Direct Marketing in Action: Cutting‐Edge Strategies for Finding and Keeping the Best Customers

Citation

Blanchard, K. (2007), "Direct Marketing in Action: Cutting‐Edge Strategies for Finding and Keeping the Best Customers", Direct Marketing: An International Journal, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 61-62. https://doi.org/10.1108/17505930710734143

Direct Marketing in Action is not a simple 12‐step program designed to reform marketing professionals. Rather, it provides a manageable and repeatable framework for contemplating, creating, executing and measuring marketing success.

The book guides the reader through each step of the process defining the “right” behavior, context, benefits, information, market, strategy, offer, message, media satisfaction, performance and change. This roadmap approach to marketing strategy gives the reader the option of reading the book from beginning to end; or, they can drop into the specific area of concern that has challenged their marketing efforts. In this way, Direct Marketing in Action will become a reference that is utilized throughout their marketing career.

The core message of the book is summarized in the following quote from page 28:

Direct marketing succeeds because its fundamental premise is to provide the right offer, to the right audience at the right time… Therefore, it is imperative for a growth‐oriented business to recognize its core strengths and to build their direct marketing activities around those strengths.

The authors have assembled a strong direct marketing reference guide. Two chapters that stand out, and are often overlooked disciplines of many direct marketers, are “Data mining and profiling: the right information” and “Measurement and assessment: analyzing and interpreting performance results.”

The data mining chapter reminds us that while we are surrounded with a sea of data, unless we refine that data into “actionable information,” we will not be able to execute a marketing strategy that is informed by our customers. As the authors state, data mining is an:

… ongoing process of evaluating and improving the accuracy and completeness of the data used in analysis combined with the timing of delivery may well prove to be the missing link in gaining competitive advantage in today's fast‐moving markets.

The on‐going challenge with analytics is to anticipate the data you will need and prepare meaningful categories in which to store it. The chapter encourages us to “Do something with the data. The more you use it, the more profitable you will find it.”

The chapter on measurement is intricately joined to the data mining chapter. The authors emphasize measurement and assessment as essential tools for direct marketers in revealing the factors and influences that distinguish a successfully direct marketing program from the rest. This discipline will enhance an organization's “analytic intelligence.” They point out that it is more than just developing the right metrics, it is also “understanding the inputs and outputs of the measurement system and the factors that influence the process.”

With the financial scrutiny and performance expectations that pressure marketers in today's business environment, it is important to scrutinize the assessment and measurement data to ensure that we are designing direct marketing programs that will have the likelihood of producing the greatest return on our marketing investment.

The 14 authors and editors represented here have seamlessly collaborated to produce a book that is characterized by a consistent tone and quality. The reader is not hindered with different styles and levels of expertise. The transitions from chapter to chapter are smooth and the inter‐chapter references are very helpful. The end result is well paced, and puts the reader in a one‐on‐one conversation with each of these marketing mentors where they deliver their insights drawn from the depth of their experience.

Although visually sparse, the book is loaded with valuable examples drawn from a variety of industries. If you are one of those who “wields a marketing axe,” this book is filled with strategies that will help you find and keep the best customers who will “sing the praises” of your company to every one who will listen.