A few days ago, I heard Chris Shigas, Vice President of French/West/Vaughn, speak at the Public Relations & Marketing Seminar 2008. I’m not sure if he was quoting someone else or if this was his wisdom, but he said something that really stuck in my head: “If you try to say something to everyone, you wind up saying nothing to anyone.”
I realize his words aren’t profound. Every young journalist is told to keep the reader in mind when crafting a story: Know your audience. Shigas’ message was directed to an audience of media professionals, specifically marketing and PR. But that message is also one for businesses: Know your audience.
At SAS, we believe corporations and SMBs can use business analytics to strategically target the marketing campaign to not only differentiate the message but get it to the right person. Two great examples of companies that use SAS® Business Analytics to optimize and enhance their marketing messages are Vodafone Australia and ING DIRECT Canada.
Vodafone Australia, like many telecommunications companies, faces a nearly saturated market, so it has to differentiate its message or lose customer share. According to Tyrone O’Neill, General Manager of Insights and Innovation at Vodafone, before implementing SAS Marketing Optimization, offers may have been made quite broadly. “Now, however, we typically tell fewer people about a particular offer. In fact, we are communicating less frequently, but the intention is that each communication has a greater impact,” he said.
Vodafone’s focused message resulted in a response rate that was up to 10 times better than it had been before SAS and the company saved money on its marketing.
ING DIRECT Canada also found that more isn’t always better. According to Rene Bettio, Senior Manager of Data Base Marketing at ING DIRECT Canada, sending out more marketing campaigns doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get more clients.
ING DIRECT Canada used SAS Marketing Automation to reduce the time it takes to create a campaign. Now, for instance, when a client’s GIC (Guaranteed Investment Certificate) is coming due, the automated system sends out an e-mail or letter providing information on the latest rates and options. “It’s all about presenting the right offer to the right client at the right time,’’ said Bettio.
Thinking back on the seminar, I realize that the reason Shigas’ advice kept tickling in my head was because it had greater significance. He wanted to talk to me about writing focused marketing messages, but my brain kept thinking about the fact that businesses need the tools to be able to focus their marketing messages if they are going to compete in this economy.
