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Marketing is Now Synonymous with “Channel Surfing”
September 17, 2008

Today, I continue my report from last week’s Print Buyer’s Conference in Boston with a post about a Friday afternoon session entitled “Anatomy of a Cross-Media Campaign” presented by Scott Dubois, VP of Cross-Media Services and Marketing for Reynolds DeWalt (www.reynoldsdewalt.com).

This was familiar territory for me; I wrote one of the first market research reports on cross-media development for TrendWatch Graphic Arts back in 2000, and a year later helped found a short-lived magazine called Cross Media (2001 was not the best year to start a magazine).

The idea behind cross media—and if you have been reading my posts for any length of time, you know that “cross media” is just one of the 10 billion names the phenomenon has—is not only to produce marketing materials or publish content (if you are a publisher) in more than one medium more or less simultaneously, but, as Mr. Dubois said:

• “integrate database intelligence to allow the campaign to deliver a better experience and more relevant information,” and
• “deliver a consistent experience and entry point across those medias.”

(Yes, it appears that the term “medias” is replacing the “media” in these types of discussions. “Media” is already a plural, so making it also plural is making the part of my brain that controls copy editing proofreading throb with a dull ache.)

And while components of a cross-media campaign can be changed on the fly if necessary, devising a comprehensive strategy at the outset is the key to achieving results.

Essentially, the most important aspect of a cross-media campaign, at least as Reynolds DeWalt conceives it, is the database. In fact, one of the goals of a good cross-media campaign is to fill in holes in a database. Do you have only snail mail addresses in a customer or prospect database? Use a print mailing combined with a Web site and a sign-up for an opt-in e-mail newsletter to obtain e-mail addresses. And vice versa. This is known as “horizontal data growth.”

The list of media (or medias, if you will) is quite voluminous, but the Friday session mentioned specifically:

• variable print
• Web
• e-mail
• SMS/mobile applications (SMS is basically text messaging or “texting,” and the use of “text” as a verb also makes my brain hurt)
• telephone
• traditional print
• TV
• radio

Each medium has its own set of requirements, of course, but some occupy different spots in the media “flow.” That is, a cross-media campaign has three basic parts:

• the front end, or how you attract traffic in the first place; this can be a TV or radio commercial, a print ad, a direct mail campaign, outdoor graphics, whatever;
• the back end, or where you are trying to drive that traffic; this can be a Web site, a phone number they need to call, a printed form to fill out, or even a physical location to go to; and
• the desired end-user action or, what you basically, at the end of the day, want the customer to do; this can be to register for an event, subscribe to a publication, buy something, or just ask for more information as a way of driving a sales process.

The back end, like the front end, can also entail a variety of medias to herd users toward that ultimate desired action.

The session also provided some examples, ranging from the very simple to the very complex. Some highlights:

In one simple case, a variably printed postcard drove recipients to a personalized URL (or PURL, which, if you have been reading Heidi’s posts, you are intimately familiar with) where they were encouraged to opt-in to receive more information about a financial planning program. If a customer did so, an e-mail confirmation was sent to the registrant, and cc’ed to the customer’s sales team. Again, it was not only about stimulating a user action but also gathering more data about a prospect.

More complicated campaigns use multiple entry points to get people into the system where so-called “marketing automation” can take over and users can be tracked throughout the process. Another campaign that was cited herded users through a variety of entry points—direct mail, direct e-mail, and a Web site—to a site where they entered specific information. The information they provided determined the next path through the system. Did they want to register for an event? If yes, they were sent to a registration site. Did they want more information about a product or service? If yes, they were shunted to another site. They were also assigned to a sales rep, and their communication preferences—e-mail? phone? snail mail?—were also acquired, which then drove the next points of contact. Further down the road, reminder e-mails and other follow ups also kept the dialog going.

I have heard elsewhere of additional cross-media elements that could be added; for example, while a user is interacting with a site and entering information or requesting product information, a live sales rep can then call the person while they are still on the site, or they can trigger a custom instant messaging window, so a “live” dialog can be initiated.

The limits are truly that of the most creative marketer.

Mr. Dubois also pointed out that response rate isn’t necessarily the most important metric when evaluating a cross-media (or any) campaign. Instead, how much new business—or revenue—did it create? One campaign was sent to 14,000 recipients, but only 2,000 responded. And yet, those 2,000 generated $29 million in new revenue for the customer, so it really depends on what you are selling and who the best customers are.

There is a lot more to say about cross media—or multichannel marketing, or integrated marketing, or what have you—and as time goes on, I shall.

Tomorrow, more highlights from the Print Buyer’s Conference including a look at Dr. Joe Webb’s flash forward session: 2018: Did Print Survive?”

Posted by Richard Romano on September 17, 2008 | Comments (0)