4 Ways to Target Catalog Delivery More Effectively

Identifying and understanding your targeted customers and finding more like them are critical to catalog delivery success. Being “location intelligent” by using location-based information and consumer psychographic data enables catalogers across any industry to more accurately profile their target consumers. By taking into account lifestyle characteristics, purchase behaviors and consumer demographics, catalogers can optimize merchandising strategies and increase sales.

Combining multiple variables lets catalogers identify high-level attributes associated with a particular consumer group. Psychographics and neighborhood segmentation help target the most receptive consumers to a particular product. What’s more, mapping capabilities allow catalogers to pinpoint exactly where these ideal consumers live.

To become more location intelligent, consider the following:

1. Which consumer groups are your strongest targets? Catalogers should analyze consumer expenditures within defined geographies to identify the most promising consumer segments, as well as the most unproductive consumer targets, and where each of these segments resides.
2. Demographics paint a more accurate picture of the targeted customer. Are your most promising targets male or female? Young or old? White collar or blue collar? High school- or college-educated?
3. Psychographics and segmentation tell us the most effective means of reaching consumers. Unlike demographics, psychographics and segmentation reveal an additional layer of information on key aspects about a consumer population.
   Psychographics take this concept further by describing lifestyles and behaviors, such as consumers’ propensity to travel internationally, go downhill skiing or their frequency of visits to coffee shops.
   Segmentation combines demographic and psychographic attributes to group consumers into similar “clusters.” This process allows for a better description of the targeted consumer and provides catalogers with key lifestyle and behavioral attributes that help in targeting catalog delivery effectively.
4. Quality in, quality out. Put the power of location intelligence to work and maximize your targeting campaigns by mining your existing databases. Ask yourself the following:
   • Who are your customer segments, and what are their response rates? How much do they spend, and how often?
   • Do your mail order consumers look different than your brick-and-mortar consumers?

Use location intelligence to craft, track and recalibrate your campaigns over time. Get the full picture of consumer behavior, and know exactly where to target catalog delivery.

Brian V. Hill is restaurant practice leader for predictive analytics at Pitney Bowes MapInfo, and Alan W. Beery is retail practice leader for predictive analytics at Pitney Bowes MapInfo (www.mapinfo.com), a global provider of location intelligence solutions to help companies make more informed and strategic business decisions.