Strategy : Transpromo’s Evolution
The targeting technique moves beyond discount coupons
October 2009 By Lee GallagherThe term "transpromo" is getting out of hand. Depending on who you talk to, it could have many different meanings. By original definition, transpromo is the concept of placing relevant and personalized promotions or advertisements on must-read documents, such as bills or statements.
But doesn't that sound limiting?
Transpromo, as a technique, has been taken to many different levels since the concept was defined. It's no longer just about adding a few personalized promotions onto bills, but more about precise marketing solutions targeted to existing and potential customers in efforts to gain or retain business. This type of precision marketing is a key tactic to ensure customers will look to you for the best bang for their buck.
Deciding where and how to promote to customers is often a more complex task than most realize. How do you know if you have the most relevant information on this customer? Where should you place your targeted message to optimally ensure she reads it and takes an action? How can you track the results?
A company's customer base is a wealth of knowledge and opportunity that is rarely used to its utmost potential. If leveraged correctly, it can guide marketers to the key questions such as: "Who should I market to?" or, "What should I market to them?" More importantly, it can answer the question, "Who should I not market to?"
Today's budgets are more restrictive than those of previous years. Marketers no longer can justify spending money on a customer who is not loyal. Encouraging existing, frequent customers to stay is a more achievable task these days than reaching out to an audience of prospects for whom you have no purchase knowledge. And if your company has a strong data analytics system, it can greatly assist in finding the most optimal customers with the highest propensity to respond to promotions.
Look to Loyalty
Loyalty clubs or rewards programs are ideal ways for companies to obtain purchase history information for individual consumers. With these campaigns, there are already existing data analytics available to a marketer, enabling businesses to offer personalized ads or relevant information to each recipient.
This year the CMO Council launched its "Getting a Lift from Loyalty" campaign, a leadership initiative that is working to determine key areas of optimization and opportunity as well as develop best practices for leveraging and maximizing loyalty and reward programs. A few related statistics associated with this research include:

