Make the most of Digtial Print and Data.

When I look at all the new social sites that are entering the market place and I see the levels of funding committed to these endeavors; I sit back and think what does this mean for the CMO and EVP of marketing? 

The truth is that most of these interest don't have an impact on how a CMO can drive leads into the sales channels. The power of any campaign is with the data mined from you internally and this will provide you with a path forward. Today digital print actually saves money and increases response rates through personalization. Digtial Printing in concert with data is a springboard into true multi - channel campaigns. Social media is just one part of the campaign and the results are quantified in terms of views. If this is the objective then great, you did good; but really the C level suite is looking for revenue. How many qualified prospects or existing customers did you bring into the sales channel? If you can't answer that direct question in relation to the size of your marketing budget then... well you know.

I am fortunate to see so many different campaigns come through MLI but I have to say most are lacking from the standpoint of data. They take a detour from what the objective was originally designed to be. The path of data is a simple one; and being able to deliver customer personalized messages and promotions still has great impact and response rates. Check the stats for Personalized direct mail and you will see that it is still a top rated marketing investment. The problem most companies run into is; too much time is spent in the design phase and the data is almost an afterthought. Now, some of you reading this might think, "not us" but the truth is it happens.

Data is everything in today's marketing world. It not only provides direction for deployment but tracking the data is just as critical. It really comes down to how are you going to respond and can your campaign react to the results. If your prospect or customer responds and it take two weeks or more to follow up then something is broken.

Think as MLI.