TransPromo Summit A Success

Last month’s TransPromo Summit in New York was certainly upbeat in its predictions for this new marketing technique. Keynote Speaker Barb Pellow, of InfoTrends, pointed to data predicting a 68 percent compound annual growth rate for transpromo over the next four years. Most of the speakers backed this up with case studies and research indicating that customers are receptive to reading relevant marketing messages on their statements and bills. The 300 vendors, marketers and printers in attendance were certainly primed to hear this. They received numerous tips on how to initiate and carry out transpromo campaigns. Dozens of vendors were on hand to discuss products they have developed to enable transpromo.

No one made it sound easy though. A successful transpromo campaign requires a company or organization to bring together its in-plant, marketing executives, data processors and creative team.

Start small, one speaker cautioned, and use your successful pilot program to sell a larger project to your company. Define your goals ahead of time so you know when you’ve been successful, and always measure your results.

Make sure the marketing message is relevant to each customer, stressed several speakers. This means spending money on data mining and synthesis. One speaker suggested that internal ads for a company’s own services will generate more revenue than selling space to outside advertisers, since the company can use the customer data it has to ensure the relevance of the marketing message.

The two-day summit drew such companies as Allstate, Portland General Electric, Foremost Insurance, Mass Mutual Financial and Hartford Insurance, to name just a few.