Download Turning consumers on or off

Channelling The Message
Striking the marketing balance to win the
‘two-minute window’ of consumer attention
A Pitney Bowes Report – Summer 2009
The two classic challenges that face every marketing department – what’s
the best route to the customer, and how can I get budgets approved - have
intensified this year. On the one hand, the number of routes to the consumer
continues to proliferate, making marketing decisions more involved than ever.
On the other, there is fierce pressure on marketing communications to deliver
in the current financial climate.
To make matters worse, the ultimate object of all this agonising – the
consumer – is being inundated with unprecedented levels of marketing
messages and information. Analysts estimate that the typical consumer is
exposed to between 1-2,000 promotional messages every day. This is easy to
believe when one considers the sheer variety of methods used to attract
consumer attention. Mail, email, web, SMS, TV and radio are the obvious
channels. But marketing is everywhere – flashed up on the screen as you
withdraw cash, under your feet as you walk through the concourse, on the
side of your takeaway coffee cup.
You push, we pull
As the demands on attention have increased, consumers have taken more
control over what information reaches them, and what doesn’t. But far from
rejecting all marketing approaches, the consumer is simply more resistant to
those that are badly thought-out. Amidst the deluge of information pushed
their way it is the information that the consumer chooses to pull towards them
that counts.
With so many routes to the customer or prospect, businesses today are
understandably looking for any guidance that will inform their marketing
choices. This is particularly the case for decisions around email and direct
mail. These techniques are prevalent simply because they are quick and easy
to adopt and enable marketers to reach a broad audience for relatively little
expense. What’s more, at a time when every marketing message must be
seen to deliver return on investment, both email marketing and direct mail are
measurable. This latter point is critical if budgets are to be approved.
Against this backdrop, Pitney Bowes surveyed European consumers 1 across
three key markets – the UK, France and Germany – to gauge their attitudes
towards direct mail and email. This new research is especially timely given the
proliferation of new marketing channels and the effect of the economic
downturn on consumer attitudes.
It is perhaps these similarities between the two techniques that all too often
drive businesses to adopt an either/or strategy rather than developing a
marketing model that plays to the strengths of each. But can both work
together, or is today’s consumer leaning heavily in favour of one channel?
Research results –The two-minute window
Pitney Bowes asked consumers how long, on average, they spend looking at
different types of direct marketing materials.
How long do you look at the following types of
document?
A piece of direct mail that is well targeted and personalised
to your profile and preferences
A marketing email from a company you already buy from
A marketing email from a company you have never bought
from
Minutes
1.94
1.89
1.30
Immediately, one factor becomes clear. On average, both email and mail
marketing – if tailored to the consumer – can capture the consumer’s attention
for a period of almost two minutes. At first glance, this may not seem like a
particularly significant time span. But amongst the clamour of 1-2,000
additional messages each day, this ‘two-minute window’ of consumer
reflection takes on increasing value.
The results provide evidence of the fact that, if professionally produced, direct
mail and email marketing are very much on a par. This parity may well come
as a wake-up call, both to traditionalists that are untrusting of digital media,
and also to a new generation of marketers who feel that direct mail no longer
has the appeal of the latest digital techniques.
Of course, given the fact that mail campaigns are more expensive to produce
than their email counterparts, some observers may think – ‘why not stick to
email if it gains the same level of consumer attention?’. Other results from the
survey suggest why such a mindset misses the bigger picture.
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1
Over three-quarters (76%) of consumers surveyed found direct email
more intrusive than direct mail
Conversely, this leaves a quarter of consumers (24%) believing direct
email to be a perfectly acceptable marketing channel
1000 consumers surveyed in each of France, UK, Germany. Sample balanced by age, location,
gender.


A quarter of people stated that, in the current downturn, properly
personalised direct mail is twice as likely as generic mailings to get
them to respond.
Almost two-thirds (62%) of consumers find personalised direct mail and
direct response advertising the most effective advertising technique to
make them visit a company’s website for the first time and seriously
consider a purchase.
These additional findings demonstrate that to focus all marketing effort on the
email channel would be to ignore strong consumer endorsement for direct
mail.
At a time when marketers are looking for every message to deliver ROI,
simply adopting email marketing because it’s less expensive is false
economy. True return on investment comes from making different channels
work together. This is emphasised by the final bullet point, where direct mail is
shown to be one of the most effective methods of driving consumers to a
website – not merely to browse, but to purchase.
Targeting and personalisation
Overriding all of these findings is one glaringly obvious fact. If messages are
not accurately targeted to the consumer they stand little or no chance of
success.
In short, knowing the customer – i.e, spending time and resource on data
collection and analysis and building customer profiles - is the critical
component of successful direct marketing. Without this solid platform in place,
companies focusing time and money on message creativity are wasting effort.
Style over content will not fool the consumer.
Integrating multiple channels
Pitney Bowes’ European research found that 76% of people find direct email
more intrusive than direct mail. Nevertheless, the research also identified a
solid base of people (24%) who find direct email perfectly acceptable and
non-intrusive. By confining themselves to one distribution channel, companies
risk alienating significant customer segments.
They also miss the opportunity to combine different channels – using direct
mail to persuade consumers to visit their website and/or online shop or
running integrated promotional campaigns via both email and mail for a more
dynamic impact.
Here again, the key to integrating channels successfully is knowledge.
Knowledge of the consumer – through data collection and analysis - and
knowledge of how to make different channels work together. Two aspects are
key: consistency of message, and having the correct processes in place.
First, consistency of message. Naturally, different consumer segments
respond to different offers, but underlying this must come brand recognition
and message recollection. Tone of voice, style and brand messages must be
consistent across different media in order to maximise those.
Secondly, processes. A company must have the processes in place to handle
responses and enquiries at the right time and in the right manner. When using
multiple-communication channels, the process has to be able to handle
responses and enquiries from each touch-point used – whether it’s mail,
email, web or phone.
It’s important to recognise too that the speed or style of response required
may vary for different channels – consumers responding to email or web
channels may expect 24/7 responses or service, for example, whereas
respondents to mail communications may not. So, businesses adopting digital
marketing for the first time must be prepared to deal with these heightened
customer service expectations.
Conclusion
Today’s consumer is inundated with marketing messages. The battle for
consumer attention gets evermore furious as new channel choices are
continuously added to the mix. Social networking is just the latest example,
with sites such as Twitter and Facebook providing more routes to the
consumer – and more confusion for marketers. In the current business
climate, marketers are under real pressure to ensure that any decisions taken
pay immediate dividends.
Email marketing and direct mail remain popular marketing choices due to the
fact that both are relatively simple to adopt, both have the scope to reach a
large audience and, crucially, the results from both can be accurately
measured. Debate has raged for several years about the relative merits of
each technique, with supporters in each camp reluctant to acknowledge the
potential benefits of the other. This latest Pitney Bowes report shows such a
stance to be blinkered.
Consumers across the UK, France and Germany are willing to give targeted
direct mail and email marketing messages nearly two minutes of their time.
This ‘two-minute window’ of attention is significant when one considers the
sheer abundance of messages that are aimed each day at the consumer.
Marketers should take note of the consumer endorsement of direct mail –
particularly the statistic that shows mail as a hugely effective tool for driving
customers to make web purchases. But equally, the survey shows that a
quarter of all consumers are now comfortable receiving email marketing
messages – a considerable audience. There is real value to be gained from
embracing multiple marketing methods – as long as any messages are well
targeted and display intelligence.
With so much channel choice and so much hype around take-up of new
marketing platforms these findings provide marketers with an accurate portrait
of the European consumer in 2009. The message to businesses of every size
is clear. Know your audience, work hard to understand your customers’
preferences and invest in marketing activity that truly engages your audience.
Despite being bombarded with messages on a daily basis, today’s consumer
remains open to marketing that speaks their language and fits their lifestyle.
You have two minutes to make an impression. Your time starts now…
Ends