I received an email this morning. It started with “Dear Mr.”.
No name, just “Mr”.
As a consumer, I get mildly annoyed when this happens.
As a data professional it amazes me that people are still getting this wrong.
Careful data curation alongside sensible levels of quality checking can help prevent these simple mistakes from tarnishing your brand.
Data hygiene comes in at all levels – from extracting and loading the data into the campaign execution system, through to the final checks before the file goes out of the door. Checking for simple things like:
- If you’re using a custom salutation, what happens if the customer hasn’t provided sufficient detail – do you have a default?
- If the context of the salutation is a first name, make sure it’s not an initial in the first name field
- If you’re using a gender-related salutation (Mr, Mrs etc.) then make sure it’s appropriate for the recipient.
- For Direct Mail, are the address lines in the right order?
- For outbound telephony, are the numbers in the right format for the dialler?
- For email, is the email address format correct - @ in the right place?
- Has the recipient given you express permission to contact them?
There’s plenty of other hygiene checks to do, each of which will help your brand shine in the eyes of your customers. After all, if you can’t get their name right, what else are they worrying about – their order actually arriving?
For efficiency and consistency, much of this sort of data audit should be automated.
With our heritage in data science and modelling allied to many years of experience helping organisations speak to customers as individuals, our approach to customer journeys – whether welcome, nurture, or win back – is second to none.
We utilised AI models for identifying the right content for the right customers at the right time before AI was cool.
We tailor the messaging so that each customer gets content that is personalised to them – whether that be a preferred holiday destination, a personalised offer at your usual store, or letting you know that your favourite stylist has a free appointment this weekend.
We’ve helped Jet2 increase customer spend on all those little extras that go hand in hand with a holiday package.
We’ve helped Virgin Money have effective communications with their credit card customers.
All this doesn’t happen by magic.
A solid data foundation along with our automated selections engine enables us to pick the right customers at the right time – and customise the content we send them so that out of a mailing of thousands, very few people get identical content.
Our advanced hosting platform enables us to process your data at top speed, meaning that we can take account of the latest information possible.
The tried and tested approach includes sign off points throughout the run which allows us to sense check campaigns before fulfilment.
Your journeys are crafted to ensure:
- Customers are treated as individuals
- Offers are relevant
- The tone is appropriate relative to the brand
We can look after the whole solution – bringing your data together, executing the campaigns, designing the creative and branding, writing the copy, even managing the fulfilment across multiple channels.
The standard reporting is comprehensive, allowing you to see at a glance who has (and, just as importantly, who hasn’t) been selected for a campaign. Performance reports enable you to assess the success of your campaigns, ensuring that your marketing budget is being well spent.
To find out how we can help your brand’s customer journey, email [email protected]