Cleaning up for Earth Hour

As the countdown to Earth Hour begins today, my thoughts have turned to the impact on the environment of the work we do. I am not crazy enough to tell you that marketing (especially direct mail) is a positive environmental force - I don't think much of industry today can claim that. But I do think that my colleagues and I are reducing the impact, albeit in a small way.

By focusing on customer data, companies can dramatically change the environmental impact of their direct mail initiatives. Specifically,

1) By building a complete view of the customer (linking disparate databases), companies can reduce duplicate mailings and control the flow of communication to their customers.
2) Using analysis techniques such as predictive modelling and segmentation, communications can be targeted maximizing the impact of every piece of mail. This ensures that only those most likely to respond will receive a piece of direct mail.
3) By cleaning up databases, and fixing addresses, undeliverable mail can be reduced.
4) By enabling opt-outs - and specification of contact preferences - companies ensure that those who do not want to receive mail do not get it.
5) By merge-purging external lists against one another and internal files, targeting of the same prospect multiple times can be avoided.

My response for years when asked "Oh, so you are responsible for all this direct mail I get" has been "No, I am responsible for all the direct mail you DON'T get". I have a feeling I might be asked that more and more in the coming years!

For more on this read the Aberdeen Group's report:
Green Marketing: Leveraging Customer Data to Reduce Direct Mail Waste by Aberdeen Group
at http://www.aberdeen.com/includes/asp/sponsored_registration.asp?ci=/launch/report/benchmark/4635-RA-green-marketing-waste.asp&spid=