A Mother's Opinion On Targeted Marketing

As soon as my daughter, Caroline, was born I started receiving both print and electronic direct mails for everything from toys to baby clothing. I have found that companies with products targeted for babies do a really great job of also targeting young, new parents. It wasn’t days after Caroline was first born that I began to receive free samples of baby formula, diapers and more. As a new parent who didn’t know which brand of diapers to buy, I appreciated this. From these samples, my baby and I were able to “agree” on some of our favorite brands. I continue to get coupons in the mail and especially effective are the promotions and coupons that show up on the various websites I regularly visit – all offer deals for all of these aforementioned items. Something interesting that I didn’t even think about at the time though is how as she gets older, the new products being offered are also maturing.

Smart marketers are not only targeting me and my husband, but they are starting to target Caroline directly. These direct mails come to her in very innovative ways; she recently received a first birthday cards from both Geoffrey, the Toys-R-Us mascot and from Mickey Mouse – of course, both included coupons for me.

It’s amazing just how detailed you can get when doing list research. It’s not just limited to geographical location, age and household income any longer. In my role at CommCreative as a media buyer, I can get lists using criteria like, month of birth, marital status, voter information and even as specific as hobbies and interests.

Embarking on this type of lead nurturing effort is very tricky though. Saving a buck and not working with a strategic agency who knows how to effectively use all of this data could mean you just wasted your entire marketing budget. Without a careful strategy, targeted promotions or direct mail can end up causing a negative impact on your brand image and business. It is too easy to have your marketing be seen as desperate, spammy and out of touch. Targeted promotions with an effective data-backed strategy can reach the customer right at the moment when they need your product most, build lifelong advocates and earn toddler customers that will carry your brand into a new generation.