Submitted by: Susan Kelly, VP of Enterprise Marketing Services for Xerox
I love this time of year. The excitement and anticipation, catching up with those I haven’t seen since last year, even the crowds. That’s right…it’s conference season! I’ve been to DMA, I was recently at AdTech in New York and soon I’m heading to Miami for NCDM. But seriously, not only is it conference season for marketers – it’s marketing season! With the holidays quickly approaching, marketers are finding new ways to get noticed and reach customers the way they want to be reached.
One hot topic of discussion at AdTech was reaching people via smartphones with Quick Response Codes. It works like this: you receive a printed direct mail piece that has a two-dimensional barcode on it, take a picture of the barcode with your smartphone and via an application, it takes you to online content without having to type in a Web address. David Henkel talks about this and other ways to get creative in his 1:1 Media article: “Welcome to the New Direct Mail.”
The QR Code technology is cool and marketers are still exploring their capabilities– but to use it effectively, you have to know your audience and engage them enough to get them to act. Xerox is helping clients like the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) use what they know about their audiences to make communications more manageable and more meaningful. In 13 years, the NJPAC has presented more than 7,000 events and performances ranging from Meat Loaf to Lang Lang and everything in between. With such diversity of products and patrons, it just wasn’t effective or economical to take a blanketed marketing approach. Last week at AdTech, Catrina Boisson, VP of marketing for the NJPAC, and I presented how to:
- Broaden customer data to develop more profitable marketing programs and campaigns
- Engage members and patrons in a more effective marketing dialogue
- Deepen customer relationships and improve cross-selling capabilities
- Increase retention rates and increase brand trust through personalized / customized retention and loyalty programs
How is your business doing these things? Are you in the spirit of the season – getting your products and services notices in unique and profitable ways? Share your story in a comment or come tell me about it at NCDM.
