Decoding Contact Optimisation: 5 Sceptical Questions Marketers Secretly Ponder

Embarking on the intricate path of contact optimisation in marketing requires addressing the questions that often linger in the minds of sceptical marketers. Let us decode the scepticism and shed light on the nuanced world of contact optimisation, where transparency and adaptability reign supreme.

Question 1: My business case is based on my campaign contacting 1 million customers. If it is not a high-priority campaign, how can I meet my business case?

You can still contact 1 million people, even if the campaign isn’t a high priority. However, it might take longer than expected because the framework ensures that customers receive campaigns relevant to them, rather than sending the campaign to 1 million customers at once.

Lower priority doesn’t mean customers will not receive the campaign. They will just receive this particular campaign after receiving the campaign that’s more relevant to them.

From a planning perspective, your campaign will be running daily until it meets the customer’s relevance.

Volume expectations of 1 million customers can be met but over a longer period of time, depending on the relative priority of the campaign as well as other campaigns a customer might be eligible for during that period of time.

Question 2: How do I know what happens to my campaigns? I'm curious about the transparency of optimisation. Can you shed light on what happens behind the scenes?

The framework will provide reporting and insights to ensure that the contact optimisation process is transparent and not a black box. We want to empower you with tools to understand exactly what’s happening and, more importantly, how you can use that information to continuously optimise and improve your campaigns.

The framework will provide visibility into the following:

• Number of campaign contacts filtered in and out, including the reasons behind it.
• Identifying higher-priority campaigns that consistently divert contacts from our campaign.
• Obtaining insights into customer eligibility decay for the campaign, including the time lag between a customer’s eligibility and receiving the campaign.
• Number of contacts who did not receive your campaign.

Question 3: How difficult is it to change optimisation rules once they have been defined?

From a technical standpoint, it’s super simple to make the change. It only takes minutes.

Because the contact optimisation framework is designed and set up using modular configurable components. This is to accommodate the needs to review and update prioritisation rules based on both, business strategy as well as performance of the optimisation framework. Hence it is often very simple to centrally change priorities to align with the revised business direction.

It's important to establish proper governance around these decision-making processes to ensure accountability and transparency in decision-making.

Question 4: Once we roll out contact optimisation, how do we know it’s working?

There are two ways to measure the result:

• The pre- and post-optimisation baselines
• A/B testing

We recommend using a baseline of KPI’s prior to implementing a framework and comparing to the baseline after at least one quarter of running campaigns through the contact optimisation framework. As part of the framework, we recommend that results be reviewed on a quarterly basis and tweaks to the prioritisation framework are made as needed.

The other method is to run A/B lane tests, however this is often operationally more complicated and requires additional effort.

Question 5: I have got an urgent campaign that needs to go out immediately. How can I achieve this with contact optimisation?

The contact optimisation framework will have an exception handling process, that will allow for campaigns to ‘bypass’ the optimisation process and be sent to customers without any optimisation applied.

The framework can also incorporate capability that will recognise this urgent campaign, and alter the optimisation rules for subsequent campaigns if required to avoid conflict.

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In decoding the scepticism surrounding contact optimisation, we've delved into five critical questions that often linger in the minds of marketers. We’ve explored concerns from the intricacies of meeting business case volumes to understanding the transparency of the optimisation process.

The contact optimisation framework is not a mysterious black box; it's a tool designed to empower marketers. By providing reporting, insights, and a transparent view into campaign processes, it equips you with the knowledge to refine and enhance your strategies.

Remember, the flexibility to adapt and change optimisation rules is at your fingertips. This framework is not a static entity; it's a dynamic system that evolves with your business goals and performance metrics.

As you embark on the journey of implementing and refining contact optimisation, embrace the simplicity of adjusting priorities and the power of exception handling. Measure success through baselines and A/B testing, continuously fine-tuning to ensure optimal outcomes.

In the realm of urgency, fear not! The contact optimisation framework acknowledges the need for immediate action and provides a seamless process for urgent campaigns.

As we conclude, let's demystify the scepticism together. The contact optimisation journey is a collaborative one, where transparency, adaptability, and actionable insights pave the way for marketing success. Embrace the power of optimisation, and may your campaigns thrive with relevance and efficiency.