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Resolution 3: Become a Profiler

Don't let the term scare you away. You might associate profiling with forensic psychologists and crime scene investigators and maybe even Hannibal Lechter, but profiling doesn't have to be complicated or daunting. In fact, even the simplest profiling tactics will engage your subscribers and boost your results. The key is to use all of your available data.

You don't need an advanced degree in forensic science or psychic abilities to profile your subscribers. And with Listrak's profiling tools you don't even have to be a whiz at database management and mining or manipulating data. All you need is the right data and a little common sense.

Here are some profiling techniques you can use to enhance your campaigns:

• Basic – Look at the geographical locations of your subscribers and send content that makes sense to each segment. For example, your holiday emails could include a heartwarming winter landscape but how relevant is that to your subscribers in tropical climates? If your Hawaiian subscribers open an email to see a graphic of a snow covered house with lit up evergreen trees, their initial thought will be "what does this have to do with me?" And in an inbox that is already overcrowded, the subscribers will most likely delete the message before reading it to see if it is applicable to their needs. Simply swapping out the snowy graphic with a palm tree adorned with lights as the sun sets on the beach could solve that problem; and it's not much extra work to generate the different versions of the message.
  
  
• Novice - If you don't have the zip codes of your subscribers, you can use virtually any profiling header to segment your list. Subscribers who clicked on a link to read about plasma TV ratings could receive an email offering free shipping on televisions, and subscribers who clicked on a link to review home gym equipment could receive a discount on treadmills. If you captured the data dynamically it is really easy to identify the subscribers in each segment. It might take you a little more time to generate each version of your email, but the extra time is worth it. Instead of trying to sell treadmills to every member of your list, you'll only sell treadmills to the people who are interested in buying treadmills, and you'll sell televisions to the people who want new TVs. You'll essentially sell twice as much merchandise in half the time; and, in this economy, that's what you have to do to remain in business.
  
  
• Advanced – Why stop with just one profiling field when two is clearly better? If the subscriber who viewed the treadmill lives in Hawaii, drop in the nice tropical holiday graphic as a not-so-subtle suggestion that a treadmill would make a great gift. You can even offer an additional discount on a second item so the recipients can keep one and give one away. Or, you can use your dynamic profiling data to identify a segment of your treadmill viewers that open your messages on Tuesday morning, so you can send your next message to that segment the following Tuesday morning. It's the best chance of reaching them while they're online and ready to shop.

The possibilities are endless. With Listrak, profiling is as easy as setting the message to be deployed to all of the subscribers with one profiling attribute. If you are using more than one profile filter, you'll have to set up a Boolean expression such as "and," "and not," "or," or "or not." Even this is easier than it sounds as Listrak's system walks you through each step so you can easily include subscribers that meet all of the search criteria. Here are some examples:

• The "and" expression will build a list containing the subscribers who meet all of the search criteria, such as subscribers who clicked on the home gym equipment article and who live in a tropical region.
  
  
• The "and not" expression will build a list containing subscribers who meet the first search requirement but will exclude subscribers who meet the second requirement, such as subscribers who clicked on the home gym equipment article who do not live in a tropical region.
  
  
• The "or" expression will build a list containing subscribers who meet at least one of the search requirements, such as subscribers who clicked on the home gym equipment article or anyone who lives in a tropical region.
  
  
• The "or not" expression will build a list containing subscribers who meet the first search requirement as well as contacts who do not meet the second, such as who clicked on the home gym equipment article and anyone who doesn't live in a tropical region.

As you can see, profiling isn't difficult. With a little creativity you can easily target the right subscribers with the right messages and clear calls-to-action.