Businesses frequently utilize postal and electronic mail (“e-mail”) marketing campaigns in an effort to acquire new customers. A postal mail marketing campaign typically involves creating and sending a physical mailing containing an advertisement through the postal service to the physical address of a potential customer. An e-mail marketing campaign typically involves creating and sending e-mail messages containing an advertisement to the e-mail addresses of potential customers.
In order to implement a postal or e-mail marketing campaign, a business must perform a number of separate and distinct tasks. For instance, in order to implement a successful postal or e-mail marketing campaign, a business must decide upon the demographics to target with the mailing, obtain a list of potential customers that meet the demographics and that reside within a relevant trade area, create the physical or electronic mailing for the campaign, create points of contact to measure the success of the mailing, print the mailing in the case of a postal mail campaign, and send the mailing through the postal service or electronic means.
It is often difficult for businesses, and especially small businesses, to generate a postal or e-mail marketing campaign using the process described above. This difficulty stems mainly from the fact that each step of the process requires collaboration with a different service provider. For instance, a business may need to consult with one service provider to decide upon the appropriate demographics. The business may need to consult with a second service provider in order to obtain a list of potential customers that meet the demographics. The business may need to consult with other providers to create the mailing, to create and monitor points of contact to measure the success of the campaign, and to print and send the mailing. Consulting with multiple independent service providers in this manner can be a time-consuming, complicated, expensive, and sometimes frustrating process for businesses wishing to create and send a mailing to a targeted set of potential customers.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.
Technologies are described herein for providing a self-serve direct-to-consumer mail marketing service. In particular, a unified mail marketing service is provided herein through which a user can generate a postal or e-mail mailing without the need to consult multiple independent service providers. The mail marketing service provides a single point of contact for creating demographics, identifying potential customers that satisfy the demographics, creating the mailing, creating and monitoring points of contact to measure the success of the mailing, and for printing and sending the mailing. This greatly simplifies the process of creating and monitoring the success of a mailing for a business owner.
According to one implementation presented herein, the self-serve direct-to-consumer mail marketing service comprises a World Wide Web (“Web”) site through which a user can define and send a mailing. As used herein, the term “mailing” refers collectively to one or more pieces of physical mail that are sent via the postal service or one or more e-mail messages that are sent electronically. According to embodiments, the mailing includes a marketing message for a business on behalf of which the mailing is sent. For instance, the mailing may include content such as a marketing message and a call to action for the recipient of the mailing. The call to action suggests to the recipient of the mailing the desired action to be taken (e.g. “Call Us To Place Your Order”).
According to other aspects, the service provides a guided user interface for defining, implementing, and monitoring the effectiveness of a mailing. For instance, a user interface may be provided for specifying information about the business on behalf of which the mailing is to be sent. The information may include contact information for the business, geographic information for potential customers of the business, and the identity of one or more categories to which the business belongs. Based upon the information received through the user interface about the business, the service generates demographic data corresponding to the potential customers of the business. Potential customers of the business are then identified using the demographic data. A user may be permitted to modify the demographic data.
According to additional aspects, a user interface is also provided through which a user can specify a layout and content for the mailing. For instance, in one implementation, a user is presented with a user interface for selecting a pre-Microsoft formed template for the mailing. The template may include a pre-defined marketing message and call to action suitable for the business. A user can modify the template or create the mailing and its content without the use of a pre-formed template. Once the mailing has been created, another user interface may be provided for defining a schedule for sending the mailing.
According to other aspects, another user interface may be provided for defining a unique point of contact for the mailing. For instance, according to embodiments, the unique point of contact may comprise a unique telephone number or Web address associated with the mailing. The unique point of contact is monitored to determine the number of responses to the mailing. The phone number may be monitored to determine the number of calls received in response to the mailing and the Web address may be monitored to determine the number of requests received for the Web address in response to the mailing. A user interface may be provided for delivering data to a user indicating the number of responses to the mailing made through the unique point of contact.
Once a user has defined the mailing, the system provided herein is configured to send the mailing to the potential customers based upon the schedule. In the case of a physical mailing, the mailing is printed using the specified layout and content. The mailing is then sent to the potential customers through the postal service. In the case of an e-mail mailing, the e-mail messages are created with the specified layout and content, and then transmitted to the potential customers electronically.
It should be appreciated that the above-described subject matter may also be implemented as a computer-controlled apparatus, a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer-readable medium. These and various other features will be apparent from a reading of the following Detailed Description and a review of the associated drawings.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended that this Summary be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.
The following detailed description is directed to technologies for providing a self-serve direct-to-consumer mail marketing service. In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments or examples. Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, aspects of a computing system and methodology for providing a self-serve direct-to-consumer mail marketing service will be described.
While the subject matter described herein is presented in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with the execution of an operating system and application programs on a computer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that other implementations may be performed in combination with other types of program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the subject matter described herein may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.
Turning now to
In one embodiment, the client computer 108 illustrated in
According to embodiments the client computer 108 is operative to execute a Web browser application program 106 (“Web browser”). Through the Web browser 106, a user of the client computer 108 can access the self-serve direct-to-consumer mail marketing Web site 104 (“the “Web site”). The Web site 104 is a server-based application that provides a unified mail marketing service through which a user of the client computer 108, such as the business representative 112, can generate a postal or e-mail mailing 116 for a business 126 without the need to consult multiple independent service providers. As will be described in greater detail below, the mail marketing service provided by the Web site 104 provides a single point of contact for creating demographics, identifying potential customers 114 of the business 126 that satisfy the demographics, creating the mailing 116, creating and monitoring points of contact to measure the success of the mailing 116, and for printing and sending the mailing 116. This greatly simplifies the process of creating and monitoring the success of a mailing 116 for a business 126 and its representative 112.
It should be appreciated that although the Web site 104 is described herein as being accessible through the public Internet, the Web site 104 may also be made available on a private internal Web site. Moreover, the Web site 104 may be accessible through a Web browser 106 as described herein or through the use of another client application capable of receiving and rendering the Web site 104. It should also be appreciated that the functionality described herein as being provided by the Web site 104 may be provided by another type of online or offline service. For instance, the functionality described herein as being provided by the Web site 104 may be integrated into a stand-alone application program capable of executing on a network-connected client computer.
The server computer 102 provides the Web site 104 described herein. The server computer 102 comprises a standard server computer system capable of executing an operating system and one or more other programs. In particular, in the embodiments presented herein the server computer 102 executes a Web server application (not shown) that is configured to receive and respond to requests for the Web site 104 and its component resources from the Web browser 106. In this regard, the Web site 104 may utilize graphics, hypertext markup language (“HTML”), extensible markup language (“XML”), JAVASCRIPT, asynchronous JAVASCRIPT (“AJAX”), and other types of visual and programmatic resources not explicitly shown in the FIGURES.
In order to enable the unified functionality described herein, the server computer 102 may communicate with computing systems provided by third-party service providers. For instance, as shown in
According to other embodiments, the server computer 102 may communicate with a third-party provider to create, utilize, and monitor unique points of contact for a mailing. A unique point of contact is a mechanism for contacting the business 126 that is uniquely associated with a mailing 116. For instance, as shown in
In response to instructions received from the server computer 102, the telephony provider 120 may create the unique telephone number associated with a mailing 116 (e.g. 1-888-GOODSLICE). The unique telephone number is included with the mailing 116. Responses 125 to the mailing in the form of calls to the unique telephone number are forwarded to the business 126. The telephony provider 120 also monitors calls to the unique telephone number to determine the number of responses to the mailing 116. This information is indicative of the effectiveness of the mailing 116 and is provided to the creator of the mailing 116 through a user interface provided by the Web site 104.
According to embodiments, the Web site 104 may also provide functionality for creating, utilizing, and monitoring a unique point of contact in the form of a unique Web address. For instance, in this example a unique Web address may be provided for responding to the mailing 116. The Web address is included with the mailing 116. Responses to the mailing, in the form of requests for the unique Web address, are monitored to determine the effectiveness of the mailing 116. Statistics may be provided to the creator of the mailing 116 regarding the number of requests for the unique Web page associated with the mailing 116 from which the effectiveness of the mailing 116 can be inferred. Additional details regarding a user interface for creating a unique point of contact for a mailing 116 will be provided below.
The server computer 102 may also communicate with a direct mail provider 122. The direct mail provider 122 provides functionality for printing and sending a postal mailing 116. In this regard, the server computer 102 may transmit the contact information for the potential customers 114 along with the content and layout for the mailing 116. In response to receiving this data, the direct mail provider 122 prints the physical mailing and sends the mailing to the potential customers 114 via the postal service. The direct mail provider 122 may also send an electronic mailing in a similar manner. Alternatively, the provider of the Web site 104 may send an electronic mailing 116 without the assistance of a third-party direct mail provider 122. It should be appreciated that the functionality described herein as being performed by the data provider 118, the telephony provider 120, and the direct mail provider 122, may be provided by fewer or more third-party providers or by the operator of the Web site 104.
Referring now to
It should also be appreciated that the logical operations described herein are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance and other requirements of the computing system. Accordingly, the logical operations described herein are referred to variously as states operations, structural devices, acts, or modules. These operations, structural devices, acts and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof. It should also be appreciated that more or fewer operations may be performed than shown in the figures and described herein. These operations may also be performed in a different order than those described herein.
The routine 200 begins at operation 202, where an overview of the self-serve mail marketing process provided by the Web site 104 is provided. The overview is optional but may assist a user in understanding the process provided by the Web site 104 for creating a mailing 116. The screen display illustrated in
At operation 204, a user interface is provided for specifying information about a business 126 on behalf of which the mailing 116 is to be sent. For instance, according to one embodiment, a user interface is provided through which a user can specify contact information for the business, geographic information for potential customers of the business, and identify one or more categories to which the business belongs. This information is then received from a user via the user interface.
As shown in
In the example shown in the FIGURES, the business 126 that is creating the mailing 116 is a pizza restaurant called Rick's Pizza Place. In this example, a user has type the word “pizza” into the text box 404A to search for categories including this term.
At operation 206, the Web site 104 generates demographic data corresponding to the potential customers 114 of the business 126 based upon the information provided about the business 126 at operation 204. As discussed above, the demographic data may be generated by the Web site 104 or by a third-party data provider 118. The demographic data is then presented to the user and the user is provided an opportunity to modify the demographic data.
The user interface 500 shown in
According to one implementation, the number of potential customers may also be displayed to the user. In the example shown in
Once the demographic data has been generated and presented, a user can select the user interface control 502B to save the information and return to the process for creating the mailing 116 at another time, select the user interface control 502C to return to the previous step of the process, or select the user interface control 502D to continue to the next step, which is described below with respect to
As shown in
From operation 206, the routine 200 continues to operation 208, where a user interface is provided for allowing a user to specify a unique point of contact for customers to respond to the mailing 116. As discussed above, a unique point of contact is a mechanism for contacting the business 126 that is uniquely associated with a mailing 116. According to embodiments, the unique point of contact may comprise a unique telephone number associated with the mailing or a unique Web address associated with the mailing.
If the user selects the user interface control 602F, the user interface 600 shown in
If the user indicates that a toll-free vanity number should be generated, the user interface shown in
From operation 208, the routine 200 continues to operation 210, where a user interface is presented for specifying a layout and content for the mailing 116. For instance, in one implementation, a user interface is provided through which a user can select a pre-formed template for the mailing. The template includes a pre-defined layout and also specifies the visual style (e.g. font, colors, etc.) that should be used for the mailing 116. According to embodiments, the template may also include a pre-defined message and call to action for the mailing 116. For instance, the message may indicate that a sale is proceeding on a particular service or good and the call to action may request that the recipient call the generated telephone number associated with the mailing for more information. A user interface may also be provided that allows a user to modify the template, including modification of the message and the call to action.
In response to the selection of the user interface control 706A, the user interface 700 shown in
At operation 212, the Web site 104 provides a user interface through which a user can define a schedule for sending the mailing 116. For instance, through the user interface 800 shown in
If the user elects to finish the mailing process, the routine 200 continues to operation 214, where a summary of the mailing is provided to the user. For instance, in one implementation, the user interface 900 shown in
From operation 216, the routine 200 continues to operation 218, where the Web site 104 monitors the specified point of contact for the mailing to determine the number of responses to the mailing. For instance, a telephone number may be monitored to determine the number of calls received in response to the mailing and a Web address may be monitored to determine the number of requests received for the Web address in response to the mailing. A user interface, such as the user interface 1000 shown in
The computer architecture shown in
The mass storage device 1110 is connected to the CPU 1102 through a mass storage controller (not shown) connected to the bus 1104. The mass storage device 1110 and its associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage for the computer 1100. Although the description of computer-readable media contained herein refers to a mass storage device, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that computer-readable media can be any available computer storage media that can be accessed by the computer 1100.
By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. For example, computer-readable media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (“DVD”), HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer 1100.
According to various embodiments, the computer 1100 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to remote computers through a network such as the network 1120. The computer 1100 may connect to the network 1120 through a network interface unit 1106 connected to the bus 1104. It should be appreciated that the network interface unit 1106 may also be utilized to connect to other types of networks and remote computer systems. The computer 1100 may also include an input/output controller 1112 for receiving and processing input from a number of other devices, including a keyboard, mouse, or electronic stylus (not shown in
As mentioned briefly above, a number of program modules and data files may be stored in the mass storage device 1110 and RAM 1114 of the computer 1100, including an operating system 1118 suitable for controlling the operation of a networked desktop, laptop, or server computer. The mass storage device 1110 and RAM 1114 may also store one or more program modules. In particular, the mass storage device 1110 and the RAM 1114 may store the Web browser application 106 and the Web site 104, each of which was described in detail above with respect to
Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that technologies are disclosed herein for providing a self-serve direct-to-consumer mail marketing service. Although the subject matter presented herein has been described in language specific to computer structural features, methodological acts, and computer readable media, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features, acts, or media described herein. Rather, the specific features, acts and mediums are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications and changes may be made to the subject matter described herein without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention, which is set forth in the following claims.