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Marketing Results, What Do You Think?
Posted By: stacey* on 6/27/2006 2:07 PM (CST)	125 Points
I posted a message a few months ago regarding my direct marketing company and some results. I have gathered more results from my clients and would like your opinions on whether these are good results or typical results as well as what you think this is worth to the average client. 1. Bank: The bank directly marketed through us to 50 potential customers. They then made follow up calls to those 50 potential customers, out of that, 9 new families opened multiple accounts (an account for each child). 2. Grocery store: Marketed to 50 potential customers w/coupons. 10 of those coupons were redeemed within two weeks. 3. Children's clothing boutique: Directly marketed to 25 potential customers w/gift cards. 2 of the gift cards have been redeemed so far. To summarize, I understand these results as this: The bank experienced an 18% return (for lack of a better word), the grocer experienced a 20% return and the boutique an 8% return. I do not know the dollar amounts of the accounts opened or groceries purchased but I do know that the bank gained 9 new customers, and following those results they'd have 27 new customers at the end of three months. I would say that our marketing strategy works, but I do not have a marketing background and need your expertise in measuring how successful this has been and how to word it to attract future clients. Thank you in advance for your feedback. Stacey

Posted by: michael	Accepted Answer
6/27/2006 2:14 PM (CST)
Stacey, Great results for you! The real question, though is answered in terms of the dollars. I know you mentioned that this is not known, but to show your value, you want to determine that upfront with your customer 1) What is the lifetime value, to the bank, of a new customer...especially one with children? They should know this and if they don't you need to help them 2) What is the average size grocery order of the coupon users vs the non-coupon user? Grocers use loss leaders all the time. The question is does it bring in ancillary sales? Michael

Posted by: stacey*	Author Response
6/27/2006 2:49 PM (CST)
Thank you for responding so quickly! 1. I will contact my client at the bank and learn that information. If they don't know it, how do I help them? 2. The average size grocery order when redeeming the coupon is $107.00. I do not know how often these coupon redeemers are repeat customers.

Posted by: margec	Member Response
6/27/2006 2:59 PM (CST)
These sound like great results. You might also want to keep track of the cost of the marketing program, so you can calculate a cost per response, leading to some benchmark numbers you could share with future clients. The question of whether your grocery store respondents become repeat customers is a good one, and might suggest some ongoing work. You might want to suggest that the next campaign could include a mechanism to retain some way to identify the responders (if that wasn't part of this project), and focus on bringing them back.

Posted by: W.M.M.A.	Accepted Answer
6/27/2006 4:25 PM (CST)
Although the numbers at the initial outset look alright, The final success will be in the bottom right hand corner of the P&L. However, I believe also that the results are meaured in the satisfaction of the customer: the bank, the boutique...etc. How do you say it? That's easy, as the truth. In X period of time, our banking customer received X new customers. That could equal as much as X customers each month. Would X new depositors each month be important to your bank? I'd like to work on it...you can contact me if you wish. Randall WMMA

Posted by: stacey*	Author Response
6/27/2006 5:11 PM (CST)
Margec, Thank you for the suggestions. I do think the grocer does keep track of customer activity (repeats, etc) but they don't want to give out that information, at least not the woman I am working with. Randall, I would love your help in working on this, should I contact you at your WMMA email? We have a unique approach and the results seem to be unique (in my limited experience) and I'm excited to grow this business. My background comes from BEING the target market, not marketer. Thanks so much for your help. This is a great website.

Posted by: ExchangeSynergism.com*	Accepted Answer
6/27/2006 5:12 PM (CST)
Stacey your response rates are excellent by any standard. The quantification into dollars is useful as suggested by others, but you might want to know that the small sample results you are showing are very good. Don't forget to include the offer and communication costs in your calculations. And most importantly don't forget to build some profit for yourself in those costs !

Posted by: W.M.M.A.	Member Response
6/27/2006 5:48 PM (CST)
Stacey: ;yes.

Posted by: rbauman*	Accepted Answer
6/27/2006 8:10 PM (CST)
Stacey, Your response rates are outstanding and above average. I suggest you shift your measurement focus to Return On Investment as that will help you sell yourself in the future. What was the cost of your services compared to your client's return? If your cost pays for itself within 1-2 months you should stress that fact and get testimonials to that effect from your clients.

Posted by: stacey*	Author Response
6/27/2006 8:24 PM (CST)
Exchangesynergism.com - Thank you for your response, that's what I'm looking for; how these results compare to the averages. rbauman - ROI is hard for me to calculate. I will have a better idea on the bank's ROI once I get more details from them (as suggested by Michael). But I can tell you that they spent $90 to get those 9 new families w/multiple accounts, I'd guess their ROI was mighty good. The grocer markets w/a coupon worth $12.00 + the $62.50/mo it pays us. Average dollars spent when redeeming the coupon is $107.00. I am also in the process of gathering testimonials from both the bank and grocer.

Posted by: Doug Hudiburg	Accepted Answer
6/27/2006 11:19 PM (CST)
Another way to look at measuring return is to determine how much it takes to liquidate your initial investment -- your break even point. With all of these businesses, if they can at least break-even on their initial campaign, they are virtually guaranteed to be in a profitable space due to repeat business. First task is to get new customers. Second task is to cover your new customer acquisition cost. Third is to turn those new customers into lifetime profit. Looks like you have created some strong, and relevant initial offers to these targeted prospects. The group sizes are all very small. Can you scale it to larger numbers? If so, don't over-analyze. You have winning campaigns.

Posted by: darcy.moen	Member Response
6/28/2006 8:06 AM (CST)
Definately look at the Customer Lifetime Value. The grocery store most likely has the slimest profit margin of around one percent. Depending on the coupon, they may lose money on the customer. But if the customers stay on, they will make the initial loss back and generate a return on investment. In the case of the bank, they have better profit margins. Their customer could take out a loan, which makes their customer's lifetime value increase dramatically, and the bank could be creating very good return on investment. Hope I helped you. Darcy Moen Customer Loyalty Network

Posted by: stacey*	Author Response
6/28/2006 4:18 PM (CST)
Doug Hudiberg, Our small scale is one of the issues we're facing. On one hand, our small scale is good for our local clients since they pay per contact, but it's hard for us to attract larger businesses. I'm not sure how to deal with this issue yet, it's a catch 22, we're too small to get the 'big guys' but we sort of need the 'big guys' to become bigger. Obviously, I can multiple current results and predict what they would be on a larger scale... Darcy, Thanks for your help, I am working on getting that information. Are there any stats available the show the likelihood of gaining a repeat customer or benefits of established loyalty?

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