Professional Development

Price includes full board accommodation and course materials.

Level: Masterclass

Key issues:

The hardest task in marketing today is to find good customers that will give you a return on your investment in the short and long term. With the right direct marketing plan it is possible to win better customers and increase their value over time. The marketing environment is changing. New channels have opened up, media is becoming fragmented and consumers expect deeper brand engagement.

The purpose of this course:

It is essential that marketing and sales effort is directed to where you can achieve the best outcome. This course is designed to help you to measure success and get the maximum return from every pound you spend. You will learn how to build a new programme or improve existing campaigns.

Who this course is for:

This course is for managers and practitioners who have responsibility for direct marketing. They may be considering how they can improve direct marketing or introduce a direct marketing approach to their organisation. It will also be of benefit to those considering how to introduce a database or CRM system into their business.

Typical job titles that would benefit include, direct marketing managers, marketing managers, data analysts, communications managers, database managers.

Benefits for your organisation:

Your organisation will benefit from this course because it will show you how to reduce the cost of winning new customers and how to get more value from each customer that you win. Instead of wasting money on generic campaigns that bring little value, you can target fewer people with insightful, personalised messages that generate more business.

Benefits for you as an individual:

You will be able to channel your resources to where they will achieve the best results. You will have a better knowledge of your customer base, what they require and what they are worth to your business. You will understand the new tools & techniques that are available. This should enhance your credibility with colleagues and your employer.

You will learn how to:

• Streamline your targeting to reach the best potential customers
• Identify your best customers and best lapsed customers
• Create relevant messages that are more compelling for customers
• Construct the right mix of direct marketing tools and channels
• Design campaigns that are personalised for different target groups
• Create acquisition, retention and win-back strategies
• Convince colleagues and people in other departments of the company that a direct marketing approach is more effective
• Allocate marketing resources in a way that reflects the value or potential value of customers
• Support your sales force and intermediaries more effectively
• Create better relationships with customers and build loyalty
• Address the internal strategic, cultural and leadership issues that affect direct marketing
• Construct and use databases and CRM systems to enhance direct marketing
• Allocate marketing budgets more accurately
• Measure the effectiveness and ROI of your direct marketing campaigns
• Construct and implement a direct marketing plan
• Utilise both traditional and evolving digital channels

Course content:

• Principles of direct marketing
• Trends in direct marketing
• Changes in consumer behaviour
• Measuring customer value and brand engagement
• Analysing data
• Segmentation
• Behavioural targeting
• Building and managing databases
• Using new technologies and channels for direct marketing
• Acquisition, retention, and win-back
• How to build customer loyalty
• How to run an effective loyalty scheme
• Setting objectives for direct marketing
• Establishing a schedule for direct marketing
• Defining and winning a direct marketing budget
• Measuring the success of direct marketing
• Developing and implementing a direct marketing plan
• How to develop a plan in your market situation
• Best practice case studies
• Legal requirements

Pre and post learning support:

Delegates will be asked to do some pre-work, preparing for the case study that they will use during the masterclass. This will involve them doing some internal research on their business, to ensure that the training exercises are relevant to their roles.

After the training session is completed, delegates will be able to execute programmes in their business. Delegates will be given planning tools and checklists to enable them to implement campaigns and will be invited to carry out a post campaign analysis to see how the training has improved their performance

To take away from the course:

• Direct marketing plan template that you can use for their own business
• Key web sites to keep your knowledge of direct marketing up to date

Professional Standards

All of our marketing courses are based on CIM's Professional Marketing Standards, ensuring that marketers at all levels of seniority gain the practical skills that employers require to improve business performance. Review our Professional Marketing Standards framework