Current Issue

Cover Story : Direct Marketer of the Year: Pamela A. Evans, senior Web marketing manager, IBM Software Group
The industry almost lost one of its brightest direct marketers to the field of journalism. A recession redirected IBM's Pamela A. Evans into communications and marketing - the launchpad for a dynamic career that has brought her to the forefront...

Strategy : Tested and Proven
Direct marketing, regardless of channel, in so many ways is a scientific endeavor. Direct marketing strategists strive to isolate the drivers of better response rates, open rates, clickthrough percentages and conversion. The mathematical and scientific nature of direct marketing lends...

Fulfillment : Continuous Improvement
Over time, fulfillment programs can grow complicated and unwieldy, becoming less efficient if marketers do not carefully assess the impact of incremental changes to materials and processes. To keep a program running in Olympic form, marketers should invest in regular...

B-to-B : Green is Good
We all understand the sense of urgency to produce and the need to control costs while still meeting deadlines and sales targets. After all, that's business. However, green marketing is a concept that, when implemented effectively, can improve your customer...

Strategy : The Price Is Right … or Is It?
Similar market pressures impact consumers' perceptions of the value of virtually every product or service, yet many direct marketers change their prices infrequently, if at all. [...] do you need to cut prices in order to win more orders...

Database : Green Your Data Management
As environmental consciousness seeps into the corporate boardroom, some companies are publishing two annual reports. One report is the traditional shareholder document that contains financial statements and other information deemed relevant to investors and other stakeholders. The other report provides...

B-to-B : You Make the Call
In the current tough economic environment, many marketing and sales organizations are curtailing their in-person visits to prospects and customers. Of course, they still need to find, engage, acquire and keep customers. And despite all the e-marketing initiatives, most business...

E-Commerce Link : Sign Up for Value
Marketers who want to exploit the full potential of e-mail should develop plans to consistently grow their permission-based e-mail lists of customers and prospects. This allows them to build loyalty and promote cross-sell and upsell opportunities. A housefile represents names...

B-to-B Insights : Looking for the Right Words
Almost universally, the great writing teachers tell us to avoid jargon and use small words instead of big words. But in copywriting, there are certainly exceptions to this rule—times when a bigger or fancier word, or even jargon, can command...

Brand Matters : What's Your Story?
Great brands tell great stories. Annette Simmons' book title sums it up best: "Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins." The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) published a study last year that agrees with her sentiment: "Advertisements that tell a branding story...

Editor's Notes : Digg This
If you don't think I have one too many G's in the headline above, then you might be part of the plugged-in set that Universal McCann polled for the most recent phase of its social media research project. Called Wave...

Market Focus - Insurance Agents : Shine the Silver Lining
Easy Does It"Most agencies have at least basic accounting and client-management software, but they buy additional B-to-B software that helps their customers (families and businesses) manage risk," says Peter van Aartrijk, CEO and managing director for Springfield, Va.-based The van...

Famous Last Words : Doing Your Own PR
"Public relations is the business of letting people in on what you are doing," counseled Evelyn Lawson, my first mentor in the business. And Michael Levine's new guide, "Guerilla PR 2.0: Wage an Effective Publicity Campaign Without Going Broke" (ISBN...

Nuts & Bolts - Case Study : Narrow Niche E-mails Increase Sales
Problem: Design Toscano wanted to increase response rates on e-mails.
Solution: Sent fewer e-mails, with higher product relevance based on customer transaction history.
Results: E-mail orders increased 800 percent....

Nuts & Bolts : Tech Talk
Multichannel Campaigns, Precision Targeting, SEM Optimization...

Eye on Privacy : Privacy is Just Table Stakes
As we head into the annual DMA conference, I am drawn to think back on some of the columns the good people at Target Marketing magazine have allowed me to write during the last 12 months. And, as I do,...