Marketers must work hard to break through the clutter, constantly testing new initiatives and alternative channels in order to attract new business. But consumers are working harder too, often wading through a sea of unrelated campaigns while scams and spam do little to create an atmosphere of trust.

In this environment, a growing number of companies have found that transaction documents, such as statements, invoices and notifications, sent through the mail are far more effective at generating sales and long-term relationships.

By honing their TransPromo capabilities, these companies have transformed their communications into ongoing, sustainable customer dialogues combining transactional information and promotional materials in a single document to create a powerful, profit-generating experience.

5 Reasons Why Statement-based Marketing Works

Because other channels are plagued by spam filters and do-not-call lists, statements are becoming an even more valuable component of the overall communication mix.

1. Unrivaled Openability. Statements and invoices are expected they contain important financial information and usually require action. So it's not surprising that more than 95% of transaction documents are opened and read each month far more than any other type of direct response effort.

2. High Involvement. Bills and statements receive more attention than any other form of communication, including television advertisements. The average customer invests between one and three minutes for statement review.

3. Trusted Media. While e-security and telephone fraud continue to make headlines, nearly everyone trusts the Postal Service to send and deliver mail including highly important documents.

4. Functionality. Not only do statements command more attention when they are initially opened, they are often viewed more than once. The paper-based nature of transaction mail is valued by consumers as they pay bills, submit expense reports, prepare taxes and file documents.

5. Greater Returns for Companies and Utilities. As statements are already in the mailstream today, marketers are finding TransPromo to be one of the most cost-efficient communication channels. Statement-based marketing is also more effective simply because of the target audience: current customers. A five percent increase in current customer business can translate into as much as a 50% increase in bottom-line profits.

And, while customers may be inundated with as many as 3,000 advertising messages a day, the average consumer will receive fewer than 12 transaction mailings in a month making each one even more valuable to those interested in building stronger customer relationships.

The idea of placing promotional materials in transaction documents is not new, but a more intelligent approach to these TransPromo efforts has made it possible to create marketing experiences that are more personal and relevant.

Today's TransPromo marketing efforts have already proven themselves in their ability to boost customer acquisition, build customer loyalty and reduce costs. These new document solutions all have their roots in customer communication management, which provides via location, customer, production and channel intelligence a strategic framework for optimizing customer touch points.

Location intelligence is fast becoming one of the most valuable assets in marketing segmentation and decision making. Through geocoding, mapping and street-level profiling, you can identify location-based sales opportunities and increase your understanding of customer spending patterns. By combining data quality, integration and analytics (customer intelligence), file-based processing and document output management (production intelligence) and mailstream tracking programs (channel intelligence), you can deliver relevant, purposeful customer experiences across every channel.

Convergence of Enabling Technologies and True Market Needs

While these enabling technologies are essential to TransPromo success, the drivers behind the recent surge of investment involve a broad range of market factors.

• Proven value of relevance Today, the market realizes that better use of relevant, variable messaging can increase revenue, order size and response.
• A more complex competitive landscape Every industry is facing new competitors and new cross-sell opportunities. This creates added pressure on customer retention and a new-found interest in share of wallet.
• Advances in color variable print While color is not required for TransPromo, it can create a stronger impact. And the costs of color variable print are coming down rapidly.
• Ability to more easily access customer data The latest data integration solutions make it easier to create a single view of customers. On-demand customer analytics provide for real-time segmentation so business units can identify and target customers more effectively, with no need for ongoing IT support.

Returns on statement-based marketing efforts are making headlines to the point where over 64% of businesses surveyed report that they have, or are about to, leverage their transaction documents for marketing.

The rewards of TransPromo couldn't be greater increased satisfaction and customer retention, improved loyalty and cross-sell and greater profits from customers. It all starts with a simple statement in the mail the one communication that customers look for each and every month.

John Schloff is Vice President of Marketing and Global Strategy for Document Management Technologies, a global business unit of Pitney Bowes Inc. that provides software and hardware solutions to enterprise customers. He can be reached at john.schloff@pb.com. To learn more, contact a Pitney Bowes mailstream professional at www.pbdmt.com.