Knowing When to Communicate

While CRM tools allow you to break your customerbase up into tiny chunks and send them targetted messages, there of course is the concern that they might reject your messages if they come too thick and fast, no matter how targetted they are.

The results of the latest Yankelovich Marketing Receptivity survey prove this. Jackie at Church of the Customer notes that the report showed that 70% of consumers are interested in products that help them block advertising, while just over half of consumers avoid purchasing products from companies that overwhelm them with marketing and advertising. These are scary numbers, but they do show what a fine line we are walking as marketeers.

Talking to someone at a business dinner last night, we were discussing marketing and the fact that the whole trick lies with knowing when to communicate with a customer. What is the 'buying' signal that customers give to make you send them the information at the right time?

Generally advertisers rely on sending their message out cheaply to a large enough audience that they will cover their costs and make some money. While most recipients are not ready to buy, enough will be to make it worthwhile. But as the above numbers suggest a change in strategy is required for consumer advertising to continue to be effective.