Direct Marketing Magazine April 2015

Vol. 28 • No. 4 • April 2015 The AuThoriTy oN DATA-DriVeN eNgAgemeNT & operATioNs

PM40050803

❱ 4And...action!Blending video into DM campaigns

❱ 6The analytic file - Big Data’s missing link

❱ 13Fundraising supplement

MAP and PIG and

HIVE, oh my!

❱ 8Ga

ry T

ann

yan

eTail Canada 2015 Media PartnerShow Issue MAY 2015

To advertise in this issue contact Mark Henry, [email protected]

As the NAtioNAl PrActice leAder for dAtA MANAgeMeNt At sAs cANAdA, Mike is AssistiNg clieNts Across cANAdA leverAge oNe of their Most iMPortANt Assets, their dAtA.

The single most important campaign decision you will ever make.

Decide on the best. Decide on ResponseCanada.

Lots of decisions are made when you design and execute a marketing campaign. However one decision stands out. All the studies prove the same thing: if you want better campaign results, get a better list. That’s because 60% of your campaign’s ultimate success is due to the accuracy of the list. Sure, the offer, timing, and creative are important too. But the list will have far more influence on your results than any other decision you make.

Date: July 4, 2013

Client: Cleanlist.ca

Docket: 3540

Application: Print, 9.5x13", 4C

AD: Carter

AM: Sinclair

Version: F6

Media: Direct Marketing Magazine

PLEASE NOTE This file has been optimized for its intended application only. For uses other than intended please contact Seed for alternate formats.

ALL RESPONSECANADA DATABASES ARE CUSTOM TAILORED TO YOUR TARGET MARKET SPECIFICATIONS.

Everyone, everywhere in Canada, complete with names, phone numbers and demographics. This is precision targeting at its best!

For more information and to request pricing visit www.ResponseCanada.ca.The ResponseCanada family of prospect databases are built and maintained by Cleanlist.ca, an Interact Direct company.

Movers spend up to 8x more on just about everything. Get to them first, before your competition does.

Tired of the old and just plain wrong? This is the B2B list you really want. It’s what successful campaigns are built on.

cleanlist.ca

)

[email protected]

www.cleanlist.ca

BETTER DATAFROM CANADA’S LEADER INCONTACT DATA SOLUTIONS

TradeAd_9.5x13_F5.indd 1 13-07-04 10:47 AM

// 3

DMN.ca ❰April 2015

4 ❯SPECIAL REPORTAnd...action!Blending video into DM campaigns

6 ❯Big data analytics’ missing link:The analytical file

Vol. 28 | No. 4 | April 2015

EDITORAmy Bostock - [email protected]

PRESIDENT Steve Lloyd - [email protected]

DESIGN / PRODUCTIONJennifer O'Neill - [email protected]

ADvERTISING SAlESMark Henry - [email protected] Feldman - [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSRichard BoireSimren DeogunSteve FalkDavid Giannetto

Glenn GowMark JohnstonMike LukeScott Martin

llOYDMEDIA INC.HEAD OFFICE / SUBSCRIPTIONS / PRODUCTION: 302-137 Main Street North

Markham ON L3P 1Y2 Phone: 905.201.6600

Fax: 905.201.6601 Toll-free: 800.668.1838

[email protected] www.dmn.ca

EDITORIAl CONTACT: Direct Marketing is published monthly by Lloydmedia Inc.plus the annual DM Industry Source BookList of Lists.Direct Marketing may be obtained through paid subscription. Rates: Canada 1 year (12 issues $48) 2 years (24 issues $70)U.S. 1 year (12 issues $60) 2 years (24 issues $100)Direct Marketing is an independently-produced publication not affiliated in any way with any association or organized group nor with any publication produced either in Canada or the United States. Unsolicited manuscripts are welcome. However unused manuscripts will not be returned unless accompanied by sufficient postage. Occasionally Direct Marketing provides its subscriber mailing list to other companies whose product or service may be of value to readers. If you do not want to receive information this way simply send your subscriber mailing label with this notice to: Lloydmedia Inc. 302-137 Main Street North Markham ON L3P 1Y2 Canada.

POSTMASTER:Please send all address changes and return all undeliverable copies to: Lloydmedia Inc.302-137 Main Street North Markham ON L3P 1Y2 Canada

Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40050803

www.facebook.com/directmarketingmagazine

Twitter: @DMNewsCanada

The single most important campaign decision you will ever make.

Decide on the best. Decide on ResponseCanada.

Lots of decisions are made when you design and execute a marketing campaign. However one decision stands out. All the studies prove the same thing: if you want better campaign results, get a better list. That’s because 60% of your campaign’s ultimate success is due to the accuracy of the list. Sure, the offer, timing, and creative are important too. But the list will have far more influence on your results than any other decision you make.

Date: July 4, 2013


Docket: 3540

Application: Print, 9.5x13", 4C

AD: Carter

AM: Sinclair

Version: F6



ALL RESPONSECANADA DATABASES ARE CUSTOM TAILORED TO YOUR TARGET MARKET SPECIFICATIONS.

Everyone, everywhere in Canada, complete with names, phone numbers and demographics. This is precision targeting at its best!

For more information and to request pricing visit www.ResponseCanada.ca.The ResponseCanada family of prospect databases are built and maintained by Cleanlist.ca, an Interact Direct company.

Movers spend up to 8x more on just about everything. Get to them first, before your competition does.

Tired of the old and just plain wrong? This is the B2B list you really want. It’s what successful campaigns are built on.

cleanlist.ca

)

[email protected]

www.cleanlist.ca

BETTER DATAFROM CANADA’S LEADER INCONTACT DATA SOLUTIONS

TradeAd_9.5x13_F5.indd 1 13-07-04 10:47 AM

Fundraising supplement

10 ❯How Big Data and marketing analytics can help sales

12 ❯5 steps to achieve the promise of digital marketing

14 ❯Top digital fundraising trends for 2015

16 ❯Repeatable, ongoing, automatic fundraising

17 ❯12 rules of non-profit (video) storytelling

18 ❯The Big Data way to fundraise

8 ❯COVER STORyData as the differentiator

// 4

❱ DMN.ca April 2015

Special RepoRt

By SCOTT MARTIn

Use of Video in Marketing is expected to double in 2016 according to Cisco, a trend

Direct Marketers should be capitalizing on. In the past, video has often been deemed as an alternative to direct marketing. Smart marketers are now shifting their approach and leveraging video as a content to augment their existing programs.

76 percent of marketers plan to add video to their sites, making it a higher priority than Facebook, Twitter and blog integration. (Social Media Examiner)

Marketers are constantly looking to innovate new ways to improve response rates, and one recent exciting

trend is cross-channel marketing. Using one channel to elicit a response into another channel, most often from a direct marketing piece to a landing site.

In today’s connected world, exploring ways to create a call to action towards a online channel can have many benefits, from gauging response rates to delivering on ROI. The direct response piece in their hands can drive customers to view specific content in a rich format.

Landing pages with video have up to 800% more conversion than the same page without video according to FunnelScience.com

The industry is seeing a explosion of embedding videos on these landing pages and this trend is only going to

grow. Sophisticated marketers will start exploring having customized relevant videos to match target groups. This is a great opportunity for DM materials to drive specific groups to unique pages.

One practice to consider is working with a video platform partner to track the results of your programs. A free and simple approach is have your video on a platform like Vimeo or youtube and use that unique video url to track your program by views. Vimeo can be more effective in terms of results, as it can track views by day, giving you more detail in campaign feedback.

One of the challenges Video Marketing has is activation - getting your relevant audience to be aware of the video content. Direct Marketing

has an important role to play in the growing video marketing arena, as it can be a exciting way to drive quality video views. Once you have produced your video, how do you get your customers to view it? Direct Marketers should be approaching customers who are producing video content and offering ideas on how to use DM to assist them in getting relevant views.

With social tracking tools available, it becomes not just about racking up as many views as possible, but focusing on tracking viewers that most closely match your target audience. Its about who exactly has been viewing your content that matters the most if your looking closely at ROI. What does it matter if you had 1,000 views if they are in a country you do not service? It

Innovative direct marketers are blending video content into campaignsAnd…action!

// 5


Special RepoRt

might make you feel good, but it really doesn’t help your results.

Think of the same approaches used in best practices in direct marketing and simply apply them to video or content activation. This should be an inspiration of your creative services team to approach marketers who have clearly invested significant funds into their content such as videos, and approach them with solutions using direct marketing to activate their target audience to press play.

One such marketer, Terry Andryo from ATB Financial, approached using video in a campaign taking the cross-channelling of vide and DM’s to the ultimate level and reaping the rewards. Terry had a vision to highlight their bank’s 75th anniversary with a multi-dimensional direct campaign to their most valuable customers, and sharing that celebration with a broader audience.

On the heels of a previous campaign “Long Love this Land” video; “Celebrating ATB’s Agricultural Origins”, which translated into a award-winning music video that garnered over 36,000 views Terry built this complimentary campaign - “Celebrating 75 Belt Buckle Winners”.

This campaign had several other pieces such as a Tent Card, DM for Relationship Mangers, Posters and Teller Displays, but Terry’s real innovation was creating a DM piece for 75 special Albertans, which included a custom-made belt buckle, and a dimensional piece that had a

video player embedded right in it. When opened, the video of the story automatically played for these hand-selected recipients.

“At ATB, we wanted to provide a full spectrum of experiences for our key customers, while at the same time making something that was creatively and uniquely Albertan that our province and our customers identified with.” - Terry Andryo

Not surprising, the results of the campaign were a favourable, as it was an excellent example of how to bring your direct marketing campaign to life. By direct distribution of these card-players to key customers, Terry was able to raise the bar for his direct marketing campaign, while at the same time providing something unique and special to cherished clients. These 75 award recipients were chosen from the community, by the community which provided further engagement with the campaign as this special initiative was implemented.

“At Joe Media we saw this as a dream challenge to create a hero video that connected with Albertan’s and told the story of ATB, to ultimately create something that would be timeless and shared for a long time afterward” - Matt Gillespie

The results are in and across the board ATB seems to be more than just

activating their video using direct marketing, they now see it as a way to help drive the ROI of marketing programs.

Terry, never one to stop innovating, expressed to me he is looking to literally “Push the DM to Video envelope” in his next campaign.

Direct Marketers sometimes fawn over the types of DM or the logical aspects of delivering a successful program. However, one thing not to be overlooked is that relevant, engaging content that can access cross-channel content, to engage customers to move through the buying process, is incredibly powerful. Having run my own direct marketing agency for over 10 years prior to moving into content marketing, I have seen these results with mid sized B2B companies to some of my clients such as Best Buy, Hudson’s Bay and others. We have done many cross channel campaigns that included content such as video, but nothing like we are seeing happening today. I anticipate more unique approaches as other technologies and processes mature.

The most popular use for mobile action codes, such as QR and bar codes, is linking to mobile video: 40% of codes link to video content. Media Post

Mobile is now an essential consideration in any marketing campaign. Finding ways to engage with users sensibly in DM’s with their

mobile device makes great sense.The amount of videos being consumed on mobile devices is also exploding. No longer is the desktop the only means of consuming this rich content. This opens a lot of doors for marketers to engage with their audience and extend their experience after opening the direct response piece.

Today, people are more inclined to engage with content (including your marketing pieces) if you weave story telling into your approach. If possible, focus on first identifying what your story is, and developing your campaign from there. The more authentic and original you can be the more vibrant your content will be and ultimately, which will lead to better engagement. If you move your direct marketing approach away from simply product offers and toward emotionally connecting with your audience with a compelling story you will increase your chances of success.

Terry said it best.“When we set out to develop our

campaign, it was essential our story was deeply connected to our customers and the community we service. Each belt buckle was a limited edition and numbered so that each recipient was special. These people were nominated by their peers and community and the story we shared of these unsung agricultural heroes really resonated with everyone who engaged with the campaign. In the end, it really came down to the story, and the video brought out the emotional pull to make this campaign a timeless marketing effort at ATB.”

One of the biggest take aways from this effort is the idea around building content to compliment each other. In my view this is a new shift from DM efforts being campaigns into ongoing programs integrating across channels and engaging your customers with good ole fashioned Storytelling.

SCOTT MARTIn is a Marketing Strategist with

over 20 years in the industry, with a discipline

in Digital and Direct Response Marketing. He

has added Social Media, Video and Content

Marketing programs to his experience in the

last 8 years, both hands on and developing

innovative strategies for brands. Scott has

built a reputation for striking a middle ground

between leading edge marketing innovation-

with traditional, proven approaches. Simply put,

he makes sensible, informed forward thinking

decisions. After selling his agency, Scott joined

award winning film production agency Joe Media

blending his years of experience in Marketing

with my passion for filming.

// 6


EnGAGEMEnT & AnALyTICS

Big Data Analytics: What is The Missing Link-The Analytical File

By RICHARD BOIRE

In the Big Data discussion, much has

been written about valuable information existing in the

digital ether (semi-structured or unstructured data). With all this information at the practitioner’s disposal, analytics of this type of data is nirvana according to many Big Data vendors and suppliers. Yet like most things in life, this is easier said than done. For those of us who are seasoned practitioners, huge

challenges have always existed in mining the so-called “small” data. In the “traditional” world of small data, it is not uncommon for practitioners to conduct data mining exercises with hundreds of millions of records. In the nineties, one loyalty company needed solutions on data that contained six million customers with transaction files of 300MM-400MM records. Their significant challenge was not necessarily how to analyze or mine the data. In most cases, they were simply trying to obtain basic numbers such as customer counts across a number of different dimensions or average spend

by customer type. The big challenge for them was the “processing” of records in order to produce the analytical output. However, technical processing solutions were developed that allowed them to overcome the delivery limitation of these analytical solutions. Yet, as this capability improved, the analytics needs and requirements became more advanced such as the need for predictive models and cluster segment type solutions. The challenge then fell back to the data scientist in developing an approach and methodology in creating more advanced solutions. But the so-called

missing link here was to create an analytical file which is often forgotten or not discussed by the Big Data vendors. It is this analytical file that provides all the potential data inputs which can be used as potential model variables or key cluster segment variables or variables within a massive pivot table or report. The missing link or analytical file is the key to creating more advanced solutions. With six million customer records complemented by several hundred million records, how does the data scientist create the analytical file. Hard work is the quick answer. Initially, this

// 7



entails extensive data audit processes and routines which have been discussed in the past and are used by the data scientist to fully understand each data file and each data element within a given file. This process allows the data scientist for lack of a better word to become “intimate” with the data. It is this knowledge that lays out in detail how the data should be worked in creating the analytical file. This would reveal the following:

What data elements or variables ❯

should be included in the analytical fileHow should the data files be merged ❯

What source variables are useful ❯

What new or derived variables do we ❯

need to createBinary ❯

Aggregation/Summarization ❯

Change-related ❯

What additional external ❯

sources(not collected by company) can we append to above information.

The above process, which I have outlined, may seem simplistic. Yet, it is not atypical for hundreds of new variables to be created in this process.

Math Vs. Data as the Core Skillset of the Data Miner/Data Scientist Data mining/data science has always required a range of skills that ultimately turn raw data into some meaningful solution. A primary data science/data mining prerequisite is the need for the practitioner to be quantitatively oriented. If a person does not like math or numbers, he or she is unlikely to embark in a career in data mining/data science. Another core requirement of the practitioner is to use technology to “work” the data. But it is this ability to “work” the data where the data miner/data scientist demonstrates his/her real value. Raw

transaction or payment history data means nothing in its current state. The practitioner must transform this data through routines that summarize, aggregate, link/join as well as categorize this data into meaningful variables within an analytical file.

Using Social Media within the Analytical FileIn social media where much of the data is unstructured and semi-structured, the practitioner adopts the same approach. Given a block of unstructured or semi-structured data, what transformations need to take place in order to transform raw social media information into meaningful variables. Yet, within social media, the newer challenges for the practitioner, though, reside in how to extract these key fields within a varying format. Programming tools and apps, which continue to improve, facilitate this extraction process. The real difference or new challenge is to ultimately convert this unstructured data to a structured table where the analytics can be conducted. Once this extraction process is complete with a structured table as the output, summarization/counting/aggregating/categorization routines can then create meaningful data mining variables which is exactly the same process used against raw transaction data.

The other real difference with social media data involves the mining of actual text content. Here the use of text mining is applied to this text of data or what is commonly referred to as the corpus(latin for body) of data. The field of text mining is a whole discipline unto itself involving a number of processes that allow the user to ultimately create meaningful variables from the corpus of text. Similar to text mining, sentiment analysis can be conducted against

the “data” in order to identify the “emotional” value of the text. Here the practitioner’s ultimate objective might be to simply quantify this emotion on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being most negative and 5 being most positive. In all cases, though, the analyst is “working” the social media data in order to derive the right information as part of the analytical file.

But let’s think more about the context of this data. As data miners, social media is certainly voluminous and messy but as has been often stated before, do we still really need this information? Once again, the definition of the business problem or challenge (first phase of the data mining process) will determine the utility or usefulness of social media. The phrase of “one size fits all” does not apply to social media. The volume and variety of data requires us to be very focused in what information we actually need in order to solve the business problem. It is this business problem that will dictate how the analytical file will be created. For example, are we simply trying to create reports to conduct some kind of trending analysis or are we trying to build a model. Recognizing how we want to create the analytical file, marketers need to understand the context of the information. For instance, how representative is the information concerning the target audience? Are people that comment on brands/products representative of the population at large. This is a fundamental question to ask when conducting analytics. In science, this rigor has always been applied to any analysis as the core data is always vetted in terms of a bias factor. Prior to social media, we observed this rigor to some extent as data mining practitioners were always aware of the so-called responder bias with market

research surveys. If models were being built, they were always applied against the same biased group. Insights and learning on biased research that could be used for communication purposes were utilized cautiously. This is why data mining has focused on the most unbiased form of information which is what customers have actually done with the organization. It is this group that marketers want to really better understand. By crossing over into the digital divide, the so-called “responder” bias may come into play, as these individuals may represent people who like to be heard but do not represent the viewpoints of the silent majority.

The Holy Grail for MarketersYet, for marketers, the real holy grail is to tie observed behavior to actual purchase. Whether this is done digitally in a Big Data or in the traditional database systems, it does not matter. Analysis of actual observed behaviours to predict future outcomes always yields the best solutions. Data miners will of course look at everything but will have a more laser-like focus on data that focusses on actual observed individual-level behaviours which can be tied to an individual outcome when constructing the analytical file. It is this approach that more readily lends itself to outcomes that can easily be measured from an ROI standpoint and to the ultimate driver of corporate behavior, profitability.

RICHARD BOIRE, B.Sc. (McGill), MBA

(Concordia), is the founding partner at the

Boire Filler Group, a nationally recognized

expert in the database and data analytical

industry.

Time to take a fresh look at your postal software? SwitchMe Offer!Transition from your current software and save $500 off your current price!*

try.smartsoft.ca/fresh888.227.7221

[email protected]

With its clean, modern user interface,frameworks Canada from SmartSoft is the premier, SERP Recognized postal

software. Get your demo today!

© 2014 SmartSoft Inc. * New customers only. Applies to any SERP Recognized Software you currently subscribe to

// 8


coveR StoRy

Gary

Tan

nya

n

Data as a differentiator

MAP and PIG and HIVE,

oh my!

// 9


coveR StoRy

By MIkE LukE

The Big Data era has fostered the Hadoop ecosystem, which, in turn, has marketing

professionals awash in a “Lake” of acronyms and buzzwords. Let me give you the Sqoop—Hadoop is simply an environment for storing and processing data. Huge volumes of data, to be sure. But it’s still a tool to be mastered, not to be ruled by.

Hadoop’s primary components are a file system (HDFS) that distributes petabytes of data (a petabyte is one quadrillion bytes) in large blocks over multiple computers in a data centre or cloud computing environment, and programming models (such as MapReduce and Spark) that move processing code to the machines that store the relevant data. Analytics can be performed on huge datasets in parallel on multiple machines.

That’s the upside: The ability to process vast quantities of data, and quickly. The downside is its relative naiveté with respect to the nature of the data. In a traditional database, records and fields identify the function of data. In a Hadoop environment, data must be prepped and cleansed and mastered to be useful. Seventy to eighty per cent of a data scientist’s time is spent making data usable, which isn’t the most effective use of high-end talent.

Tools are emerging, such as our own SAS Data Loader for Hadoop that move these data integration and data quality capabilities right into Hadoop and provide an interface that can put at least the lightweight data work firmly in the hands of the business analyst rather than the technology professional. Once the BA has power, it opens up a new world of understanding customer behavior and how to affect it.

More data than everData is the lifeblood of marketing. And there’s an almost inconceivable amount of it being created every day. It’s estimated that we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. Ninety per cent of the data created in the history of the world was created in the last two years.

That volume of data will only increase as new sources begin generating data. We’re well on the road to the “Internet of Things,”

where Internet-enabled sensors on everything from store shelves to parking spaces will generate data to be sliced, diced and analyzed. Mobile phones create GPS data; digital surveillance cameras can help map dwell times and traffic patterns in a retail environment. Harnessing that data is leverage to move a customer conversion.

It’s not simply about collecting data willy-nilly. It’s not all relevant. And context is key to delivering the right offer to the customer.

Consider the humble online shopping cart. Thanks to a transaction database, clickstream data and your search history, Amazon can recommend other titles you might like when you furtively order 50 Shades of Grey. Contextual information—what other titles people bought who bought this item, what you’ve been searching for, the other items you’ve viewed—drive the offer.

It’s a simple example, but extended into a more complex, Big Data world, putting this data into context creates an iterative approach to improving data models, which deliver more relevant offers to the consumer with each parcel of data. Sensor data can create models of a retail outlet’s parking patterns to help make decisions about managing vehicle traffic; pedestrian flows within a mall can guide placement of product collateral.

Delivering the offerNew and emerging technologies are changing the way offers can be presented to prospects. The ubiquity of the smart phone and the proliferation of apps for them are central to this new model. Phones provide location information; venue-branded apps can provide search and transaction history. Beaconing technology can transmit hyperlocal offers to passing smart phones. Imagine an environment in which a prospect can enter a venue, search for a location or item by smart phone or kiosk, receive real-time turn-by-turn direction optimized to avoid congestion or mobility obstacles, and receive a customized offer through a smart phone app en route. It’s the very definition of the right offer at the right time. And it’s not imagination.

Shopping malls, hospital campuses, and convention centres around the world are rolling out wayfinding platforms to build these applications. But the model falls apart without accurate and complete underlying Big Data.

Being socialNot all data is yes/no, GPS co-ordinates, transactions, etc. We’re also creating more unstructured data—data that can’t be manipulated by formula. The most important sources of unstructured data for marketers is social media.

Facebook posts and tweets on Twitter can have a serious impact—positive or negative—on your brand. In the past, a customer might send complaints or flattery by mail, or call to complain. Someone would have to scan and report on these interactions for quality assurance purposes.

With the immediacy of social media, the volume of messages for—and about—brands has increased exponentially. Monitoring those messages manually is becoming unmanageable (the well-worn tale of the Porter Airlines technician who immediately responded to reports of a broken cappuccino machine notwithstanding).

Fortunately, there are tools that can bring structure to the unstructured, and bring it into the Big Data model to help drive marketing decisions. MapReduce, Hadoop’s built-in distributed processing model gives it the horsepower necessary to preprocess text, for example, assigning numeric values to the tone of the content (sentiment analysis), extracting keywords (region, location), and turning a tweet or Facebook post into data that can be processed by an application.

A logical extension of this is to capture the ultimate in unstructured data—your outbound and incoming telephone calls. If this call is being recorded for training and quality assurance purposes (as we’ve all heard before), its data that’s available for analysis. MapReduce’s processing power could be applied to improve the accuracy of voice-to-text conversion; combined with tools that already exist to analyze tone of voice to detect levels of agitation in real time and the call

centre operator’s log, this could create a very comprehensive data file suitable for analysis.

Why it’s importantIn summary, there are a lot of reasons that marketers should wrap their heads around Hadoop and its potential.

It’s cost effective. Or rather, the ❯

supporting infrastructure is less costly than legacy proprietary database and hardware; for example HDFS and MapReduce run on commodity x86 hardware. In addition, it’s an open source platform, it can be downloaded and run under a General Public License (GPL), meaning your only obligation is to contribute whatever improvements you make back to the community (this used to be referred to as “copyleft” as opposed to “copyright”). Of course there are commercial releases and support that wrap more features around the platform for a fee therefore making the platform viable to a broader audience.It allows the processing of vastly ❯

larger data sets than traditional database model. This means you can capture and use more data about your customers, allowing you to detect unexpected patterns and connections.Its disruptive and its challenging ❯

the traditional approach to computing. The combination of the most recent financial crisis and the overall growth of data have propelled organizations to leverage new approaches to gaining insights about their clients to increase profit and lower costs. The ecosystem will continue to advance as technologies such as Hadoop becomes more mainstream. You can be sure that the “lake” of buzzwords and acronyms will only continue to grow at the same rate and pace as the available data.

AS THE National Practice Leader for Data

Management at SAS Canada, Mike is assisting

clients across Canada leverage one of their

most important assets, their data. Mike has

gained an extensive background in Information

Technology working with Financial Institutions,

Retailers and Telecommunication Providers

across Canada.

// 10



How Big Data and marketing analytics can help salesBy GLEnn GOw

The data explosion over the past few years has spawned staggering statistics relating

to the massive new volume of data being produced. We are collecting information via billions of connected devices including smartphones, PC’s, RFID sensors, gaming devices and even our automobiles. It is not only the volume of data changing the business landscape, however—the velocity and variety of data is also increasing at a breathtaking rate. This unprecedented data explosion is increasingly changing the way that people buy.

Sales teams used to be key sources of information for buyers, but access to an extraordinary variety and volume of information means buyers are much less reliant on salespeople than ever before.

The proliferation and speed of unstructured data via blogs, news websites and social networks is now such that potential buyers passively receive information (or in some cases misinformation) about your products and your competitors’ products well before someone from your sales team ever has the chance to interact with them. To succeed your sales teams need to know what your buyers are hearing and saying— and then tailor your sales interactions to match.

Marketing analytics is the answerIn answer to this challenge, we have also seen impressive new marketing analytics solutions. The data analytics industry is growing between 9 and 12% a year, with some sources predicting that the marketing technology industry will exceed 50 billion dollars in the USA within the next 2 years. The latest generation of marketing solutions offers not just statistical data analysis, but also behavioral data and social media analysis that Marketing and Sales departments can use to discover answers to specific questions.

It is now possible to query large

data sets with specialized behavioral analytics software and extract insights on subjects once considered very ethereal or philosophical in nature. For instance, you can study the co-occurrence of multiple buyer behaviors from past purchases in order to determine what causality may exist. Leveraging large data sets of buyer behavior allows you to predict when, if and how buyers will purchase your products and services in the future.

On top of these amazing new behavioral analysis capabilities, the same information that buyers are exposed to through blogs and social media is available for analysis en masse to companies through specialized social monitoring analytics applications. Marketing teams have access to rich insights into who is talking about your products, what they are saying and what and who is influencing them.

Do big data marketing analytics really work?Try Googling the words “Big Data.” Today’s search yields an impressive 1,740,000,000 results. It is probably not very hyperbolic to say that the subject Big Data comes with some hype attached, though it is clearly not just hype—marketing analytics works to increase sales.

If boiling down human behavior to binary histories sounds like the stuff that only those in the field of research or complex financial transactions can take advantage of, consider E-commerce—a world with which most of us interface today. That ubiquitous box on amazon.com informing you that “customers who bought this item also purchased…” is something we already take for granted. Predictive technology is becoming so sophisticated that according to recent news reports, the e-commerce juggernaut may even begin shipping items we have not yet decided to purchase!

Likewise, in an example revealed by Gartner analyst Doug Laney, Wal-Mart stores increased online sales as much as 15%—that’s billions of dollars— using machine learning, text analysis and synonym mining.

In another case released by IBM, Trident Marketing—a marketing and sales firm behind such names as DirectTV, ADT and Travel Resorts of America—used marketing analytics on large data sets from its order systems, call center, CRM package, external credit bureaus and search engine results. What it gained was business critical insight into “when to call a consumer, which product to pitch and which salesperson is best suited to close the sale. Plus, sophisticated analytic models can also predict which consumers are likely to cancel services within 12 months — a metric that goes straight to the bottom line because the company must compensate its customers for consumer churn.” Simply put, big data marketing analytics yield powerful and profitable results.

How to use Big Data to help salesWith so much structured and unstructured data available, it can be rather daunting to know where to begin a data listening program. Fortunately, as much as business has changed in response to the data explosion, something that has remained the same is the old maxim ‘Begin with the end in mind.’ Here’s a formula for beginning to use big data marketing technology:

Come Together:1. CMOs should engage the VP of Sales to select specific, achievable targets on how Marketing can analyze data and contribute to social selling. Try areas of ‘low-hanging fruit’ where the benefits reaped will amplify buy-in from all corners of the office, and select pilot members with the right technical skills and open attitude.

Execute, Measure and Celebrate:2. Keeping an eye on the specific targets selected, and using the focused insights provided by Marketing, sales people can learn how to reach buyers online in social media and offline in the real world with relevant information at each step of the buyer’s journey. Be sure to establish a baseline against which to measure and celebrate results to begin molding your organization into one that values marketing technology. Rinse, Wash, Repeat:3. The work does not stop there. With the sales department properly informed by the knowledge of what buyers hear, say and do, Marketing can begin analyzing anew to see how the market is responding to the new initiatives, and add specific new targets about which to gather insights and expand the pilot program to gradually include more sales team members.

By listening to what information buyers have access to, and studying buyer behavior through marketing technology, CMOs and their marketing teams are in a position to help the sales team directly. A Sales team armed with insights derived from big data analysis and a good social selling approach will offer buyers the vital information they need to buy from you.

GLEnn GOw is an expert in marketing

technology, an Advisory Board Member,

Author, Speaker, Podcast Host and CEO

of Crimson Marketing. Follow his insights

on marketing technology at the Crimson

Marketing Technology Blog and read his

upcoming book, Moneyball for Marketing: How

Brilliant Marketers Use Big Data and Marketing

Technology To Win.

Check us out online dmn.ca

For online editorial opportunities contact

Amy Bostock, [email protected]

Get seen!Interactive advertising banners, buttons and square ads appear on every page of the sitedmn.ca is an

extension of the printed publication. The site features unique content, as well as weekly updates on direct marketing news.

Highlights include...• thought leadership articles• Canadian case studies• insightful blog posts from

industry experts

Quick operating information: • Most popular articles• Company information• Contact us• Advertising information

Follow us on TwitterTwitter: @DMNewsCanada

Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/directmarketingmagazine

Sign up for our newsletter

See other Lloydmedia Inc publications.Canadian Equipment Finance, Canadian Treasurer, Financial Operations and Payments Business.

Check out our sister publication, Contact Management.

Subscribe to our printed publicationfor free.

For online advertising opportunities contact

Mark Henry, [email protected]

Check us out online dmn.ca

For online editorial opportunities contact

Amy Bostock, [email protected]

Get seen!Interactive advertising banners, buttons and square ads appear on every page of the sitedmn.ca is an

extension of the printed publication. The site features unique content, as well as weekly updates on direct marketing news.

Highlights include...• thought leadership articles• Canadian case studies• insightful blog posts from

industry experts

Quick operating information: • Most popular articles• Company information• Contact us• Advertising information

Follow us on TwitterTwitter: @DMNewsCanada

Like us on Facebookwww.facebook.com/directmarketingmagazine

Sign up for our newsletter

See other Lloydmedia Inc publications.Canadian Equipment Finance, Canadian Treasurer, Financial Operations and Payments Business.

Check out our sister publication, Contact Management.

Subscribe to our printed publicationfor free.

For online advertising opportunities contact


// 12


5 steps to achieve the promise of digital marketing

By DAVID F. GIAnnETTO

The promise of acquiring new, highly

profitable customers for little cost, based just upon their

“big data,” seems too good to be true—and for most companies it is. But not because it isn’t possible, or because big data doesn’t contain the information companies need to effectively acquire these customers, or even because what is required to do so is too expensive (in relative terms), but simply because companies don’t know how to fit all of the pieces of this puzzle together. And the puzzle is—at least to the unknowing—a confusing mix of big data and traditional data, new marketing technology that runs counter to traditional marketing approaches, and an ability to understand and sell to consumers on a personal level never before possible.

What these companies need is an overarching approach that reveals the bigger picture they are trying to create. One orchestrated view that connects these new digital components to things that they are already familiar with: organizational objectives, business processes, job functions, and information they are already using to manage. This big picture is revealed in my new book, Big Social Mobile, How Digital Initiatives can Reshape the Enterprise and Drive Business Results (Palgrave Macmillan). It provides a step-by-step approach to using these new techniques and technologies. Here are some of the key takeaways that will help you adopt this approach within your own organization:

Understanding your digital 1. customer. At the heart of this new, digital approach lies an ancient rule of business: know your customer. Traditionally (in the physical world) this was difficult; often you had to offer them something to get them to share information about themselves. But in the digital world consumers willing share even their most personal information.

Therefore, the first step for your company is to take ownership of this consumer data that will allow you to get to know them. This is surprisingly easy using the ‘social login’ website plugin first created by Janrain. This technology allows consumers to login to any enabled website using one or more of their pre-existing social profiles from popular sites such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. This is easier than creating and managing a new one and is done in only one or two clicks. But when doing so they handed over more information about themselves than they think is even possible.Finding your perfect customer.2. You’re now collecting “big data” about your community members. It is the necessary foundation from which information and insight is drawn and also the point at which the digital world becomes so confusing, leading many companies astray. Business has traditionally been based upon marketing processes that expose the brand, product or service to as many people as possible (via advertising for example), in hopes that consumers will remember them at the time of need. Companies apply this same logic to their digital community and it quickly devolves into nothing more than discounting and couponing. Digital marketing requires a completely different thought process: identify your one perfect customer; the one customer that converted the quickest, paid the most, became the most loyal or became your best advocate—and then go get many more just like that one perfect customer. Identifying this one perfect customer is done by comparing the explicit, implicit, derived, social and behavioral information for each consumer to others within your community and other communities your company is part of.Understand how you interact 3.

with your customers. Your perfect customer wasn’t actually born perfect. Your company’s sales and marketing processes made them perfect. Therefore your analysis isn’t really about finding your perfect customer; it is a necessary step to determine which interactions most influenced them to become perfect. For example, customers who watch product demonstration videos online are significantly more likely to purchase, therefore a key digital interaction your company aspires to with each member in their community is to expose them to the appropriate videos. This will not only get those who do to become more likely to make a purchase, but also identify those who are already more inclined to make a purchase and therefore should be targeted.Identify profitable patterns.4. One event, or interaction, doesn’t create perfection. It requires consistency and reinforcement—something hard to appreciate amidst 140 character posts. Finding your perfect customer, groups of near-perfect customers, and also those who are farthest from perfection will help you identify the pattern of interactions most likely to quickly convert a consumer to a customer, at the highest value, with the best customer lifetime value—hard, tangible results. This is the pattern of interactions your sales and marketing efforts—both digital and physical—are actually trying to get customers to follow.Move beyond marketing.5. Marketers, digital or traditional, cannot get customers to follow these profitable patterns alone. They must partner with their traditional counterparts to teach, mentor and guide the organization on how these digital techniques fit into the sales and marketing processes they have always used to gain new customers.

This is what allows the promise of big data to create a meaningful impact. This step is too often left untaken and when an organization fails to realize tangible results from their digital initiatives the initiatives get blamed when in fact it is simply a flawed approach.

As your organization masters this approach, you will be able to use it with greater sophistication, using techniques I call micro-marketing, associative marketing, and psycho-selling. These approaches help you identify not just the right message for the right person, but also the exact right moment the message should be delivered to solicit the outcome you desire. And this process is not just used to get customers to purchase; it enables everything from using your community to influence others on your behalf to research and development efforts to getting insider information about your competitors. This approach is what is at the heart of remaining competitive in what I call the new “social economy.” The first company in your industry to master it will realize an instant competitive advantage that you may never be able to overcome.

DAVID GIAnnETTO (@dgiannetto) is the author of

Big Social Mobile, How Digital Initiatives can

Reshape the Enterprise and Drive Business

Results (Palgrave Macmillan), and a speaker

and consultant that helps executives,

audiences and organizations employ today’s

latest techniques and technology, to take

data, downloads and social communities

beyond isolated marketing initiatives. More

information at: www.BigSocialMobile.com


FUNDRAISING

Supplement

• Top digital fundraising trends for 2015

• Repeatable, ongoing, automatic fundraising

• 12 rules of non-profit (video) storytelling

• The Big Data way to fundraise

INsideSupplement of

// 14


FUNDRAISING Supp

lem

ent

Top digital fundraising trends for 2015

// 15


By SIMREn DEOGun

Think about your life pre-smartphone. How much do you remember? Was it like you were

living in black and white back then? And now think of your life post-smartphone. It’s almost always with you, isn’t it? Checked dozens of times a day? Maybe even the first and last thing you interact with during your day. And I’ll guess that many of you, if asked, would say you couldn’t function without it.

This is important in demonstrating two key things about digital and technology: the first is how quickly it has evolved and continues to evolve and the second is how it has permeated our day-to-day living.

Just as digital and technology have altered our personal lives, we see the same ripple effect take place in how we manage our charities, market our services, raise our funds and push forward our missions.

And this year, like each of the years in the decade that preceded it, will continue to see significant shifts in the way in which we interact with our constituents. But what does it mean for your fundraising program?

The application and integration of digital as part of your marketing and fundraising strategy is no longer the future. Digital is now. It should not be talked about as a nice to have or long-term goal. It should be part of every conversation, every interaction, throughout the year. So that you are discussing what you could be doing today as well as what trends you can take advantage tomorrow.

It’s pretty much always been an exciting time for digital – there probably isn’t a more cliché statement I could use. And yet it rings true for 2015. The opportunity is real for how for-profit and non-profit organizations can use technological and digital marketing advancements to create a unique and captivating experience. Let’s take a look at a few of the trends we’ll see rise to the top this year:

Donor journey mappingI know you’ve thought about your donor’s journey – many of you may already have documents outlining your donor’s experience. What are the various touch points? When are you asking for a gift? How do different channels play different roles?

The perfect parallel is the consumer buying process from the first stage of awareness to the final stage of brand loyalty. You can be sure that every step, touch point, and channel is mapped out by marketers to provide a holistic

view of how the organization intends to move the buyer through the process to pre-defined goals.

The consumer journey for marketers is long-standing and can and should be applied to your charity – especially in the digital space where opportunities for interaction, paid or not, are everywhere.

In 2015, the movement will be about how that journey evolves. Specific to digital, we’re talking about real integration of mobile, social, automation and even the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology to enhance organizational knowledge about donors and prospects and how and where we talk to them.

PersonalizationIn Direct Mail (DM), personalization is nothing new. From salutation to variable copy based on the donor’s history with the organization to giving history that informs how much we ask for in the matrix. DM has very much informed opportunities for a more customized experience online.

At a time when online communication can come off as inundating and fragmented, it’s become even more important to understand why someone has connected with you. And with that information, create communication opportunities that are personalized to them.

Do you apply the same personalization strategy from your DM to your email? If you have an online donor portal, what are you doing to best mine that data for other uses? How are you using online advertising to talk to and solicit donations from donors who have taken specific actions on your website(s)?

The wonderful thing about digital is it can be dynamic. With the right knowledge and tools, the manipulation of data online means we can build a personalized experience throughout the donor’s journey. A great example is the ability to serve up different online ad creative based on what your donor did or did not do on your website instead of a generic message that everyone sees.

A refined approach to personalized fundraising online is really nourishment for your program and taking the best practices from one channel and translating them to another.

Content marketingEven if you’re not quite sure what it is, chances are you’re already doing it in some way.

Content Marketing is “a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience—and, ultimately, to drive action” (as defined by the Content Marketing Institute).

In the 2015 report from the Content Marketing Institute and Blackbaud, more than 1,100 non-profit marketers were surveyed in North America. Some of their key findings were that 61% are engaging in content marketing, only about 35% would deem it effective, and 37% plan to increase spending in this discipline.

So why does content matter? I like to think of content as the pipeline that feeds the journey. Think of an individual who is an active donor on your file, for whom you have an email address, and also likes your Facebook page (even though you might not know it). What different types of content will this individual be interacting with throughout the year? And how does that content spread through their network of family, friends, and co-workers?

The trend for this year is around developing content about and

peripheral to your charity that not only connects with your current supporters but also can be used to drive interest and action from new individuals. And this, more than anything else, is the hot topic of fundraising today.(Citation for report: http://contentmarketinginstitute.

com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/2015_NonProf_Research.pdf)

Going for the digital standardYou’ll notice that I didn’t mention Bitcoin or Periscope or Apple Watch. Though trends in their own right, I want you to take away a renewed focus on strategic planning for digital.

As you plan for your next fiscal and ask what it is you’re looking to achieve in the next 3-5 years, assess what you’ve done and where you have and have not been successful and then give yourself the chance to do something new. Your digital innovation shouldn’t start 18 months from now, it should start now!

SIMREn DEOGun, Director, Digital Innovation, for

Stephen Thomas has established herself as an

expert in digital marketing, fundraising, and

advocacy in the non-profit sector at large.

FUNDRAISING Supp

lem

ent

BETTER RESULTS -- faster and more affordably.

Full colour. Full variability. Sheet-fed inkjet.Only at Prime Data.

Find out more: PrimeData.ca/ELAN

// 16


FUNDRAISING Supp

lem

ent

Your data can automatically trigger donor communications, upgrading donors and asking for 2nd gifts – even when you don’t have the time

Are you forgetting or unable to send timely reminders to your donors and in the process passing up great

opportunities to engage them and increase their gifts?

Now there is automation technology to help fundraisers perform these tasks with very little intervention. You cannot avoid some concerted effort to set this up this, but then your regularly scheduled communications should be taken care of,

even while there’s nobody in the office.It’s a busy world for fundraisers. There

are lots of priorities and some of the smaller repetitive tasks can just get passed up. To respond to this, fundraisers are adopting automated communications. We’re all very accustomed to the automated thank-you email that appears in our inbox after an online gift. It’s usually a fairly dry and rudimentary thank you, but it serves the purpose of immediately recognizing the donor’s contribution. Fundraisers can take this further with greater effect -- especially if the communications are triggered by certain dates or other criteria that are part of the donor profile in your database. These communications are not limited to email; now automation can run small batches of personalized variable print notes and letters, or send a list to a call centre for follow-up.

Take for example the task of upgrading a first time donor to monthly gifts. It’s commonly understood that stewarding a new donor with a welcoming strategy can improve the chances of a second gift or conversion to a monthly donor. To do this successfully, a scheduled query of your donor database is followed with the appropriate personalized and timely communications. Automating this process will mean that it gets accomplished on a regular cycle. The routine could include email messages, direct mail notes in small batches or a file sent to a call centre in a strategically timed sequence. You should test a couple of approaches to this and refine it to your type of donors.

Recent developments in secure data transfer and low-cost variable printing and simplification of postal preparation requirements have made the creation of small-run direct mail feasible for these situations. Workflow automation can merge data to letters, cards, thank-you notes or tax receipts so that these documents get printed and mailed with very little effort. Your current fundraising software may already be able to create pdfs of print-ready template documents that can be securely transferred to your internal or outsourced print and

mail service providers. Even that process may be able to be scheduled and automated.

Here is a the type of strategy you want to consider for an upgrade:

Day 1 - donor first gift ❯

Day 1 + x days - thank you / welcome ❯

emailDay 1 + x days - first communication ❯

(email or print)Day 1 + x days - second communication ❯

(email, print or phone)Day 1 + x days - survey - email survey to ❯

see if the engagement is going well

Many different pieces of software can pull the necessary data, and some can even completely automate the process. For example, some online databases run a report and email on a scheduled basis. If this process pulls the first gift date, most recent gift, or any other metric you would like to pull, a matrix like the one above can easily be used to trigger when the next communication needs to go out.

Even in a case where data needs to be pulled manually, the process can still be worth it. By taking the time to set up a query or report to be run on a regular basis, you can make it easy to log in, run the export, and upload the files on a daily or weekly process. By spending a few additional minutes manually running the report regularly, you may realize a significant uptake in future giving.

Consider how automation might assist you in realizing your fundraising goals. It will require that you bring together the IT resources and the creative strategic resources at your disposal but the outcomes of this initial work can be repeatable, ongoing and automated communications that will carry on your fundraising mission, even when the lights are off at your office.

PRIME DATA executes data-driven direct mail and

fulfillment campaigns for some of the most creative

and successful fundraising strategists in Canada.

Method Works Consulting works with charities across

Canada to implement and use fundraising systems

effectively.

By STEVE FALk, PRIME DATA AnD

kIRk SCHMIDT, METHOD wORkS

COnSuLTInG

Repeatable, ongoing, automatic fundraising

Canadiansgive to charities for

1 of 9 reasons.

If your agency can’t fill them in, even with

a little help, perhaps it’s time for a change.

1. _ _ _ _ _

2. _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

4. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

5. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

6. _ _ _ _

7. _ _ _ _ _

8. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

9. _ _ _ _

416-493-0333 x224 Ask for Allison.

// 17


FUNDRAISING Supp

lem

ent

12 rules of non-profit (video) storytellingBy MARk JOHnSTOn

There is no doubt that video storytelling is the most powerful tool to get up close and personal

with your supporters.You can communicate your mission

and mandate by telling a story of someone (or animal) that benefits from your organizations. That testament is an effective moment to ask for a donation, whether it’s from a celebrity or from the subject themselves.

“HJC has helped Amnesty International capture some incredibly magical moments by filming and scripting the reunification of a wrongfully imprisoned man with his family at the airport, assisting a woman to reach out on video to help release her imprisoned husband, allowing torture survivors to be tell their stories,” says Andrew Bales, Digital Communication Manager, Amnesty International Canada. “We’re always confident that HJC can bring both the creative sensibility and the sensitivity needed to film individuals whose stories are difficult to tell but need telling. We’ve used HJC’s powerful video work to inspire Canadians to be activists and to give money in support of human rights.”

DRTV has proven this approach is effective if the stories are told properly. But now, you can have the same kind of powerful videos online for fundraising purposes, done cost effectively and integrated fully into all of your fundraising channels. Inspired by Pixar’s 22 Rules for Telling a Great Story, and coupled with my decades of documentary and non-profit video storytelling, I’ve come up with these essential rules to follow when you make your own video.

The 12 Rules of Non-Profit (Video) Storytelling

1It’s about characters, not about the wonderful things that you do for people or the

planet. People want to identify with individuals (although they may be

PEOPLE or ANIMALS). Tell your stories through the prism of living, breathing creatures.

2Your subjects may not always have a happy ending. What matters is that they tried

and they did their best. We admire someone for trying more than their success.

3Themes and big ideas are important, but what appeals to an audience is the personal

story. All stories have individuals and their struggles in the foreground, but the complex ideas and themes are woven into the background.

4Once upon a time, there was ___________. Every day, _______ happened. One day,

______ came along to help. Because of that, _______ happened. Until finally, ________ happened, and things got better.

5Keep it short. You don’t have to tell the whole story of your organization to get the mission

across. A person’s story and experience may be enough.

6Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are

hard. Get yours working up-front.

7Putting it on paper allows you to start fixing it: If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll

never share it with anyone.

8Let your subjects speak for themselves. People always trust information coming from the

source.

9What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the subject. The stakes have to be high for

us to root for them and the cause they represent.

10No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll

come back around to be useful later. Some stories might not fit now, but they might fit into a campaign later. Know when to let go.

11What’s the essence of your story? What is the most economical

telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there. Break your story into one statement that encapsulates everything you need to say about both your subjects and the mission of your organization.

12When you finally get to weaving your story, be succinct. Lean on your

subject to tell their own story (in their own words) efficiently and capture the attention of the audience. People stop listening after a minute or two. Keep it short but powerful!

I’ve been making dozens of documentaries for more than 25 years, telling disparate stories of people around the world, whether they might be indigenous peoples facing modern pressures; youth resisting radicalization; or people climbing Mount Everest. These films, for the BBC; PBS; CBC; Sundance; National Geographic; Discovery and many others.

Over the same time period, I’ve been working with hjc to make sure that we tell the important stories that our non-profit clients need to share with their supporters. I follow these rules myself, and I believe they work every time you honestly apply them.

MARk JOHnSTOn is the Senior Advisor and Video

Director at hjc. Mark manages the media work

produced by hjc and serves as a Senior Advisor

on a range of projects. He has worked on video

projects for hjc clients such as SOS Children’s

Villages, Amnesty International Canada,

Disabled American Veterans, St. Michael’s

Hospital, Operation Smile and TVO. Between

1991 and 1995, Johnston acted as a Chief

Aide to British entrepreneur Anita Roddick,

the Founder and Chief Executive of The Body

Shop International PLC (at the time, the largest

retailing exporter in all of Europe, trading in

more than one hundred countries). Mark is

also one of the most sought-after documentary

producer/directors on the international

scene, and is a veteran of documentary series

work. Twenty-five years in the documentary

business, Mark has worked in a producer or

director capacity on over sixty films. His films

have won Gemini and Emmy Awards and have

been seen around the world. Mark was a part

of the establishment of the tenets of Corporate

Social Responsibility (CSR) in the international

business community

• Easytolearnanduse

• Themostaffordablefunctionality

• Spendlessandgetmoredonations

• Bemoreproductive,getmoredone

LearnMoreatdonorperfect.com/CA15

// 18


FUNDRAISING Supp

lem

ent

“Fundraisers who think that only large for-profit companies can make use of Big Data are missing a huge opportunity to raise more funds. They should figure out the types of donor data they have access to, AND what they are going to do with it”

Big Data is a term that every fundraiser should embrace because, like many for-profit

businesses, they have deep treasure troves of donor data collected over many years that if properly used, can result in many more funds raised from existing donors, and from new ones.

The secret is not to be intimidated by the words Big Data, or about emerging technologies and new emerging tools

such as Hadoop, Hive, and PIG. Rather, you should define Big Data for what it means to you (because it can mean many different things) and to ask how can Big Data benefit me?

What does Big Data mean to me?Big Data doesn’t need to refer only to the sheer volume of donor data you may have access to. It can also refer to the richness and depth of your data.

When we’re talking about large charitable organizations with hundreds of thousands or even millions of donors, Big Data can very literally mean extracting useful insights from big amounts of data to find and reach the best donors. But even if you’re a mid-sized charity

with a donor database not as big, your understanding of your donors can be much more robust by embracing the principle of Big Data CRM’s which have begun to allow you to capture many new fields of information, yet even the best of them have limited analytical tools. But imagine amalgamating all of the information contained in your CRM with state-of-the-art 3rd party tools, bringing it alive with analytical insights, and then discovering who your perfect donor is and how to reach them; this could be your version of what Big Data means for you.

For both big and mid-sized charities, one key feature of Big Data is its variety. The data may come

from multi-channels, including online and offline, and in different formats, including structured and unstructured. So rather than getting bogged down by the sheer volume, to be “Big Data-ready” try taking another look at 3 components: 1) capturing the “right” data, 2) a solid data processing foundation, and 3) analytics to turn data into insights that supports decision making. A framework to integrate the three components will ensure you leverage rich data and extract useful insights, regardless of how big the volume is.

I want to become a Big Data fundraiser One thing to ask yourself before you

The Big Data way to fundraise

By JAMIE LEHMAn

// 19


FUNDRAISING Supp

lem

ent

Analytical Stage Main Objective Examples of Tools/Techniques Sample Application for Charities

Descriptive Analytics Understand “what has happened”: summarize existing data to identify patterns and trends

- Reports - Queries - Scorecards - Profiling

Reporting and profiling tools to help understanding donor characteristics

Predictive Analytics Predict “what will happen”: Use statistical techniques to forecast future events

- Clustering - General Linear Models - Decision Trees - Neural Networks

Use a Response model to find the best donors to send communications to

Prescriptive Analytics Prescribe “what is the best action to take”: Integrate information/data from multiple components (often multiple predictive models) to recommend the best decision

- Marketing Optimization Use Marketing Optimization tool to decide how and when to communicate to which donors

1. DescriptiveStandards & Ad •Hoc reportsQueries•Etc.•

2. PredictiveStatistical models •(KPI, clustering, …)Predictive models•

3. PrescriptiveOptimization•Randomized testing•

Simple Description

of past events

Discovery of underlying drivers

of an event

Predictive of future single

events

Discovery of best

action plan

Thomas H. Davenport, Enterprise analytics, 2013

dive into Big Data is whether the size and nature of your organization is a good fit for this commitment. It is not going to be a one size fits all solution for everybody. Cornerstone specializes in helping fundraisers determine if they are ready to tackle Big Data and how they should go about it.

I am ready to realize my big data potentialReady to realize your Big Data potential? Ok, then a first step is to decide if your donations are being processed effectively and to examine how well your donor data is being captured and managed. Cornerstone’s Donation Processing & Fundraising Services business finds the best way to harness your data power by ensuring your donation processing foundation is strong, channel agnostic, and integrated with powerful analytic capabilities.

After your donation processing has been fine-tuned, Cornerstone’s

Database Marketing & Insights business will create an Analytical Roadmap for you. Our modelling team will work with you to figure out what your main business objectives are and what your end goals are, as well as provide analysis on what you currently do compared to your end goals. Our analytical roadmap typically involves a couple of stages (1), see above.

At Cornerstone we understand that the best solution is the one that most fits your need. Depending on your objectives we have multiple options for you to choose from at each stage, at different levels of scale and cost. Instead of diving directly into the “ultimate” comprehensive solution, we will help you to design a path to at least start leveraging your data and analytics right away. Then, if your organization is ready to go further, you can continue to benefit from these analytics while accumulating more data to expand and enhance the model or analytical project of your

choice. Contact us to find out more about these options. After all, Big Data does not equal Big Leap. Think about a series of small steps that will lead you to your Big Goal.

ABOuT CORnERSTOnE Donation Processing

& Fundraising Services. Our Donation

Processing & Fundraising Services business

provides our Fundraising Clients with

end-to-end outsourced online and offline

donation processing and donor database

management services. For more information

about Cornerstone services please contact

Communications Manager Jamie Lehman at

416-932-9555 ext 2389 or

[email protected].

If you want:- No upfront fees or long term contracts- To demonstrate safety compliance- A fixed fee starting at $25/month

Go to:

okalone.netand to claim your 7 day FREE trial

Lone worker monitoring made easy

Finally, a safety tool for charities.Ok Alone assures me my team are safe.

I also know exactly where they are.It’s great. -Susan

Resource Directory// 20

DATABASE MARKETING

CALL CENTRE PRODUCTS / SERVICES

ADVERTISING AGENCIES

VDP CalendarsCustomized. Personalized. Variablized.

905.731.7455888.548.7725 www.kitspak.com

Sample request:Scan

or visit www.kitsVDP.com

• Predictive AnAlytics• customer vAlue mAnAgement• dAtA mAnAgement• Business intelligence rePorting

Karalytics is a consulting firm entirely dedicated to providing quality talent and Analytical leadership to the Database Marketing community.

We supply onsite professionals committed to lending their wealth of database marketing expertise and business skills to assist corporations in delivering on their complex business initiatives.

JOB SEEKERS: Upload your resume at www.karalytics.com. We are always seeking to match the best and brightest talent with exciting opportunities!

EMPLOYERS: Visit www.karalytics.com and upload your job postings for FREE. We have the experience and Professionals to help you succeed on your next project.

WWW.KARALYTICS.COMKARALYTICS CONSULTING SERVICES INC.Experts in Database Marketing & Customer Analytics.

Phone: 416-270-8896 Email: [email protected]

Data Mining & Analytics | BI Reporting | Campaign Design & Measurement | Integrated Data Solutions

DM CREATIVE

75 Superior Blvd., Mississauga, ON L5T 2X9www.datadirect.ca

Tel: 905.564.0150 Fax: 905.564.6621Toll Free: 1.877.247.1464

For more information please contact:

Debbie Major 905.564.0150 x108

Gary Stavro 905.564.0150 x296

▶ Premedia & Design▶ Digital, Litho & Flexo Printing▶ Data Processing & Entry Services ▶ Promotional & Transactional Direct Mail▶ Fulfillment & Distribution

24/7 Contact Number: 416.201.1420 Experts in Emergency or Fast Turnaround Projects

- Inkjet Envelopes or Direct Impression - Mail Merge and Personalized Laser Printing

- Inserting: Automated and Manual - Address Veri cation/Correction and Postal Sortation

- Addressed Admail and Publication Mail - Data Entry and Database Management

- Polybagging, Tubing, Hand Assembling & Kits - Photocopying, Collating, Stapling, Folding & Printing

8 Dohme Ave. Toronto, ON M4B 1Y8Tel: (416) 755-7761 Fax: (416) 755-8231Email: [email protected] Toll Free: 888-683-2501www.completemailing.com

FULL SERVICE OPERATIONS

to Advertise Contact:


Andy Feldman, [email protected]

Canada PostDirect MarketinggSpecialist

Specializing in small to medium size mailings•Best service & Fast turnaround•Laser personalization in both color and b&w•Complete in-house digital & offset printing•

Contact Isaac at 416-560-7668 or [email protected]

200 Wellington St West, Toronto, ON M5V 3C7

Resource Directory // 21

For details on our full range of services visit webminerva.comor contact Nan Niemela at 800-263-0669 x178 or [email protected]

100% PCI COMPLIANT

helpingfundraisersof all sizes

Caging &Data Entry

Virtual Officefor Charities

DatabaseManagement

Fulfilment &Receipting

fundraising solutionsminerva

LIST SERVICES

Get more out of your

Marketing DatabaseExplore the many direct marketing solutionswe offer:

• New Business Leads • Customized Prospecting Lists • Email Marketing Services • Customer Profiling • Data Processing & Data Hygiene

Call 800-873-6183 or visit www.infogroup.ca

ResourceDirect2011_Layout 1 8/30/11 3:36 PM Page 1

• Asaboutiquelistserviceproviderofferingspecializeddatasets,ourcontentisauthoritative&accurate!

•Weconcentrateourdatagatheringeffortsandhaveanacumenfortheseindustries:

Finance,Environment,Associations,Libraries,HealthCare,Media,Lawyers,Education&Government

• Nootherlistservicewillworkascloselyaswedotomeetyouruniqueneeds.

• [email protected]

2 millionhouseholds

1 millionemails

Canada’s largest and most recognized consumer marketing database

tap into targetsourceTM

Find out how ICOM can be your single-source solution for customer intelligence that can be parlayed into an omnichannel contact strategy.

1,000householdcharacteristics

800.603.4555 | epsilon.com | [email protected]

BETTER DATAFRom CANADA’S LEADER iNCoNTACT DATA SoLuTioNS

Ask for a FREEEvALuATioN and pricing!

[email protected]

cleanlist.ca

)

an interact direct company

Date: July 4, 2013


Docket: 3540

Application: Print, 4x4.325", 4C

AD: Carter

AM: Sinclair

Version: F6



Data Cleaning • Address Correction• Mover Update • Deceased Identification

Data Enhancement • Phone Append• Demographics

Prospect Databases • ResponseCanada• Consumers, Movers

and Businesses

Custom Solutions

CL_ResourceAd_4x4.325_v04.indd 1 13-07-04 10:43 AM

FUNDRAISING LIST SERVICES

to Advertise Contact Mark Henry, [email protected] or Andy Feldman, [email protected]

Contact: [email protected] • [email protected] • [email protected]

Resource Directory// 22

to Advertise inDirect Marketing Resource Directory

Contact Mark Henry, [email protected] or Andy Feldman, [email protected]

High quality o�set PLASTIC CARDS, manufactured in CanadaRuns from 250 to 1,000,000Magnetic stripes, card encodingBar codes, smart cardsCard personalizationFast turnaround times

Authorized resellers for:Zebra Card, Datacard, Fargo, Evolis card printersPhoto ID cards and systems

Tel: (416) 240.7775 1.877.236.7746

Fax: (416) 241.082591 Kel�eld St. #6, Toronto, ON M9W 5A3

[email protected]

www.cdnprintplastic.com

.

. . . .

.

.

PLASTIC CARDS

MAILING SERVICES

MAILING EQUIPMENT

LIST SERVICES

© 2014 Bell and Howell Canada Ltd. All rights reserved.

bellhowell.ca

Mail Processing Solutions » Inserting systems, feeders and folders

» JETVision® integrity/control systems

» Duplo finishing solutions

» Inkjet systems, tabbers and pressure

sealers

» Parts, mailing and mailroom supplies

Learn more:

[Sales] Wayne Quesnelle 1.800.889.6245 x2021

[email protected]

[Service] Charlotte Johnston 1.800.889.6245 x2012

[email protected]

UNADDRESSED DELIVERyadm_dm_4c.pdf 1 5/24/2013 4:35:39 PM

From simple to complex, we’ll handle your email campaign from start to finish – delivering professional quality and results every time. Scott’s Email Marketing Service will help you:

TARGET INFLUENTIAL AUDIENCES

DESIGN ENGAGING EMAILS

SEND CASL & CAN-SPAM COMPLIANTEMAIL MESSAGES

MEASURE CAMPAIGN RESULTS

CONVERT LEADS INTO CUSTOMERS

Email Marketing ServiceTARGET, ENGAGE & BUILD YOUR CUSTOMER BASE

[email protected]

ScottsDirectories.comRe

f: SM

SL15

MASS DIRECT/UNADDRESSED

Direct Marketing represents all areas of the dM industry: from small businesses to canadian Business 1000 companies. No matter what our reader's size, resources or strategies, each and every organization we reach is driven by data, powered by orders and striving for loyal customers.

To advertise in Direct Marketing Resource Directory

contact: Mark henry, [email protected]

Join the discussion

www.facebook.com/directmarketingmagazine Twitter: @DMNewsCanada

www.dmn.ca

environicsanalytics.ca416.969.2733

Direct Marketing Magazine April 2015

Documents

Transcript of Direct Marketing Magazine April 2015