Special Report: Matchbacks

Introduction

A matchback is the process of matching order records back to mailing-tape records to determine the actual sources of those orders. Matchbacks have been used for years on a limited basis to try to pinpoint the source of unknown orders: typically 5 percent to 20 percent of orders. With the advent of the Web and the increase in multichannel marketing, understanding where your orders and customers are coming from has become harder to learn — and yet more critical to know — than ever.

This shift has brought matchbacks into the limelight of customer order-tracking and results analysis. This Special Report will outline for you:
• how multichannel marketers are using matchback techniques today;
• steps to take to perform expert matchbacks; and
• techniques and tools to get matchbacks done in a way that’s best for you.

Terrell Sellix is vice president of marketing at McIntyre Direct, a Portland, Ore.-based, full-service catalog agency. Sellix combines her love of data analysis with a sensitivity to the human side of marketing that stems from four years of marketing good health concepts in West Africa. For questions, contact her at: (503) 286-1400.