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  • Casual Articles - How to Create a Superior Marketing Database

    What's In Your Launch Box?
    Don't think branding. Think brand power.As a small business entrepreneur, you are savvy enough to know that branding isn't just for large multinational corporations. However, when it comes to branding there is still too much attention given to colors and designs and not enough given to achieving brand power. Visibility and repetition are the keys to success and can even overcome average designs. When you are imagining what your logo should look like, don't stop there--imagine where it will go. Imagine the knowledgeabl
    g, so you want to build your database with contacts that are genuine targeted prospects and not merely suspects. In order to achieve this you need to have a definition of a targeted prospect. Here are some of the criteria that you might want to include:

    • Geographic area
    • Spending power
    • Likely need for your product or services
    • Using Surveys to Gather Valuable Customer Data
      The more you know about your customers, the better you'll understand them. And the better you understand them, the better you'll be able to sell to them.One of the best ways to collect this information is by creating a quick online survey.The data you collect from customer surveys can be invaluable to the operation of your business.Survey results allow you to examine your marketing strategy and ask important questions like:- Are you promoting the fact that you have a huge product range, when what your cu
    Do you maintain a dedicated marketing database of customer and targeted prospect information? If not then you need to begin to put this in place immediately. Any business can only market intelligently when it is armed with vital contact information. In fact - outside of tangible business assets such as property, machinery and stock, your marketing database is the most valuable asset. If you ever plan to sell your business one of the first things a potential buyer will want to see is your customer and prospect information.

    What to include in your marketing database

    Apart from the obvious contact details, for example full name, address, telephone, fax, email etc, the following list shows the information that you need to store and keep up to date:

    • Category
    • Source of contact
    • Purchasing history
    • Response to offers
    • Email opt in status
    • Telephone/fax preference status
    • Preferred contact method
    • Birthday/Anniversary dates
    • Partners/children names
    • Hobbies
    • Pets

    Let's consider these items in more detail. It is very important to be able to segment your database into various categories. For example, you will want to know whether each contact is a buying customer, an enquirer that has not yet bought or a targeted prospect. Targeting is the first priority with marketing, so you want to build your database with contacts that are genuine targeted prospects and not merely suspects. In order to achieve this you need to have a definition of a targeted prospect. Here are some of the criteria that you might want to include:

    • Geographic area
    • Spending power
    • Likely need for your product or services
    Your Headlines Are Key To Your Success Or Failure. Do You Know What To Write?
    Most professional copywriters would say that headlines account for 80% percent of more of the effectiveness of an ad or sales letter.After all, it's the headline that gets your reader to stop and read further into your sales copy. If the headline fails, then the entire ad or sale copy fails.So with headline creation being of such importance, are you giving your headlines the time and effort they are worth?Writing good headlines is a skill that can be learned and mastered if you ar
    ng database is the most valuable asset. If you ever plan to sell your business one of the first things a potential buyer will want to see is your customer and prospect information.

    What to include in your marketing database

    Apart from the obvious contact details, for example full name, address, telephone, fax, email etc, the following list shows the information that you need to store and keep up to date:

    • Category
    • Source of contact
    • Purchasing history
    • Response to offers
    • Email opt in status
    • Telephone/fax preference status
    • Preferred contact method
    • Birthday/Anniversary dates
    • Partners/children names
    • Hobbies
    • Pets

    Let's consider these items in more detail. It is very important to be able to segment your database into various categories. For example, you will want to know whether each contact is a buying customer, an enquirer that has not yet bought or a targeted prospect. Targeting is the first priority with marketing, so you want to build your database with contacts that are genuine targeted prospects and not merely suspects. In order to achieve this you need to have a definition of a targeted prospect. Here are some of the criteria that you might want to include:

    • Geographic area
    • Spending power
    • Likely need for your product or services
    • Raytheon to Lay Off More People; Beechcraft up for sale?
      It appears that Raytheon Corp., which does lots of contracts for the United States military is shedding its Beechcraft brand of general aviation aircraft as that division is up for sale now. Of course this is rather unfortunate for the economic development associations of Salina Kansas and Wichita, Kansas, which both have aircraft plants there.In fact Raytheon aircraft Co. announced that it would be eliminating 600 or more jobs and although they announced that they would do this in January, now the company is for sale and thtc, the following list shows the information that you need to store and keep up to date:

      • Category
      • Source of contact
      • Purchasing history
      • Response to offers
      • Email opt in status
      • Telephone/fax preference status
      • Preferred contact method
      • Birthday/Anniversary dates
      • Partners/children names
      • Hobbies
      • Pets

      Let's consider these items in more detail. It is very important to be able to segment your database into various categories. For example, you will want to know whether each contact is a buying customer, an enquirer that has not yet bought or a targeted prospect. Targeting is the first priority with marketing, so you want to build your database with contacts that are genuine targeted prospects and not merely suspects. In order to achieve this you need to have a definition of a targeted prospect. Here are some of the criteria that you might want to include:

      • Geographic area
      • Spending power
      • Likely need for your product or services
      • Putting The Spotlight On Your Business - Ideas For Corporate Theater
        “These days, corporate theater adds more to a presentation than most anything else can do. No one gives attendees a stale speaker, a basic presentation or a humdrum environment. It’s all about the lights, camera and action. Interactive theater is the way to go.” - Event Solutions magazine, Feb 2002Many businesses are looking to using corporate theater to invigorate and stimulate their audiences at trade shows, launches, conferences and networking events.Corporate theater can creatively li>Hobbies
      • Pets

      Let's consider these items in more detail. It is very important to be able to segment your database into various categories. For example, you will want to know whether each contact is a buying customer, an enquirer that has not yet bought or a targeted prospect. Targeting is the first priority with marketing, so you want to build your database with contacts that are genuine targeted prospects and not merely suspects. In order to achieve this you need to have a definition of a targeted prospect. Here are some of the criteria that you might want to include:

      • Geographic area
      • Spending power
      • Likely need for your product or services
      • Keep Signaling After the Sale
        Quick Quiz: Let’s say you’ve just out-marketed a competitor who has a product that in all honesty is superior to yours. You’ve done a better job of signaling to the customer that your product will actually meet the consumer’s needs better.Congratulations.Now what? Do you: A. Stop communicating with the customer. (Hey, they’ll eventually find out the other product is better anyway.)B. Immediately fire out a quick customer satisfaction survey. (Hoping for a high score while they’re still happy wg, so you want to build your database with contacts that are genuine targeted prospects and not merely suspects. In order to achieve this you need to have a definition of a targeted prospect. Here are some of the criteria that you might want to include:

        • Geographic area
        • Spending power
        • Likely need for your product or services

        You can also categorise your existing customer base by giving each customer a quality rating. This will include their past purchases, likely potential for the future, the profitability of their business and servicing requirements. The easiest way to store and retrieve this information is to establish a category code that is made up of the various elements of your criteria. For example, a code such as "C1HP5" could be made up of "C1" (existing category 1 customer), "HP5" (Post code area). Enquirers and prospects could be coded similarly with prefix "E3" (enquirer category 3) for example and "P2" (Prospect category 2).

        The source of contact would show whether they originated from say a customer referral, an advertisement or a purchased list etc.

        A purchasing history will include date of purchases, amount spent and nature of purchase.

        Response to offers would list each time that you received a response to an offer from each contact. By recording their responses you are able to fine-tune the offers you make available to them ensuring that they are increasingly more appealing and appropriate. This is an ongoing process of refinement that I refer to as "Closed Loop Marketing".

        You also need to know whether the contact has opted out of any email, telephone or fax approaches. In addit

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