By using science, marketers create a framework that increases the likelihood of a consistent improvement and decreases the risk of failure. Marketing is a science which draws inspiration and creativity from art. Any marketer worth their salt measure can analyse numbers. What is the size of your market? How many prospects do you reach? How many people read your messages? How many prospects do you convert? How much do they spend? The foundation of high performance marketing is based on science and math.
To the outsider, marketing can look more like a subjective art. The reality is a professional marketer studies finance, quantitative analysis, economics, research methodology and data analysis to name a few.
So, marketers use a combination of frameworks and processes, expertise and experience that enable us to compare different scenarios and make better decisions with a higher probability of success. When working as a campaign manager many years ago, the process started with the business unit asking the campaign managers to develop a campaign to suit specific business goals. The campaign development phase involved setting marketing goals, developing strategies, selecting attractive segments, choosing tactics and media, and creating compelling offers, messages, a budget and measurement criteria. During this phase, marketers compare a range of scenarios (using financial models) before making recommendations to achieve the desired return on investment. Let’s look at the difference between a company asking us to create a direct mail and flyer versus a company asking us to develop a marketing campaign to achieve their specific business goals.
Marketing Scenario 1
Untargeted list, uncompelling offer
- Mail size: 1,500
- Response rate – direct mail: 1% Response rate – sales call: 0%
- Sales conversion rate: 20%
- Sales: 3
Marketing Scenario 2
Use a targeted list to increase sales conversion rates, add a compelling offer to increase response, phone follow-up of top 250 prospects
- Mail Size: 500
- Response rate – direct mail: 5%
- Response rate – sales call: 8%
- Sales conversion rate: 30%
- Sales: 19.5
Let’s look at the direct mail first. With a mail out to 1,500 people using an untargeted list with an average industry response rate of 1-2% (15) and a potential sales conversion rate of 10-20% (1-2) the return would be low. If the mail out was sent by email alone, the response rate would be even lower with an average industry open rate of 15% and click through rate of 5%.
Now let’s look at a situation where the company asks a different question: “create a marketing campaign to help us achieve more sales”.
This is where the expertise of marketing really comes into play. The science behind marketing helps marketers identify the right marketing tools and a campaign mix to increase response rates and generate a higher return on investment. Create an integrated marketing campaign with a compelling offer, hand pick prospects, conduct an e-direct mail (eDM) and a direct mail (DM), follow it up with phone calls from the sales team and watch conversions improve. Include a compelling offer such as an exclusive launch invite can generate an overall response rate of 10-15%. Send out an eDM with an engaging informational offer such as a video to a broader list. Then send out a DM pack to the hottest prospects one week later with the invitation offer. Conduct follow-up phone calls (via the sales team) and increase response rates by around 8%. Conduct reminder phone calls (or SMS) to people who have RSVP’d to the event will reduce no-shows at the event (generally allow for 10-15% no-shows). While there is an element of art in marketing, science should lead and measure, art should inspire and create.
