All channels have their place,
says TRISH DOMINY.
Timefor
mediablending
List managers and brokers have to be ‘agnostic’ about media
channels – which means they can stand back and watch the
debate about whether online or offline delivers best results.
Infact,theterm‘debate’isprobablyabitofan
understatement;maybe‘war’wouldbeabetterdescriptionof
thefiercerivalrybetweenthe‘old’worldand‘newmedia’.
But,sittingfirmlyonthefence,IwouldsayIhaveaprettygood
viewand–incommonwithsomeofthemostexperienced
internationalmarketers–Ihavecometotheconclusionthatall
channelshavetheirplace.
TheUK’sRoyalMailhasrecentlyenteredthefraywithsome
interestingcommentaryabouthowdifferentchannels–specifically
emailanddirectmail–worktogether.Emailisagreatwayof
announcingandspreadingthewordquickly,butwhenitcomesto
presentingacomplexoffer(especiallywhenthereisanimmediate
financialcommitment),paperstillworksbest.
Combiningemailandthephonecanalsobringsomegreat
resultswiththeimpactoftwoapproacheswayexceedingasingle
shot.Theyusedtocallthis‘multiplyingthemediaeffect’butthe
newbuzzwordis‘mediablending’.
Email‘teasers’it’ssaid,canimproveresponsetodirectmailby
upto40percentandstudieshaveshownthatconsumersactually
likethemulti-channelapproachandhaveagreaterpropensityto
spendmoreiftheyreceivemultiplemessages(solongastheyare
allwelltimedandproperlytargeted).
Meanwhile,figuresfromtheAdestraEmailMarketingCensus
2009,showthereisasteadyswinginemailusagetowards
retentionwithotherchannelsbeingusedforinitialprospecting
(includingsearchandonline).
Responseanalysis
Ofcourse,oneofthechallengesofmedia-blendingisthecomplex
responseanalysiswhichisneededtosortoutexactlywhatis
workingforthebrand.
ManydirectmarketersIspeaktostruggletogetthisright.
Thiscan,ofcourse,meanthattheimpactofonechannelover
anotherisdistorted.
But,ifamedia-blendedworldisyourideaofprospecting
nirvana,youdohaveanotherchallengeahead;manydatasources
canonlygiveyouone-dimensionalaccesstotheconsumeror
businessprospectyouarelookingforandthisisparticularlytrue
ofinternationaldatasources.
Thosemulti-channeldatabasesthatdoexistaregoldmines
andmanyofthedataownersarenowofferingleasepriceswhich
includecontactdetailsforallchannelsonamulti-usebasis.
Myadvicewouldbetoseekoutacombinedsourceandplay
themediafielduntilyoufindyouroptimumblend.
Trish Dominy is list manager at RSADirect – the UK partner within
the Lists4Europe network. Email: trish.dominy@rsadirect.com
www.dmi-news.com May 2009 19
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