Today, the web generates millions of orders in the background of multichannel commerce. Usually, these orders don’t have source codes.
An increasing number of catalogers are noticing the importance of matchback analysis to know the response to their mailings.
However, the fact is that most direct marketers are unaware of its importance.
Matchbacks involve matching your order file with your recent mail files to attribute credit to the suitable source, taking into account both the client segment and each list.
This applies to both the prospect list and the existing house file (also known as the past buyer data file).
Without a matchback, it will be difficult for a direct marketer to obtain perfect clarity on the source of received orders.
For instance, clients who order after receiving a catalog repeatedly choose to store their orders online rather than over the phone, which allows them to complete their purchase without needing to seek help from customer service staff.
Tracking rates can be as low as 10% without the use of proper matchback approaches, which prevents marketers from achieving optimal ROI for their marketing investments.
Matchback services provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns by analyzing customer responses and attributing them to specific marketing touchpoints.
Curious how matchback analysis fits into your marketing strategy? >>>> Schedule a quick consultation
How Do You Conduct Matchbacks?
The concept of matchback processing involves an integrated approach that matches your mail files with the NAP (name, address, and phone number) of clients in your order file.
Each matching record or order database is reported within its particular list of sources or segments.
If the order date must fall within your designated match window, then only orders will be listed as matches.
In the matchback process, a matching window means a defined time frame during which the activity of your mailing list is observed and analyzed.
It consists of a list of dates that help record the suitable insights and data associated with customer response and engagement.
After conducting matchback analysis, analyzing major key performance indicators (KPIs) such as average order value (AOV), key code, total circulation, total orders, response rate, dollars per book, total revenue, and segment description provides a unified view of campaign performance.
For a matchback analysis, the required data contains:
- Mail files from the relevant period
- A listing or segmentation of all source codes incorporated in each mailing
- Order databases or records for the correct period. Preferred fields include the key code (if tracking is up front), name/address, customer’s phone number, order price (product demand $), and order date.
- Other key codes, if you are monitoring sales to a source during an order
Some common matchback strategies to effectively assign a sale to the whole marketing campaign include the following:
- Multichannel promotions: For various promotions within a response window, a rule is set to allocate credit for the response.
- Segment-oriented matchback: One approach is to choose a shorter response window for email, since the response window is considered a variable subject to the nature of the email campaign.
- Unmatched orders: Most of the time, orders can’t be matched back to a record of mail history.
- A/B testing: Having a control group to which the mailing is held back allows you to determine whether segments that were mailed experienced a lift over the hold/control segment that wasn’t sent.
Several key factors should be considered when evaluating the outcomes of your matchback.
A few from our experience are listed below:
The latest active mailing list sent before the order date will produce results.
If a match is not found, you may consider letting the order activity align with the past mailing list within your designated match window.
If your business experiences significant seasonal variations, this leads to a preference for mailing campaigns that were sent before and closely aligned with the peak season, resulting in more effective outcomes.
Hence, it is essential to evaluate the outcome of each mailing independently and incorporate the results holistically to address any potential bias or skewing that may occur.
Accurate matchback reporting is dependent on the use of suitable date ranges.
Factors including expiration dates, the format of the mail, the number of pages, and the mailing frequency of house files are taken into account while choosing the time of order data that can be matched back.
The frequency with which you send an email and how you prepare a strategy to execute the results and data into your marketing process will determine how frequently you run a matchback.
Considering the number of tests conducted and your seasonality level, it is recommended to perform a matchback analysis twice a year.
Utilize matchback outcomes to refine your understanding of previous mailings and effectively tailor mailings to specific segments.
Another helpful approach to utilizing matchback data is to incorporate a medium of influence into the segmentation framework.
This will improve the segmentation from RFM (recency, frequency, monetary value) to RFMC (RFM along with the medium of influence).
Such segmentation will provide the ability to tailor marketing communications using the most influential channel.
While matchback is useful, it is beneficial to keep in mind that the results for online-only buyers will differ from those for catalog-influenced buyers (in the case of comparable RFMs).
Online-only buyers are likely to have less influence from catalogs, and for single internet purchases, a lower frequency of mailers may be considered for this segment.
Before using a contact plan, ensure that the segmented channel impacts are independently assessed and outcomes interpreted accordingly.
However, it’s challenging to assign the internet portion. For instance, if a client purchased a product online and received an email containing a catalog.
He has two options to purchase the product: either offline or online.
In this scenario, he would be considered a catalog buyer based on his initial purchase, which was made instantly after conducting a matchback, as evidenced by an email that included both a house file key code identifier and a catalog.
Suppose the catalog generates significant internet traffic for the business under consideration. In that case, it will be challenging for senior marketing professionals to assess the impact of other marketing channels, as the catalog will receive the entire credit.
There could be other situations where, given the nature of the business under consideration, assessing the impact of catalogs is difficult when SEMs drive traffic.
Despite this, the end goal of matchbacks is to improve both content strategies and planning. With this, you can track your marketing investments effectively. It can’t be the only approach for the time.
Ready to make smarter marketing decisions? >>>>> Learn how matchback analysis can connect your efforts directly to revenue
Matchback Analysis in Marketing
Matchback services in marketing help you analyze customer responses and assign them to specific marketing touchpoints.
The matchback analysis helps you explore more advanced concepts to measure customer engagement and understand conversion patterns, driving personalized marketing campaigns.
Businesses conduct matchback analysis to identify hidden revenue opportunities, optimize marketing channels, and modify their customer acquisition strategies for better outcomes.
Express Analytics helps businesses identify the everyday challenges they face when implementing matchback strategies.
From collecting data and integration to attribution modeling, the company guides them through the process of building a matchback framework for accurate analysis.
Reference:
