I don't get ad's to buy a Rolls-Royce motorcar, Gulfstream jet, or Burger yacht, but some people do. The people that sell those items have a very refined customer list. Which is what this month's TechTIP is about - targeted marketing.

I learned a lot from my experience with direct mail many years ago, and the key basic's have not changed, just the medium. The two key elements are: 1) offer (product or service), and 2) list (prospects or existing customers). These two key items have to share a basic foundation. As an example, if I was selling a Mercedes-Benz and my list was for for a low-income ZIP code area, it probably wouldn't matter how attractive my price was. There isn't a common foundation between the offer and the list. If I was selling MAC cosmetics into a high-income ZIP code area, but couldn't identify customer gender (and maybe age), I'd probably also be disappointed at the results.

The degree to which you can identify and segment your targeted marketing will have a direct impact on the success of your web, email, newsletter, or drip marketing campaigns. Many company's provide Marketing Automation, which can include lead generation, lead nurturing, web scoring, and more. In addition to information they might already have about you, part of the secret-sauce is their ability to collect anonymous information and serve-up web pages that have been customized to reflect your search, query, or visit history via Dynamic HTML, or DHTML. The page(s) don't actually exist, they are created and populated on-the-fly with information about you that is stored in a database, making it possible to personalized that page to reflect your interests. The information that is collected may not always be anonymous; you may have downloaded a white paper, or answered a couple of brief questions to receive additional information. The end result is the ability to provide you with information that more closely matches your interest.

I also found that many businesswomen, use initials, instead of their first name, which may be obviously feminine, i.e., Tiffany. A good example might be J. K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books. Without knowing her full name (Joanne Kathleen Rowling), but knowing her gender, you could use the correct salutation, and have a higher chance of your communication being read.

I have been on some mailing lists for a long time, but haven't bought anything, or have bought very little. Why don't they drop me? If it is an email list, their cost to keep is is about nil, and they might 'score' me to receive their emails less frequently, but keep me on the list. If someone is sending me a beautiful four-color brochure or catalog, they won't continue to do it indefinitely if i don't make a purchase. Again, how long I remain on the active list is a function of the value of their product or service, versus the cost of delivering the offer. Having owned a 7 Series BMW, I still receive an annual catalog when they announce their new cars. The cost for the once-a-year catalog, is low in relation to the possibility of my buying another Bimmer. I've been a member at REI for about 16 years, and enjoy getting their catalogs. It always prompts me to see if there is something I need, or probably more accurately - want. Sometimes I decide to buy online, and if it is clothing I might decide to go to the store to try it on. But, in my case it prompts a possible purchase, because I get the catalog. Same goes for L.L.Bean, and you probably know they do most of their business between Thanksgiving and New Years.

The best list are organic; contacts you know, or who know you. You can rent lists, and may be able to convert a small percentage to be your customer. No matter how you acquire a potential contact, continuing to follow and nurture that contact by providing them with information that closely fits their interest, will result in satisfied customers - and the potential for profitable incremental revenue. That is what targeted marketing is all about.

If you would like to see examples of highly refined demographic data for targeted marketing to consumers, I suggest downloading PRIZM Segment Snapshot at http://www.tetrad.com/demographics/usa/claritas/prizmne.html