2009 marked the first year that Digital Color Imaging (DCI) participated in being one of the sponsors for InterAction, which is a marketing conference
held once a year in Akron, OH by the Taylor Institute for Direct Marketing. In
the past, mailers were sent out to marketers of Ohio and beyond in an attempt
to inform them about the conference so that they might attend. Due to the wide
array of InterAction 2009 sponsors, the conference was supplied with more tools
and resources than ever before. Teaming up together, the sponsors began
developing a strategy to not only increase conference attendance, but to
demonstrate the effectiveness of a direct marketing campaign that would be seen
firsthand.
All direct marketing campaigns
begin with a solid foundation of targeted data. The databases and spreadsheets
from each sponsor were cleansed and combined to create our master database.
Our master database lacked some
recipients’ email addresses which inspired us to use traditional mailers as our
first mode of communication. The mailer stirred curiosity, offered essential
information regarding the conference, and ended with a call to action that
directed recipients to a webpage personalized for them. In order to keep all of
our marketing efforts in sync and consistent, we developed a conference theme
that spanned across all of our marketing efforts, including this mailer.
Using XMPie’s variable data
personalization suite and a Xerox iGen 3, we were able to easily include unique
content throughout every mailer that we printed as well as every webpage that
we created. The personalized URLs (PURLs) that facilitated the conference
registration process allowed us to update our master database with ease.
As visitors arrived to their PURL
they were immediately presented with dynamic content directed specifically at
them. “Hi Joseph, You are only 4.2 miles from InterAction 2009 where the focus
on Direct Marketing is May 19, 2009.” Along with the name of the recipient, we
dynamically pulled the distance from each recipient’s location and the address to
InterAction 2009 held at The University of Akron.
Being that our theme revolved
around zodiac signs, we decided to have a little fun with it and ask each
visitor for their birth date. This data allowed us to determine what zodiac
sign they fell under so that we could provide them with typical traits that
correspond with their sign. Next, after providing visitors with a famous person
that shared their sign, they were given a quick and easy online method of
signing up for the conference.
Visitors who went through the
registration process had an opportunity to update their mailing address, select
their conference workshop track, and were required to submit an email address.
All of this information was retained in our database; some records were updated
and others were newly added. All of the collected information was retained,
even the registrants’ birth dates. While the PURLs seemed like a short
entertaining web experience, they served a much larger purpose in helping us
cleanse and add to our database, allowing us even more opportunities for future
campaigns.
From our database we were able to
determine which recipients never went to their PURL, which ones had visited
their PURLs, and which ones had both visited their PURL as well as registered
for the conference. Everyone in our database, that had an email address
associated with their contact information, received an email not long after the
initial mailer was sent out. We dynamically 
generated two different types of
emails that were populated with variable data content. The first email blast
went out to those who had not registered for the conference and gave them
notice that they still had time to sign up, directing them again to their personalized
URL. The second email blast went out to those who had registered; thanked them;
provided registration confirmation and a map link in real time.
In the end, the combined energy
and resources put into the conference by all of the sponsors proved to pay off
as conference attendance dramatically increased nearly three times from
previous years. One to one marketing that put an extra focus on being personal
and fun with our audience proved a success. The incredible power of creating
dynamic media for marketing easily allowed us to personalize content such as
text, images, personal URLs, and interactive flash. Our registration process
not only provided us with the functionality of registration, but allowed us to
cleanse and update our audience’s information.
To experience InterAction 2009’s
PURL, please visit http://interaction2009.com/JoeLookabaugh.
Note that this page will not be personalized for you but is an example targeted
at a different recipient.
