E-Commerce
  • Online orders
  • Newsletters
    • Creation and Design
    • Execution
  • Email marketing campaigns
    • List Management
    • Campaign Management
    • Response Reporting
  • Campaign analysis - Data Warehouses
  • Digital Distribution of Catalogs
  • Online Book Clubs

Publishing
  • Online subscriptions
  • Newsletters
  • Digital Distribution of Magazines

Internet and Wireless Permissive Marketing
  • Registration and Opt-In forms for Customer Data gathering
  • Tools that would enable promotional list creation, SMS message creation, and schedule message delivery when the marketer wants it.
  • Infrastructure enabling users to call a toll-free number to listen to sound clips, other promotional messages, take part in surveys, etc
  • Reporting on the delivery status of SMS messages, which users called the toll-free number, etc.

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Examples

BOL.com - arvato systems developed almost all of this functionality for the E-commerce websites of BOL. Development was in Java, XML and PL/SQL sitting on top of the Oracle's iStore with an Oracle database. Email campaign management, newsletters membership management, coupon campaigns, data warehousing, email and ad response measuring all had to be added to this early e-commerce platform. Arvato systems not only developed the code but also participated in the creation of the business logic.


One of the most important implementations of direct marketing is the club business model. Arvato systems has extensive experience in all aspects of the online and offline clubs. One of the best examples is their work for Bookspan.


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Bookspan - is a joint venture between Bertelsmann and Time Warner and is currently the largest book club in the world. The book clubs came into existence in the early 1900's, when consumer were sent a monthly catalogue from which to purchase books. With the adoption of the Internet, Bookspan has been a pioneer in adopting the new medium. Consumers can join the clubs through the Internet or the mail, view their order history or order books online.

Bookspan's online customer base has been doubling every year for the last four years, and the Internet is seen as the strategic future. The Internet allows for more interaction with the consumer (chats, surveys, up to date order information, online help), better tracking, direct marketing and more timely content. Instead of receiving a new catalogue every month, content is updated on a weekly basis, allowing the editor to highlight more books and offer more incentives. arvato systems developed, launched and hosted www.insightoutbooks.com (the first gay book club) and www.blackexpressions.com (the first African American book club and the most successful book club ever.)

This extensive experience proves to be priceless when helping other clients in similar situations. Arvato systems can assist in choosing the best methods to execute any campaign. Arvato systems can integrate these solutions into the clients existing business offering 3rd party software as well as applications that are part of their E-Business Portal software; solutions for digital distribution of magazines and product catalogs, registration sites, campaign management, list management and reporting tools(Link to e-magazine), as well as subscription processing and management, and SMS marketing tools(Link to wireless), keeping their clients on the cutting edge when it comes to Direct Marketing.

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