You know that age old mantra, garbage in garbage out? Well, it’s true.
Without the correct information, or no information at all, it’s pretty darn hard to come up with a winning strategy or creative concept. But we’re asked to do it every day as marketers, aren’t we?
When campaigns fail, we take the fall. Maybe its time go a bit guerilla and fight for the facts that can help us help our clients.
The next time you find yourself lacking in input here’s a checklist you can send to your clients to request input on their next direct, digital, online or mobile projects:
1. Who actually is buying your product today?
Your best customer in today’s economy might be quite different from years past. If you’re making marketing decisions based on what worked years ago and are surprised your tactics are falling short you might be wise to take a look at your actual sales and orders over the last six to 12 months.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen companies just take last year’s marketing plan, put a new date at that top and do the exact same offers to the exact same databases and lists year after year after year. This is a dangerous move. In this economy it’s necessary to re-evaluate exactly where and by whom you are generating most of your income.
Whether you’re mailing to your own in-house names or renting outside lists, there’s no way around the fact that you need targeting and segmentation criteria. By taking a close look at your top buyers, top geographical markets and top products you’ll have the ammunition needed to launch well thought out, smart marketing campaigns.
2. What messages will motivate this buyer
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