Customer relationship marketing (CRM) practitioners have historically focused on optimizing touchpoints with known customers through channels like direct mail and email, while digital practitioners have been determining how to reach and engage “anonymous” consumers through new media and channels. The rise in digital platforms has enabled individual targeting and converged the worlds of CRM and people-based marketing (PBM). PBM is the new CRM, but with addressability and targeting at a much greater scale than what was previously achieved.
PBM is a comprehensive approach to managing marketing interactions to maximize customer lifetime value (LTV). PBM requires all the principles that CRM required, such as customer strategy, performance marketing programs, and enablement. But PBM goes beyond activation in direct mail and email. With PBM, programs are activated across multiple digital vehicles to deliver addressability at the scale CRM has always needed to truly transform traditional marketing.
How to maximize lifetime value through experiences
To maximize LTV or develop data-driven experiences that lead to longer, more profitable relationships, marketers must anticipate customer journeys and develop the appropriate marketing response to deliver at each engagement point.
For example, imagine that a customer just bought a high-end pair of shoes from a retailer. That retailer predicts, based on its data, that the person is female, and she’s likely to continue to purchase high-end fashion products. From these insights, the retailer can determine her next best offer. Now, in addition to sending personalized post-purchase direct mail and email, the retailer can share similar items that the customer might like on Instagram, through display advertisements.
PBM is a necessity for companies that want to execute the full potential of CRM in the digital age – integrating more data, drawing deeper insights, and delivering increasingly complex customer journeys across channels.
To learn more about PBM and how it can maximize LTV, check out People-Based Marketing: CRM in the Digital Age.
