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CASE

STUDY

PODi is a global, member-supported not-for-

profit organization. The PODi library consists

of over 500 digital printing and marketing

case studies from around the world.

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CATERPILLAR BUILDS BUSINESS WITH PERSONALIZED DIRECT MARKETING

Caterpillar Builds Business with Personalized Direct Marketing

www.podi.org/casestudy © 2010 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative

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Project: Caterpillar Builds Business with Personalized Direct Marketing Vertical Market: Manufacturing

Business Application: Direct Marketing / Lead Generation

Business Objectives

Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment, needed a solution that would drive sales of its equipment. Working with their service provider, they developed a personalized direct marketing solution that would:

Generate qualified leads for its outside sales representatives

Effectively touch diverse market segments over a wide geographic area and handle regional and local nuances

Results

Bottom line sales for Caterpillar far exceeded the costs of this highly successful campaign.

Three-fold increase in measured response compared to previous direct marketing campaigns

Mailings consistently pulled response rates in excess of 4%

Generated a consistent flow of actionable leads with many prospects indicating that they were looking to purchase or lease new equipment in the near future

Campaign Architecture

For this campaign Caterpillar targeted more than a dozen different industrial segments including agricultural, heavy machinery, and landscaping. Each industrial segment uses different equipment and there were several tiers of customers represented in each. To communicate effectively each segment needed different copy, graphics, and offers which varied dealer by dealer.

© 2010 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative www.podi.org/casestudy

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Personalized postcards were customized for new business prospects and mailed to their business locations. The postcards encouraged recipients to visit a Personalized URL for more information and to fill out a survey for a chance to win prizes that varied by region. Once on the personalized landing page the visitor was asked to complete a brief online survey which provided valuable information to Caterpillar on what stage in the buying cycle the prospect was. Survey questions included:

What type of machinery do you use today?

How many units do you currently own/rent?

What equipment brand do you prefer?

Are you planning to buy or rent equipment in the near future?

The personalized landing page also provided additional information about special financing offers based on the demographics of the prospect. From the landing page visitors could visit the Caterpillar web site to do more product research or to request a quote for a specific piece of equipment.

Caterpillar Builds Business with Personalized Direct Marketing

www.podi.org/casestudy © 2010 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative

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With the Personalized URL response mechanism results could be tracked in real-time. Every prospect that visited their Personalized URL triggered an alert to the appropriate sales person. The alerts could be received and easily read on a laptop, PDA, or cellular phone. The survey responses informed sales representatives if a prospect was a future opportunity that they needed to develop a relationship with or if there was an immediate sales opportunity that needed immediate follow up. According to Jon Bryant, Marketing and CRM Manager for Caterpillar, “This is an extension of our sales force. This is a way to prospect and touch people that we may not be in front of everyday and know whether or not we reached them.”

Target Audience and Messaging

The target audience for this campaign was potential purchasers of Caterpillar construction equipment across 13 different SIC codes. The messaging on the postcards varied based on several criteria including industry, size of company, whether the prospect currently owned or rented equipment, and credit risk. This message matrix resulted in highly targeted communications with 180 possible variations of the postcard.

Offer

Prospects who visited their Personalized URL were given different incentives based on their demographics. Some of these incentives included:

A chance to win NASCAR tickets

Special financing options

List

The list for this campaign was a combination of Caterpillar’s house list and purchased lists.

Creative and Outbound Pieces

Images on the postcards varied to show equipment that was appropriate for the targeted business. Similar graphical elements and colors were used on the personalized landing page to create a cohesive experience for visitors.

© 2010 PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative www.podi.org/casestudy

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Reasons for Success

Bryant was extremely pleased with the ability to track results through the Personalized URL response mechanism. “At this point I can look back at my variable data printing project…and say ‘This technique made you money. These [other marketing] techniques haven’t in the past or if they did we haven’t been able to prove them.’” Best practices learned from this campaign:

Treat each recipient as an individual. By making copy and imagery relevant to each prospect you increase the likelihood that the recipient will actually read your message and act on it.

Use Personalized URLs to track responses. The ability to track who visits their Personalized URL and to gather additional prospect information through surveys makes Personalized URLs an ideal way to prove the results of a direct marketing campaign.

Communicate with prospects multiple times. By touching prospects multiple times you raise the probability of getting in front of the right person at the right time.