Introducing Home Mover Tracking
In the first in a series of 5 in-focus articles we take a closer look at home mover tracking as a component of Lean DM. Home mover tracking is about ensuring mail reaches its intended recipient when they move house. According to the Direct Marketing Association 1.5 million people move house every year in the UK and most of us don’t inform everyone that sends us mail that we have moved. The challenge for marketers is to stop the hundreds or sometimes thousands of pounds they spent capturing that prospect or customer from disappearing when they move.
A Marketing No-Brainer
Data decay from home movers can strike body blows to marketing return on investment figures. The wasted print and postage costs incurred by sending mail to the wrong person pales in comparison to the cost of losing a customer through lack of communication or the potential damage caused by mailing sensitive information to the wrong person. It is widely reported to cost up to 8 times more to sell to a new customer over an existing one and this is set to increase with the ramping up of permission legislation and in turn the costs of acquisition campaigns. With all of these considerations home mover tracking is a no-brainer for marketers concerned with preserving relationships with customers and prospects.
Benefits of Home Mover Tracking for Mail Producers
Often engaged at the very last minute with tight deadlines to meet it can be tempting for mail producers to ‘do as they are told’ and not proactively introduce home mover tacking to their clients. However, there are a number of reasons a mail producer should make that extra effort.
1. Increased Mail Volume
The more common data cleaning processes of removing deceased or goneaway records lead to a net reduction in mail volume. However, home mover tracking adds back at least some of these recipients to preserve volumes and in turn revenues.
2.Increased Profitability
Lean DM offers the opportunity to charge for data services both as an ‘hourly service’ and also per record with each home mover identified able to be billed on to the mail user at a profit. Some large mail producers have even publicly stated they make more money from their data services than they do from their production facility.
3. Differentiate Your Business
Mail producers willing to help clients ensure campaigns reach customers and prospects will stand out amongst those focused solely on production and volume.
Cygnus Makes Home Mover Tracking Simple
Cygnus, from The Software Bureau is the data processing solution that powers Lean DM for over 100 UK mail producers, charities and businesses. Unlike other data processing solutions, Cygnus makes home mover tracking both comprehensive and simple. Embedded directly within the application are over 75 million home mover records from all of the main providers such as Royal Mail, Experian, Wilmington Millennium and REaD Group.
Within a few clicks and without having to upload anything to a website, an address file can be scanned and all of the available home movers identified. A comprehensive pdf report can be supplied to the client and a royalty mark-up applied. Combined with the other Lean DM best practices, home mover tracking offers a unique and profitable way to improve the return on investment of direct mail.
