Flushing Your Customer Info Down The Electronic Toilet

In Chief Marketer, I read an article entitled After the Promotion: What Do I Do with the Names? The piece reinforced what I already know and have been practicing – use the data you collect on your customers from sweepstakes, trade shows and training classes to continue an ongoing relationship.

For example, at a bare minimum I gather the contact information of everyone who goes on our yearly travel incentive program and the various training classes held at our five branch locations. After the reminders and a post follow-up I send one last request for the contact to opt into the company’s twice monthly newsletter.

Having already established a trusting relationship with our company, this gives people the chance to continue being informed about new promotions and training seminars. You should take this even further and segment your list. At the simplest you can break your list down by demographics, I send branch specific info to customers based on which locale they frequent. Or advance the concept and send messages tied to the behaviors exhibited by your customers. For instance,

“According to our records Mr. Jones you attended the Takagi tankless water heater seminar this past Fall, we thought you would be interested in a special we’re running for the Takagi Flash T-K Jr. this month.”

As marketers we are challenged to draw inferences from the information around us and to take profitable actions. A crucial part is linking our customers with the actions they have taken (not just purchase patterns but training seminars, warranty returns, promotions, etc.) If you capture this information but fail to integrate it into a holistic view of your customer then you are missing opportunities to generate additional value.

Photo courtesy of metropol21

Tags: data