By Kirk Chritton
Director of Marketing and Product Development

News flash! According to a high-ranking USPS official, the last year’s postage increases on standard rate flat mailers went too far. As a result, mailers have changed formats and also reduced the overall amount that they mail. For me, that candid assessment from the USPS Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President Anita J. Bizzotto was one of the refreshing highlights from the Kansas City Direct Marketing Association's recent DM Days event.

During the Q&A session portion of her morning keynote presentation, Ms. Bizzotto spoke frankly about postage rates and other current mailing issues. She indicated that the governing body in place last year “went beyond” the recommendations of the USPS officials to implement the increases that have caused disruptions throughout the cataloging and direct mail marketplace. With a new method of governance, Ms. Bizzotto indicated that the USPS was able to use its discretion to minimize increases for flats this year “to bring them into alignment” with other rates.

Each year the Kansas City Direct Marketing Association hosts two days of direct marketing sessions as part of their DM Days conference. Held March 4th and 5th, this year’s event provided up-to-date information on the top issues impacting the marketing community. On the first day KCDMA veteran Pat Freisen continued a 20-year tradition by hosting a daylong session on “The Basics of Direct Marketing.”

In addition to Bizzotto, the second day featured two keynote speakers who explored database marketing strategies. Dawn Brelsford, VP of Strategy and Planning at Barton Cotton, Inc. stepped through the “Donor Discovery Analysis” or DDA process that she developed to unravel the mysterious declines in donations for a Canadian wildlife association and also applied successfully for the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization.

Brelsford portrayed list selection based on RFM analysis as a potential trap that obscured trends within each organization's donor patterns. By carefully segmenting based on donation patterns and demographics, Brelsford and her team were able to develop targeted strategies designed to optimize results from big givers, lapsed donors, very lapsed donors, and even “extremely lapsed” donors.

Database marketing guru Arthur Middleton Hughes of KnowledgeBase Marketing was the final speaker. He reviewed case studies that demonstrated methods to use databases to increase customer retention and sales. He stressed the importance of control groups to prove the effectiveness of new techniques. “It drives the bosses crazy,” he said. “They say ‘If this is so great, we’ve got to use it on everybody!’”

Kansas City DM Days 2008 was a terrific event filled with information and action items. If your area has a local Direct Marketing Association affiliate, I encourage you to join and participate in their events. The rewards are sure to show up in your response rates.