Modeling — Taking It Straight From the Experts (Part 2)

Andy Wilder: This is an area where commercial clients are much more evolved than fundraisers. Most commercial clients have a campaign management solution that leverages predictive analytics and business rules to support an automated, centralized and multichannel campaign management program in real time. The process begins with data integration to ensure that you have a single view of the constituent across the organization (e.g., direct marketing, special events, e-channel, volunteer events). This enables the organization to optimize the donor experience within and across each of the various channels/touchpoints by delivering personalized and relevant content. Models absolutely drive better multichannel campaigns by creating an automated approach to developing, selecting, prioritizing and distributing marketing content based on historical data and interactions.

Caity Craver: Models can be used to inform channel integration in two ways: predicting donor channel preference (what channel or combination of channels a donors prefers: mail, phone, online, face-to-face, etc.) and predicting value (determine how much can be spent on certain donors). Donors that are predicted to generate a small amount of revenue would receive a contact strategy that has a few mail pieces and more low-cost e-communications. Donors that are predicted to generate higher value would receive a contact strategy that has higher-cost channels (mail and phone) with a mix of e-communications to reinforce messaging.

Yannis Kotziagkiaouridis: The ability to connect data across "silos," and especially the offline and digital connections at the constituent level, are the key enablers of true integrated, multichannel marketing. Traditional modeling techniques have focused on optimizing targeting in a silo; for example, direct mail or e-mail. The question has transformed from one that seeks to understand "who is the best person to talk to with direct mail?" to "what is the optimized mix and sequence of personalized experiences we need to deliver to achieve the marketing and business outcomes desired?"