I was going through an interesting post by Chris Golec of Demandbase titlted “The 5 Key Elements of Microtargeting” and it’s a great read since the practice of microtargeting campaigns to get better results is gaining in popularity among marketers and sales persons. From our own experience we know that communicating highly relevant messages to focussed target groups can yield much better results than spending on hitting large lists of irrelavant contacts. Two of the elements (points 2 & 3) in particular which Chris mentions:
- Do not sacrifice quality to save pennies: If not updated, any given list is likely to become more than 25 percent out of date after just one year. Microtargeting only works if you have fresh, high-quality contact data.
- Only buy the business contacts you need: Many data providers require marketers to buy large lists of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of contacts to meet their minimum. Yet, a highly targeted campaign may only focus on an audience of hundreds, or even fewer. Over-sending to thousands to fulfill the data provider’s requirements is a recipe for disaster.
Building a customized fresh list of high quality contacts makes a significant difference to campaign results. Paying more to acquire highly relevant contacts may make other options look more cost effective where as in reality, running larger camapigns across larger less accurate contacts can turn out to be a lot more expensive and a lot less effective in generating results. Role based list building is actually done by having specific roles and responsibilities narrowed down and that information verified by a reliable source and gives your campaign that edge knowing the message will reach the right people. Unlike buying a list or subscribing to a contact database, accounts and contacts can be highly customized so you are paying only for exactly how much you need and not for what may not be useful. So the next time you’re microtargeting a campaign, be sure to start with the right target contacts.