Multichannel Marketing Planning 2010: Take two mostly difficult years, add in more channels

By John Lenser

Web-Exclusive: Level the Playing Field

Silos will persist, print and ecommerce programs will compete, and marketing budgets will be irrational until an information and analytics program is implemented that provides the basis for informed decisions. With adequate information and analysis, competing marketing programs can be evaluated based on the cost of customer acquisition and the lifetime value of customer. Without such metrics, it is impossible to determine if resources should be devoted to more SEM or increased catalog circulation.

While acquiring a customer via SEM might appear to be a much lower cost than mailing a prospect catalog, without understanding the longer term value of the customer, the opposite could be true. An email with a link to a virtual catalog may appear to have lower response rates than a print catalog, but may have a higher ROI when costs are considered.

A relational database is required to capture not only transactional information but promotional histories, promotional costs, and customer origination from matchbacks between order files and mail files. Sophisticated reporting and analytic tools such as Alterian are required to explore the relationships between diverse customer attributes and drive automated customer centric marketing programs. Until recently the cost of such databases has been prohibitive except for larger companies, but today such databases are becoming much more affordable. —JL

For most multichannel retailers, developing marketing plans and budgets for 2010 is a daunting task. After two years of tough economic climates that meant sales reductions and downsizing for many, now’s the time to build a plan for another — perhaps better, yet uncertain — year.

Should search engine marketing (SEM) budgets grow?
Should you jump on the bandwagon of social media?
Should you expand your catalog circulation?
If you’re a store retailer, how can you drive traffic?

Irrespective of how you forecast next year’s economy, the past two years have accelerated the evolution of multichannel marketing. Your plan for 2010 should adopt cutting-edge strategies and new techniques that provide the highest return on investment and let you master today’s new marketing realities.

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Multichannel Marketing: Planning 2010: The Game Has Changed