Introduction

For any Direct Marketing, data is the way to drive and underpin all marketing communications, including Direct Mail. 

By getting the data basics right, it will mean a charity can communicate with its supporters in a way they feel respected and it engenders a positive supporter experience. Data insights drive a positive supporter experience by ensuring delivery of the right message, through the right channel, at the right time. By achieving this, a charity has a stronger relationship with supporters which in turn helps end-beneficiaries.

To achieve this approach, there are some obvious and straightforward steps to take. However, while obvious and straightforward, can you look in the mirror to say you’ve done them all and to the necessary depth possible? Is there an investment of time and resource for continuous development? Have we achieved the best donor experience possible? 

Obstacles to overcome

For a truly data-driven strategy, measurement is key.

As simple as this sounds, there are often many obstacles to undermine the ability to measure campaign success. For instance:

• Raw data is not clean e.g. duplicate / uncategorised records which skew results
• Appropriate supporter consent isn’t clear or in place
• Unable to access necessary data to accurately measure, because it’s in silos
• Not collecting all the right data from channels and ensuring comparability
• Data analysis for insights or analysis doesn’t focus on the right objectives
• No, or unclear, campaign objectives
• Appropriate suppressions are not in place e.g. MPS, TPS (and soon FPS)