New research from Printing for Less (PFL) and Demand Metric on multichannel marketing offers some insights on the role of martech. We know that martech makes deploying, managing, and measuring multichannel campaigns easier. According to this study, it also makes them more effective. In fact, the deeper the integration using automated marketing technology, the better the response rates and ROI on campaigns.

The 2019 Multichannel Marketing Report included results from 500+ respondents.

First, researchers asked about the level of integration of respondents’ marketing campaigns. The majority have moderate levels of marketing automation, with the remainder spread nearly equally between higher and lower levels.

Percent of Respondents

Level of Marketing Automation Reported

14%

None: “Direct mail is sent manually or through a separate process.”

19%

Low: “We manually transfer selected contacts from one system to another.”

34%

Moderate: “We can push lists from one system to another.”

17%

High: “Direct mail is sent by a core marketing technology but measurement is separate or not available.”

16%

Complete: “Direct mail sends and measurement are an inherent part of our marketing technology.”

Source: 2019 Multichannel Marketing Report (PFL/Demand Metric 2019)

Next, researchers looked to see if there were any correlations between the level of marketing technology and the effectiveness of respondents’ campaigns. It turns out, there are strong ones. Take, for example, martech’s correlation with personalization:

Personalization

 

High or complete integration

No, low, or moderate integration

Complete personalization

26%

6%

A lot

33%

20%

A little

40%

55%

No personalization

1%

19%

Source: 2019 Multichannel Marketing Report (PFL/Demand Metric 2019)

The data show that integration of direct mail with respondents’ marcom suite and the level of personalization are clearly related. The more integration, the higher the level of impact of personalization reported.

Multichannel Campaigns with Direct Mail

Next, researchers looked at the correlation between the level of direct mail integration and response rates.

 

Direct mail integration high to complete

Direct mail integration none to moderate

Very good

11%

4%

Good

74%

56%

Neutral

14%

36%

Poor

0%

4%

Very poor

1%

0%

Source: 2019 Multichannel Marketing Report (PFL/Demand Metric 2019)

We see the same pattern. The more integration, the better the results. The less integration, the lesser the results.

Multichannel Campaigns with Direct Mail Personalization

Finally, we look at the correlation between campaign results and the level of multichannel integration with direct mail when it is personalized a lot or completely (in this report, the level of personalization is correlated with the level of martech integration) or when it’s personalized little to none. As with the other categories, the level of integration matters. 

 

Direct mail personalized a lot to completely

Direct mail personalized none to a little

Very good

10%

4%

Good

73%

56%

Neutral

15%

36%

Poor

2%

3%

Very poor

0%

1%

Source: 2019 Multichannel Marketing Report (PFL/Demand Metric 2019)

Notes the report: “Most marketers would assume that personalization lifts response rates for campaigns, and that assumption holds true for this study. In multichannel campaigns, personalizing direct mail a lot or completely makes it 38% more likely for marketers to realize good or very good response rates, as [this table] illustrates.”

There are many other interesting tables in this report, including the same analysis for ROI as for response rates. (Spoiler: the pattern is the same.) So if you’ve been on the fence about investing heavily into marketing technology (or, if you’ve made the investment but aren’t fully utilizing it), this report may provide some support for investing more deeply.

But as with any technology, even the best, it’s still technology. To get the kinds of great results that data like this suggest, you still have to have great, clean data, smart marketing strategies, and great implementation. In other words, even the best martech solution is only going to be as “smart” as the humans behind it.