Building a Marketing Database

Most of us will be familiar with the Suspect, Prospect, Customer, Advocate "Loyalty Status" model.

A properly constructed database will be able to report, on a product by product basis, the monthly state of play.

Building your database

You have to start with a structure to your database that will give consistent and useful reporting over time. You are probably planning for a ten year life cycle.

Our approach here is share with you those techniques that have worked best over the years, and that meet our primary objective of getting sustainable sales quickly.

We have seen many different approaches, but this one works.

• Start by structuring your website with a page for each product or service
• Use a range of media to drive traffic into your website
• Use survey forms on the website to capture data in a consistent and structured manner
• Use the responses to classify the customer "Loyalty Status"

We now have a way of quantifying our activity and this takes us into the real essence of marketing. Other pages on this site discuss the range of media options, their pro's and cons, and provide case studies for you to consider.

Whichever media you choose, our advise is this:-

"Test Small, and if it works, do some more"

In fact it is more complex than this as campaigns have a lifetime, but you do need to be able to test a each campaign and quantify the results both in terms of enquiries and sales. These are the ROI (Return on Investment) figures.

So now we have a model that will quantify your return on investment, for each campaign, into each target market (Suspects), for each product, in terms of what it costs to convert a suspect into a prospect and a prospect into a customer.

This is the Point at which Sales Activity turns into Marketing Activity, because the rules change as you build a brand.

Building a Brand

As we have said, the essence of Brand Loyalty is Trust, and Trust is a two way process, so it is necessary for your Database to eVolve in line with your customer's Loyalty Status.

This is important because it directs your communications strategy.

The Three life stages of a Marketing Database

 Information:-     Looking for Relationships

• Purchase lists based upon your view of the target markets
• Database segmented by product and the associated list sources that equate to target markets

 Knowledge:-      Finding out about your Partners

• Obtain customer feedback delivering knowledge about your marketplace
• Database segmented by loyalty status, suspect prospect customer and advocate
• This is the trust building stage

Understanding:-  Addressing your Partners' needs

• As trust is built, customers will tell you more about what they want from a relationship with your brand
• This process is how you help customers up the loyalty ladder, and it is also the final stage of market understanding
• That is to say that you understand, on a product by product basis, exactly what your range of target markets want from a relationship with your brand
• This is called needs analysis.

• It takes the guess work out of right message to the right people, so
  
• You will usually pass the test of relevance because you are responding to a stated requirement
  
• "Needs" represent the Emotional element of the brand
  
• The Emotional element controls the price your customers are prepared to pay
  
• This will ensure your staff are motivated, and your firm is a survivor
  

Change Management

• Once you have a clear understanding of how your customer base is segmented and the needs of each segment, you will have maximised the effectiveness of your communications strategy
• However times and fashions change, and launching new products into a changing world can be a dangerous business
• By involving your customers in this decision making process, you can leverage loyalty and minimise risk
• This is how you deliver sustainable competitive advantage
• We are also into the realms of the rational and emotional elements of the brand and internal change management
• These are best looked at on a product by product basis. Link to Contact Us