By Margie Dana

At PBI Midwest on May 19th in Chicago, Heather Gims will be speaking on a very hot topic: multichannel marketing and how print fits in the picture. Heather is the Director of Marketing & Business Development for b+p+t Communication Solutions in Cincinnati, OH. I asked her to answer 5 questions about her session. Check it out…

1. Multichannel marketing is big. Give us your own opinion about why mixing print with other media is critical these days.With today’s technology, people have a host of options when it comes to their communication preferences. It is important that companies stay on the cutting edge and take advantage of the multiple methods available to reach their audiences. What most marketers are coming to realize is that different strategies work for different individuals. There are those who favor mail correspondence while others prefer email. When you give the consumer the ultimate choice of how to respond, it truly opens up the communications to a two-way conversation, which is ultimately what leads to relationship building between the organization and their constituents.
2. You’ll be talking about a particular program for Miami U of Ohio. In a nutshell, tell us what media were used and how they supported one another.The Miami University Honors program campaign used print, email and PURLs (Personalized URLs). The print piece was used as the primary driver and was a fully customized 1:1 marketing piece. It was the initial contact point. Then using intelligent barcoding, Miami was able to determine the approximate timeframe when the mailer was hitting mailboxes. Once the intelligent barcode was recognized, an email correspondence was triggered within a 3-day timeframe. Both the mail piece and the email were used as mechanisms to lead to the Personalized URL. At that landing page, they were able to collect data using a survey method. Additionally, they included links to the Honors web site, and using the Personalized URL, they were able to track what links were most popular. It was a cohesive and strategic effort that ultimately carried through to subsequent phases in the campaign.
3. I understand the results were fantastic. Can you point to any one element that drove this success?Success in 1:1 Marketing involves strategy. Miami was very intentional in their development of this recruitment effort. They defined their objectives, acknowledged and addressed challenges, mined the data and designed a comprehensive multi-phase campaign. The execution, results and follow-through were evidence of carrying out that initial strategy. Planning is well worth the investment in this type of effort.
4. For readers who work in a college or university, tell us the different team members involved in the Miami U campaign. Did it involve people from many different departments?Multiple departments were involved in this campaign; specifically we worked directly with the Honors Program Associate Director and the university’s Publications Department.
5. What can attendees at your PBI Midwest session expect to learn from your presentation?PBI Midwest attendees can expect to have tangible takeaways from this presentation. While it is exciting to share the success our client has had, what’s important to me is that the audience can see themselves being able to achieve similar results. They will get the chance to learn the stages that Miami went through in order to build such a program and gain insight into how they can apply the same type of principles in their own business or organization. My hope is that they not only enjoy Miami’s story, but also realize the potential parallels into their own efforts.

Thanks, Heather! I can’t wait to hear your presentation this Thursday.

Heather’s speaking from 2:45 to 3:45 pm this Thursday at PBI Midwest at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare in Rosemont, IL. We are nearly sold out. You can still register online at PBI Midwest.