Reston, VA (PRWEB) July 23, 2013 -- Direct Marketing Association of Washington, DC (DMAW’s) Executive Director, Donna Tschiffely announces record-breaking registration for the 8th Annual Bridge to Marketing & Fundraising Conference (a.k.a. Bridge Conference), August 1 – 2, 2013 in National Harbor, MD. Tschiffely attributed the increase in registration to the anticipated attendance of more commercial marketers at what has typically been a non-profit marketers’ and fundraisers’ meeting.
“For-profit direct marketers and non-profit fundraisers face the same marketing challenges, and while there are differences between the two groups, the commonalities are evident every day,” stated Tschiffely.
The Challenges That Are Shared
So what are the biggest challenges faced today by direct marketers and fundraisers?
Thorin McGee, Executive Editor, of Target Marketing magazine, who will be speaking at the August 1 – 2, 8th Annual Bridge to Marketing & Fundraising Conference (a.k.a. Bridge Conference), says, “From the point of view of marketing budgets and trends, I think the biggest challenge marketers are facing is attribution: Which parts of your marketing spending should be expanded and which parts should be pulled back?”
Attribution is vital whether non-profit or for-profit organization. A successful marketing campaign is a multi-channel campaign but the challenge is…how does one tell which channel is working? For example, when a direct mail piece is sent to an individual and that person goes online to buy or donate, what finally “landed the sell” – did the print piece emotionally move the individual to use the convenience of online to buy or donate, or did the individual read the print piece, go online to read more and the WOW factor to close the deal became the website?
Years ago, when for-profit direct marketers and non-profit fundraisers were primarily “direct mail professionals” – it was far easier to track metrics. Today though, digital technology has blurred those lines.
For example, a channel like social media may not directly drive high rates of conversions and sales, but has clear value in terms of branding, prospect/donor nurturing and customer relationship management/donor stewardship.
What digital does give direct marketers and fundraisers is flexibility. Craig Hanna, eConsultancy training director and also a speaker at the Bridge Conference indicates that, “The need to create agile marketing organizations is key in a digital world…This will be one of THE competitive advantages in the next few years.”
How agile should a firm or organization be? For example, when a “shiny new digital tool” is introduced on the market – does one immediately implement it?
Lisa Manhart, executive vice president of Ventura Marketing & Promotion, will also be speaking about gamification at the Bridge Conference, and she says the first thing a company or non-profit needs to do is ask what does the new tool do to move transactions/product or increase donations. Manhart believes that many companies have incorporated “gamification” into their marketing plans for the sake of “being relevant or cool” but never once stopped to ask what it will do to increase sales/donations. The challenge, again, will be to figure out how to measure success.
In today’s integrated, multi-channel marketing world, it appears one of the major challenges shared by direct marketers and fundraisers is measurement. The analytics of one campaign becomes the strategic foundation for the next.
Same Challenges, Shared Learning
Attribution/measurement and other challenges shared by for-profit direct marketers and non-profit fundraisers will be addressed at the 8th Annual Bridge to Integrated Marketing & Fundraising Conference being held July 31-August 2. Over 1,500 professionals will descend on the Gaylord National Hotel outside of Washington, DC, eager to hear from the more than 150 speakers who will offer best practices, case studies and share ideas that can be used by both the for-profit direct marketer and the fundraiser.
Donna Tschiffely, executive director of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington (DMAW), is president and owner of Conference Incorporated, which provides association management services to the DMAW and the DMAW Educational Foundation as well as conference management services to a variety of other for-profit and non-profit organizations.
Susan Marchese, Production Solutions, http://www.productionsolutions.com/, 703-734-5700, [email protected]
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