Transcript Database - Mercer University

Database Marketing
• Six Basic Assumptions
 Past
is best predictor of future
 Life Time Value (LTV) more important than any
single transaction
 Customers more important than noncustomers
 All customers are not created equal
 Customers can be grouped (segmented)
based on their characteristics
 Good prospects are like good current
customers
Database Design
and Maintenance
There are two main types with
different objectives and purposes.
Hierarchical vs Relational
• Single record
• Mulitiple records in
contains ALL info
• Excellent for high
volume processing
• Limitations on data
detail and revision
• Best used for
operations data
“Linked” tables
• Improved analytical capabilities
• “Infinite” detail
data accumulation
• Best used for
marketing data
See Exhibit 3-2, page 52
Match Codes Allow Merge/Purge
• Purpose:
Faster processing to ID
duplicates on two or
more LARGE files
• Example Address:
James E. Coleman
1840 Wentworth Drive
Montgomery, AL 36106
• Match Code:
AL6106CLE1840J75
• Explanation:
AL: state
6106: last 4 zip code
CLE: 1, 3 & 4 positions
from last name
1840: first 4 street num.
J:
first initial
7:
character count of
last name
5:
character count of
first name
What To Do With Duplicates?
• Eliminate from new lists so you don’t
pay for names you already have
• Eliminate from existing lists to
prevent duplicate mailings
• ID “multi-buyers”: people who buy
from numerous DM companies are
more likely to be good prospects
Database Maintenance Duties
• Nixie removal
 Undeliverable
or “no forwarding address”
• NCOA file comparison
 National
Change of Address from USPS
• Routine updating of record status
 Old
data is expensive and misleading
• Security
 Would
your competitors like to have this info?
Database Maintenance Duties
• DMA mail & telephone preference list
 DM
companies should always drop these
names from their lists.
 Telephone Preference Service, or
Direct Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 9014
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9014
 Email Preference Service: www.e-mps.org
 FTC ‘Do Not Call’ list.
Customer Profiling
• The better you ID current good
customers, the better your
prospecting will be.
• Beware of the “equal effort over time
dilemma”
 Certain
types of customers appear better
because your efforts concentrated on them in
the past.
Customer Profiling
• Internal: if you already have RFM,
demographic & psychographic data
• External: SMRB reports & profiles
• Enhancements: running your file
against external demo/psycho DB’s
• Environmental: census based
ZipCode info for consumers or SIC
code data for businesses