Is your Trigger campaign really a Trigger campaign?

For years we have been told that the key to successful marketing is the ability to REACH THE RIGHT PERSON, IN THE RIGHT PLACE, AT THE RIGHT TIME, WITH THE RIGHT MESSAGING AND OFFER.?But how do we know when that RIGHT TIME is, who that PERSON is, and what the MESSAGING should be??That is where “trigger” or “life stage” data comes in.?

As any new parent or new homeowner knows, there are certain events in life that create the need for a specific product or service that may not have previously existed.?These life stage events are sometimes referred to as “Triggers” by marketers.?For years, marketers have been buying data on Expectant Parents, Newly Married Couples, New Homeowners, New Movers, Recent Grads, Recent Retirees and more, and creating relevant messaging addressing those triggers.?Just as these life stage triggers mark a certain change in a consumer’s lifestyle that create new problems and new needs, there are similar triggers in the lifecycle of a Business.?After all, at the end of the day, business owners are consumers too.

Examples of business life stage triggers include the initial business registration, the grand opening, the expansion of product or service offerings, a change in ownership, a move to a larger location or the opening of additional locations, the acquisition of other companies, securing investments or an IPO, among others.

In our opinion, the most important of these is the New Business Registration, as it is the first official step in launching a new business and marks the opening of a brief window during which the New Business Owner is actively researching and signing on with financial service providers, vendors, suppliers, technology partners, logistics partners, insurance providers, merchant service providers and others that will be vital to the successful launch and growth of their new venture.?If you do not reach them before that window closes, there is a good chance that they will have already signed on with a competitor and your chance of landing them as a customer may be gone forever.?

In fact, a survey of 2,000 Small Business Owners conducted by Gartner/CEB found that 93% will not change vendors/suppliers in the first year and 68% will not change suppliers EVER!?So, reaching them as early in their formation process as possible is critical.

That said, a Trigger Marketing campaign is highly reliant upon the freshness of the data and how quickly you are able to act on that data.?Studies have shown that for every week that passes from the trigger event, response rates decline.?Just two weeks out could see response rates decline by 33%.?One month out from the trigger event, response rates could decline by more than 50%, two months out and you probably have missed your opportunity to land the customer.

Another advantage of utilizing a Trigger event is that it continually identifies new prospects for you, giving you the ability to build an evergreen program that is constantly fed with relevant prospects.?For example, the US Census Bureau Business Formation Statistics show that an average of 13,500 New Businesses were registered in the US every day in May.?On top of that, we have heard reports of campaigns fueled by trigger data delivering a lift in response of 120% compared to a broader, aged, general audience selected on geographical location, firmographics or other non-event criteria.?With a self-replenishing audience of new prospects and increased response rates, why wouldn’t you want to run a New Business Trigger campaign?

So, to answer our initial question – Is your Trigger campaign really a Trigger campaign??Only if you are reaching prospects within days of the Trigger event with a relevant offer.??