Only a few short years ago many direct marketers used recency, frequency, monetary and other models to decipher purchasing patterns and applied the findings across their entire database. But times have changed. Now there are more media options and the one-size-fits-most modeling method has become a multichannel challenge.
Along with these options, communication paths (the sequence of channel contacts that lead to a purchase), channel preferences, and drilling differently and frequently into the marketing database have become prominent factors for DMers seeking to get a handle on consumer behavior. The process begins with cross-channel data integration. After that it becomes critical to understand customers’ channel preferences based on transaction data.
Kevin Hillstrom, database guru at consultancy MineThatData, identifies six distinct business models that DMers would do well to consider before jumping into the multichannel fray.
- Simple online presence
Web-based businesses generate most of their sales from people who mail in their orders or call a sales rep in a contact center. Orders generally are stimulated by a print catalog which these folks receive in the mail. In this case the online channel is not a significant driver of sales
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