1 out of 4 CMO’s have heard of TransPromo
admin | Dec 20, 2008 | Comments 4
The CMO Council’s research, “Routes to Revenue” clearly underscore the importance of making communications more personal and relevant, as well as more targeted and timely. The report also outlines key strategies that are top of mind for the upcoming year. Download the executive summary .
Report Highlights
One out of Four
As marketers look for new technologies and tools to optimize customer engagement, a solution that leverages existing transaction documents or statements has gone largely overlooked. TransPromo, a transactional printed documents combined with promotional marketing messages, has only been heard of by one in four marketers. And only one in four marketers is actually leveraging customer insight and print technology to deliver individualized messages to their customers who are already receiving these documents including monthly statements, bills or invoices.
Marketers Continue to Fly Blind In Performance Measurement
Even as some marketers are executing targeted precision promotions campaigns like TransPromo, few are establishing measures and metrics to determine efficacy. Only 41% have measures in place to track performance, with 10% of that group saying these programs return decent response rates and another 8% believe the program was highly effective and measureable. 58% do not know how effective the program was at all.
Overlooked Opportunity to Open New Revenue Stream
Nearly half of the respondents admit they are overlooking an opportunity to monetize their promotional programs by working with internal resources or partners. 12% lack the understanding of how to take advantage of this revenue generating opportunity.
Marketers See An Opportunity to Execute Cost-Effective, High-Impact Precision Promotion Campaign
Over half of the marketers surveyed see Precision Promotion campaigns like TransPromo as being an effective channel of engagement with customers in a cost effective, actionable format. In a crowded messaging marketplace, marketers also consider TransPromo campaigns as having the ability to cut through the clutter to engage with customers and deliver highly relevant, contextual, relevant messaging. Unfortunately, marketers still fail to see the revenue opportunity in these vehicles as only 13% would monetize the program leveraging third party offers and messages.
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Maybe one way to understand the reluctance of Marketing is to recognize that successful TransPromo needs a collaboration between IT and Marketing and Statement Printing. In most organizations these are three different and often mutually suspicious cultures. All are under staffed and over tasked.
Although the value proposition is so obvious, it probably means a lot of time consuming, difficult meetings that people tend to avoid. The incentive of overall ROI may not be enough to overcome the resistance. Another thing to consider is whose budget gets the benefit?
To me, TransPromo is just Google Ad Words in print.
One would think that would be a viral idea. But consider that Marketing will not get awards, the profit would accrue over a long time, the print shop doesn’t get the benefit, and the IT department is focused on integrating the web.
Meanwhile, successful TransPromo requires a powerful recommendation engine and clean timely data on customer exchanges. My sense is that the hospitality business, the gaming business and retailers like Wal-Mart have that data stream accessible. But most organizations don’t.
I wonder if the pitch were to use TransInfo to be step one. “Get used to the process and modernize the incoming data stream.”
Then when you have parts of the data under control, roll out TransPromo in smaller proof of concept projects, until it’s ready to scale.
That’s a pitch that could be made directly to IT, with Print shop buy in. The Web team understands personalization and google ads. To them delivering in Print should be very similar to delivering on the Screen. If the revenue goes to offset the expense of the Print shop, they will buy in.
After one or two iterations of successful proof of concepts with the data to support it, in THEIR organization, I bet Marketing would pick it up and run with it.
Another possibility is for a vendor and manufacturer to subsidize the cost and do the work of small proof of concepts. Since everyone believes their organization is unique, I think the quickest road to success is to show people how it works in THEIR organization.
Or…maybe somebody should talk to Google directly. I understand they are working on ad distribution for newspapers. So, get Google to do the ads and the analytics and deliver a clean data stream for printers to print. No Marketing Department needed. Of course there are lots of issues that would have to be clarified, but Google seems pretty open to a any kind of deal that makes sense.
The idea would be to frame “statements” as a previously under appreciated communication infrastructure. A physical analog of a search page. The search item is “How much do I owe? or How much do I have?” Type it into Google and get a paper delivered to your mailbox. With ads in the right hand column.
Michael,
Good points – and would like to speak to one. After speaking at the CMO Summit, we polled 100 of the TOP CMO’s that were in the room if they sent out monthly communications – and almost all raised their hand. When asked who is leveraging this data – only 4 raised their hands. When I asked why, they simply said they did not know how to start. And then we had a lengthy discussion on implementation. So, start very small, and move through the company. Most marketers test for many months – so it would still take some time.
Nice story.
I wonder. Do CMO’s have the staff, time, focus or resources within their departments to get it done? Or do they have to talk to IT?
Another question: Does a vendor have enough trusted brand status to offer to do the data collection and analysis for them?
I would think IBM would have that brand cred, but would be surprised if anyone with less of brand could get a CMO to “outsource” data analysis.