Multi-channel campaigns: Multiple touch points create lift

The concept of multi-channel marketing has taken off over the past several years. Whereas marketing campaigns once pursued a single route to reach individual consumers, studies performed by the Direct Marketing Association have revealed that reaching out to the same prospect several times, through a variety of mediums, can garner dramatically improved results for a business' bottom line.

One study in 2010 suggested that a multi-channel approach to marketing and advertising can increase the results of a simple direct mail campaign from 1.38 percent to 1.85 percent. The best way to complement a direct mail campaign, it seems, is by using an online approach. Therefore, businesses would be wise to allocate at least 20 to 25 percent of their advertising budgets to online impressions, as they can increase results by up to 34 percent for the same or just a slightly higher cost.

Imagine that you're a marketing executive getting ready to send out a large volume of direct mail advertisements for a new product. Before sending the mailers, you can use online media to reach out to potential consumers and pique their interest in your campaign. A Facebook advertisement or message telling customers to "look for a postcard containing a special offer" is an effective way to ensure that when the postcard does arrive, it gets more than a cursory glance. By reinforcing the offer after the mailer, either through email or an online banner, you present yet another opportunity for a prospect to take interest.

Semcasting has embraced the new multi-channel approach and has used the theory to enhance clients' results. As a forward-thinking thought leader of the industry, Semcasting helps organizations drastically increase their responses through the use of sophisticated multi-channel campaigns that utilize direct mail, online targeting, social media and email outlets to send similar offers to consumers who are likely to require the products and services a business has to offer. Not only can they facilitate a campaign, but by using their carefully cultivated micro-targeting technologies, they can help businesses pinpoint their ideal audience so that the offers carry maximum effectiveness.

Businesses and non-profit organizations alike can benefit by using the Semcasting multi-channel marketing approach to target the consumers or donors who are likely to invest in their enterprises.