The data business is a funny business; your customer data is one of your biggest assets so why do so many companies spread it around so readily?
Data Co-operatives & Pool
Why have co-op databases become the dominant source of prospecting names?
According to the people in the know it is because transactional information is very powerful, but when it is overused does it lose its effectiveness?
The more companies that add their data to the pools the more information they have, not necessarily more names just more information on the names already in use.
The more information available to you the better the segmentation and targeting that can be achieved. However, ask yourself this –
How thinly spread is this data?
How many companies with similar requirements to you are using this data at the same time as you are?
How many complaints come through from a customer, about the number of mailing pieces they have received after signing up with your company irrespective to whether they have opted in to third party mailings?
When preparing different client’s mailings, where the source of prospect names is solely from Pools/Co-operatives, I find it slightly disturbing to see the same names over and over again.
What is the answer?
Add a bit of variety to your mailing!
When I started in this business a mailing file was made up from many sources of data:-
Your customer base – a steady and predictable ROI – up to 20% (2011) whereas in 2015 same period the ROI for the same company – 8-10 %
Your dependable lists used in the past and would give an average ROI of up to 4/5% (2011) not used in 2015
Test Lists – usually recommended by a list broker based on previous ROI figures for similar companies to yours. 2/3% (2011) not used in 2015
Pools Data used as a top up to a mailing – ROI 2/3% (2011), in 2015 used as the only recruitment data – 1.5-2% ROI
You would work out the hierarchy you wanted to work to, you knew exactly which company’s data you were using and in the same token if you sold your data you knew which company was using your data. In other words you were in control of the data you were using and selling.
The Co-operative and Pools data eventually started to feed into the various mailings and would be added at the bottom of the hierarchy as a ‘Top Up’. Subsequently the number of companies joining these ‘Pools’ of data increased, therefore more and more data was available. With this and Added incentives for adding your data to them the Pools have become the mainstay of the catalogue mailing business.
Not sure if you are getting the results you want?
Analyse and learn
Of course way back a consultant/analyst would be needed to create and decipher the results of your mailings, giving you the figures within pages of static information containing numbers, tables and graphs which could take weeks to digest.
Nowadays of course there are much more sophisticated CRM/Analytical/SCV packages out there to monitor the success of your mailing, these can be accessed at the tap of a few keys so you and your team can see the results.
DPC Boardroom
Here at DPC we have our online App – DPC Boardroom which can be configured to give the results you need at a glance including KPI’s, heat maps configurable charts and reports so you can compare one season/year to the next at the click of a button.
