Direct Marketing Assessment

6 - Direct Marketing Assessment

Take the direct marketing proficiency assessment to see how well your organization is doing in developing and executing its direct marketing strategies, plans, programs and activities. Your answers will indicate specific areas where you may benefit from improvements. And, it will also help guide your decisions about your future direct marketing needs and investments. Once you've completed the assessment, you will be given a grade which appears at the bottom and you can contact us to review your responses and provide an objective analysis of your current business and direct marketing planning efforts.

Select your level of agreement with the statements below made regarding marketing processes and practices in your organization. If the statement does not apply to your industry or business model, select "0" which is the default value from the drop down list, so that it is not counted in your overall score. There is a reset button at the bottom of the quiz. It will clear all of your answers. You can also print a copy of this quiz by clicking the print button at the bottom of the quiz.

Scoring System

Answer --------------- Points

Not Applicable (NA) ---------- 0

Strongly Disagree ---------- 1

Disagree ---------- 2

Somewhat Agree ---------- 3

Agree ---------- 4

Strongly Agree ---------- 5

1)

We have a direct marketing strategic plan that is integrated into our overall marketing communications plan.

0

1

2

3

4

5

2)

We do an excellent job of tracking and measuring the results of all of our direct marketing campaigns and programs.

0

1

2

3

4

5

3)

We are satisfied with our catalog marketing programs.

0

1

2

3

4

5

4)

We are satisfied with the results of our direct marketing program(s).

0

1

2

3

4

5

5)

We are satisfied with the results we are getting from rented mailing lists.

0

1

2

3

4

5

6)

When renting/purchasing outside list sources, we use merge / purge effectively to optimize the combined list before launching a campaign.

0

1

2

3

4

5

7)

We use our mailing list to lower our cost of acquiring a new customer.

0

1

2

3

4

5

8)

Our customer list is cleansed on a regular basis.

0

1

2

3

4

5

9)

We are satisfied with our in-house direct marketing staff.

0

1

2

3

4

5

10)

We are satisfied with our outside agency direct marketing staff.

0

1

2

3

4

5

11)

We are satisfied with our in-house telesales center.

0

1

2

3

4

5

12)

We are satisfied with our outside contracted telesales center.

0

1

2

3

4

5

13)

We are satisfied with the performance and skills of our telemarketing/telesales staff.

0

1

2

3

4

5

14)

We are satisfied with our in-house circulation planning, media buying and management program.

0

1

2

3

4

5

15)

We are satisfied with our outside agency circulation planning, media buying and management program.

0

1

2

3

4

5

16)

We are satisfied with in-house order processing center.

0

1

2

3

4

5

17)

We are satisfied with our outside contracted order processing center.

0

1

2

3

4

5

18)

We are satisfied with our in-house fulfillment center.

0

1

2

3

4

5

19)

We are satisfied with our outside contracted fulfillment center.

0

1

2

3

4

5

20)

We work with competent list brokers to rent and/or buy prospect lists.

0

1

2

3

4

5

21)

We work with competent list compilers and brokers to select prospect lists that match our customer profile.

0

1

2

3

4

5

22)

We use the classic direct marketing formula of recency, frequency and monetary value of purchase to work our customer list.

0

1

2

3

4

5

23)

We apply customer analysis, targeting and segmentation techniques.

0

1

2

3

4

5

24)

We test meaningful, measurable, projectable quantities.

0

1

2

3

4

5

25)

We do a excellent job of matching direct marketing offers with our various markets.

0

1

2

3

4

5

26)

We use media with good direct response track records.

0

1

2

3

4

5

27)

We measure the true results of the media we use, computing for each media the number of inquiries, purchases, revenue, etc.

0

1

2

3

4

5

28)

We measure the true results of prospect lists, computing for each list, the number of inquires, purchases, net revenue, etc..

0

1

2

3

4

5

29)

We have determined how often we can successfully use each media type to reach customers/prospects.

0

1

2

3

4

5

30)

We have determined how frequently we can profitably contact our customers and prospects.

0

1

2

3

4

5

31)

Our advertisements are in character with our products and/or services and the markets we reach.

0

1

2

3

4

5

32)

We have developed the ideal format for all of our advertisements: direct mail, email, print, broadcast, digital, etc..

0

1

2

3

4

5

33)

We drive different messages to different segments of customers and prospects.

0

1

2

3

4

5

34)

We test messages in order to improve the performance of our customer acquisition and retention efforts.

0

1

2

3

4

5

35)

We consistently test products, media, offers, and formats.

0

1

2

3

4

5

36)

We test to determine the best timing of our offers.

0

1

2

3

4

5

37)

We test to determine the best frequency of our offers.

0

1

2

3

4

5

38)

We have determined the most responsive geographic areas.

0

1

2

3

4

5

39)

We test all direct marketing communications against control advertisements.

0

1

2

3

4

5

40)

We have developed an accurate demographic profile of our customers.

0

1

2

3

4

5

41)

We analyze results by ZIP codes, by demographics, by psychographics (lifestyles), firmographics, etc..

0

1

2

3

4

5

42)

We compute the level of repeat business by original source.

0

1

2

3

4

5

43)

We maintain mode of payment as part of our customer file information.

0

1

2

3

4

5

44)

We maintain geographics on our customers and correlate that with recency, frequency and monetary value.

0

1

2

3

4

5

45)

We maintain product and product category purchase information on our customer file.

0

1

2

3

4

5

46)

We maintain length of time information on our customer file.

0

1

2

3

4

5

47)

We maintain original source data on our customer file.

0

1

2

3

4

5

48)

We maintain transaction data on customer file, including: payment information, change of address, correspondence, renewal, etc..

0

1

2

3

4

5

49)

We track the effects of seasonality on customer purchase behavior.

0

1

2

3

4

5

a

Total Points Scored

Total Possible Points

Percentage Score

Grade