Fact: Customers who engage with a marketer through multiple channels have higher response rates, increased average order values (AOVs) and better lifetime values (LTV). That cross-channel relationship should begin during acquisition. The most effective acquisition contact strategies not only reach prospects through their preferred media or channels, they also engage them at each point of contact.

The radical changes in our world are actually heightening the influence of primal instincts on tribes and their individual members. Let's look at the key factors that make this instinct so crucial for brands and marketers today.Our complicated world/lives are making traditional business and marketing models obsolete. It's no news that our time-starved, balance-challenged, technology-fueled lives can be messy and complicated — or that our unprecedented access to information can simultaneously create empowerment and confusion. As we are bombarded with more and more options and decisions to make within compressed timeframes, we turn more than ever to the tribe for guidance and comfort.

Being proactive is a big buzz phrase in our industry. But many direct marketers continue to engage in practices that seriously undermine the effectiveness of the contact strategies that, in large part, determine their performance and profitability. Once these practices have taken root, they can become so entrenched that marketers no longer even recognize their insidious effects. What can you do?

Ever since the first order came over the Internet, people have been predicting the eventual death of the print catalog. Yet for many multi-channel merchants, especially those brands that began as catalogs, this predictable and proven tactic continues to generate sales. It's also key to file retention.

Do you know what minimum response rate your direct marketing campaign needs to be profitable? What about the required net revenue? How does an email campaign metric differ from a print one?

Here's a depressing stat: About 80% of catalogs received in the mail get thrown away without so much as a peek inside the cover. So after all the planning, list segmentation, careful consideration of product mix and offers, design and costs, a vast majority of catalogs go directly to the recycle bin. Ouch.

My column, “Ignore the Org Chart” explored the concept of integrating the online and print marketing channels from a customer acquisition perspective. This month, I'll dive into contact planning as related to customer retention. Regardless of channel perspective, converting new customers into repeat customers remains the most valuable contact strategy method available.

Most brands take advantage of a phone order to upsell, but have you considered using this opportunity to convert a single-channel buyer into a multichannel buyer? If the conversation permits, you can introduce the customer to useful and relevant tools on your website.

This two-part column series explores how a coordinated multichannel approach can lower the cost to obtain a customer, while increasing sales, retention rates and profit margins. This month's column explores this concept from a customer acquisition perspective, while November's column will define contact planning as related to customer retention.

Merchants tend to view customer service as a purchase activity; one of receiving and shipping an order. But in this new era of marketing, how we “serve” the consumer requires a new line of thinking and, therefore, a new dimension of marketing. Read more

It’s safe to say that changes in the economy, technology, business demands and customer needs during the past two years have created a new world for direct marketers.

In the multichannel world, we like to measure things. Every marketing dollar spent is, ideally, associated with a return on investment, though it is getting harder to track and measure. There is one metric that does not lie that you don’t have to chase: your average order value. And it’s an important one. Read more

Multichannel marketers today tend to get caught up in the frenzy of the next greatest trend. What about Web 3.0? What’s the hot social networking application? Read more

Retailers must make a concerted effort to get consumers’ attention in today’s fast–paced environment, where prospects are subjected to hundreds of adverting messages a day.

Mailing a catalog is a considerable investment, so every single book, every page, every photograph must work hard to maintain the catalog’s goal. Read more

How do you survive these extraordinary times? You have to think in extraordinary terms and escape the shackles of the ordinary, everyday promises of quality, value and service. Customers have come to expect these three factors.

Your marketing efforts are under attack! They are costing more to produce and getting lackluster results, right? Your efforts must be stepped up in order to survive. In most cases, every marketing effort your company has produced could have been stronger, more strategic and garnered better results.

You know you need a solid contact strategy — it’s your roadmap for reaching out and communicating with your customers. But in the current climate of climbing postal rates, low consumer confidence and muddled response data, the contact strategy has been taking a beating.

Consumers are breaking down the traditional walls of advertising, forcing us to revolutionize the way we talk to them. We are no longer always in control of how they interact or do business with us, as we were in the past.

Brand is king in the realm of securing customers and creating loyalty, which can save your bottom line in this down economy. Brand goes far beyond logos and taglines—it lies within your customer’s perception of your product or service. Whether you are aware of it or managing it, every point of contact with the customer defines and reinforces your brand.

Sure, you want to — or need to — do more with less these days. Every marketer does. The challenge is how to significantly cut spending without significantly decreasing sales, or how to maintain revenue without mailing as much.

There’s an economic concept known as the “wealth effect.” In essence, the wealth effect postulates that as consumers’ portfolios expand in times of strong economic conditions, their spending increases. In other words, as people’s wealth increases, their spending increases regardless of disposable income.

If your business is to survive in the coming months, focus is the name of the game. Consider conducting a multi-channel audit, an in-depth review of your business that will allow for the creation of a blueprint you can act on with focus rather than fear.

A response curve is the historical calculation of orders — and percentage of orders — received weekly from a direct response campaign. Years ago, when catalogers had to maintain order information by hand, it was difficult to manually reconstruct response curve order information at the end of each campaign.

In June we looked at the profit and loss statement, discussing how a catalog P&L or income statement is different from that of a manufacturer and reviewing what is meant by cancellations, returns, exchanges, cost of goods, and gross margin. Now we'll look at what goes into the fulfillment, advertising, and general and administrative aspects of the profit and loss statement. Let's start by examining the remaining cost centers.

During the past several months we have looked at financial formats for catalogs and the Internet from a global or financial model standpoint. We contrasted the differences between consumer and business financial models, and last month we looked at the financial model and impact of the Internet on direct sellers who have a strong Web component.