TRANZACTIONS - DATA STRATEGIES FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES MARKETERS

New Insight Products Improve Financial Services Marketing ROI

In my previous post on our "off-the-shelf" campaign optimization products, I mentioned that we were in the process of bolstering our line-up of Insight ROI-boosting tools.

We have recently launched three new Insight models...all of which can help you improve the performance of your direct marketing campaign:

Mortgage Response Insight
Derived from an analysis of consumers who have responded to previous mortgage marketing campaigns, this model pinpoints the most responsive mortgage prospects.

Insurance Response Insight
Developed from a universe of consumers who have responded to property & casualty offers, this model gives you access to a universe of likely p&c responders.

Auto In-The-Market Insight
Based on an analysis that looked at a 90-day window of historical auto loan and lease activity, this model identifies consumers who are the most likely to be in the market for a vehicle.

Unlike traditional response models, which only consider consumer characteristics (age, income, presence of children, etc.) to predict likely behavior, our Insight response models are based on actual historical consumer behavior, making them a powerful indicator of likely response.

In addition, these models are also double-validated using multi-campaign simulation to ensure their accuracy.

All of our Insight products are available through our online count and fulfillment system, Intelidata Express...and can be leveraged in combination with both our ITA and tri-bureau prescreen credit marketing databases.

You can also append this data to existing marketing lists, including your customer database, for data stratification or scoring purposes!

Learn more about our Insight product line by visiting our web site, or by calling one of our experienced marketing professionals at 888-707-7600!

Loyalty Assurance - Cross-Selling to Increase Lifetime Value

Source Media recently conducted an interview with our President, Ben Waldshan, regarding our customer retention solution, Loyalty Assurance. The results of this conversation were published in the July issue of Origination News [read the full article here].

The article did a great job of demonstrating how the program can be leveraged to identify cross-selling opportunities, which has proven to be a very powerful feature for financial services marketers...especially those in the banking and credit union arenas.

As a quick synopsis - our Loyalty Assurance program cross-references a customer database with a variety of credit inquiries (mortgage, auto, bank card, installment, and insurance) to identify customers who are actively in the market for financial products and services. You can read more about the logistics by reading my post entitled: "Customer Retention is a Sticky Issue".

The program has an impressive track record, with some of our customers achieving up to a 300% increase in retention rates.

No one is in a better position to capitalize on the power of this program than credit unions and banks...as the breadth of their product line allows them to leverage the broadest array of inquiry activity.

By cross-referencing their entire customer base (and by this I mean all account holders - including: checking and savings accounts, personal loans, credit card accounts, mortgage loans, auto loans, etc.), banks and credit unions can use Loyalty Assurance to identify real-time opportunities to cross-sell their customers into incremental products and services...resulting in an overall increase in customer lifetime value.

Credit unions are enamored with Loyalty Assurance, as the program offers them a powerful way of re-capturing mortgage market share (which, according to the MBA, has been on a steady decline since the first quarter of 2009).

Overall, the program really is a no-brainer. It should be the cornerstone of every financial services' marketing plan. But don't take our word for it. Request a FREE Loyalty Assurance ROI Analysis to understand the "dollars and sense" for your organization. You can also request a personal introduction to the program by calling 888-707-7600!

Mortgage Marketing: The Check is in the Mail!

While surfing copious amounts of mortgage industry news, I recently came across an article worth sharing. The author, Brian King from Wisemar, Inc., writes a treatise on the importance of including direct mail as part of the marketing mix (read the full article at mortgageorb.com).

We have been touting the benefits of direct mail since the advent of the National Do Not Call Registry. Roughly 80% of today's homeowners are now on this list, leaving the balance of the U.S. population subject to an ever-increasing number of telemarketing campaigns. As you can imagine, this audience is becoming less responsive as time goes on.

As a result, Mr. King points out; direct mail should not be left out of the equation. As marketers have shifted away from this "traditional" direct marketing format, mail boxes have become less cluttered, allowing response rates to creep upward along with ROI.

Mr. King further emphasizes the importance of targeting populations that have a higher-than-average propensity of responding to a direct mail offer. Based on a number of independent research studies, he concludes that seniors, Spanish-speaking immigrants and distressed homeowners are the best candidates to target for direct mail campaigns.

Leveraging hundreds of highly targeted property, demographic and credit-based attributes, we can help you pinpoint all three of these responsive populations:

Reverse Mortgage Candidates
Leveraging a combination of self-reported age information, automated valuation models and estimated LTV, we can help you reach over one million reverse mortgage prospects nationwide.

Spanish-Speaking Immigrants
By overlaying our Hispanic surname indicator with geographies known to have high densities of immigrant populations, we can help you identify those homeowners who are the most likely to fall within this targeted group.

Distressed Homeowners
Leveraging our tri-bureau prescreen credit database, we can help you target a wide variety of distressed homeowners. One of our newest products allows you to target "underwater" homeowners who meet Fannie/Freddie HARP refinance guidelines (see post on Zeroing in on HARP Refinance Leads).

Learn more about our targeted mortgage prospect lists and the power of direct mail by contacting one of our knowledgeable marketing professionals at 888-707-7600!

Direct Marketing Success Begins with a Good Data Provider - Part 3

In my first two posts on this subject, I covered the importance of considering the following factors when choosing a data provider:

• Multi-sourced data aggregation strategy
• Thorough data hygiene practices
• Flexible data access and delivery system
• Availability of data optimization tools
• Industry experience

In this post, I will focus on the following additional evaluation factors: frequency of data updates, FCRA compliance support and focus on innovation.

Factor #6: Frequency of Data Updates
Staying on top of the most recent information is a challenging task, but one that should be of the utmost importance to all data providers. The delivery of timely information is one of our top priorities, as you can see by reviewing our update policies below:

• Daily Updates - Equifax and TransUnion daily inquiry triggers (and their respective phone numbers)
• Weekly Updates - Experian and Equifax weekly inquiry triggers, bankruptcy records
• Monthly Updates - all other data sets

Factor #7: FCRA Compliance Support
Navigating the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) can be a daunting task. Marketers leveraging our tri-bureau prescreen credit database will appreciate the FCRA support offered by our Client Services team. While we do not offer legal advice on how to comply with the mandates set forth by the FCRA, we do have a full-time team that is not only well-versed on the topic, but also well-equipped with support collateral that can provide directional support with FCRA compliance.

Factor #8: Focus on Innovation
Finding a company that is committed to keeping you ahead of the curve through the development of innovative data strategies is vital to an organization's ability to achieve award-winning success with their direct marketing efforts. At Tranzact Information Services, we are fanatical about our commitment to innovation, as we see a direct correlation between our customers' success and our own. You can learn about one of our latest innovations, Loyalty Assurance, in the post entitled: "Customer Retention is a Sticky Issue".

I hope you have found this series of posts helpful in providing you with some valuable insight into what you should (and can) expect from your data provider. As always, we invite you to learn more about our capabilities by calling us at 888-707-7600!

Direct Marketing Success Begins with a Good Data Provider - Part 2

In my last blog post, I talked about the importance of partnering with a list provider that has a both a multi-sourced data aggregation strategy and good hygiene practices. Today I want to focus on data access and delivery, data optimization tools and industry experience.

Factor #3: Data Access and Delivery
Everyone in the direct marketing field wants to take delivery of  their data yesterday. That's just how the industry works. We understand the importance of this need for immediacy, and have an online data access and delivery tool direct marketers love...Intelidata Express. This innovative and intuitive system offers our customers 24/7 access to all of our data from any computer with Internet access...giving them the flexibility to pull lists at any time, within a matter of minutes. Check out my post titled: "Instant Gratification: Real-Time, Online Data Access and Delivery" to learn more about this revolutionary capability.

Factor #4: Data Optimization Tools
Finding a data provider who is equally committed to the realization of a marketer's direct marketing ROI objectives can be a difficult task. However, I can tell you (and I am sure our customers would agree) that there is no one as committed to optimizing the performance of their data as Tranzact Information Services. We offer a host of campaign optimization tools - both standard and customized - that are designed specifically to help marketers maximize direct marketing ROI. Two of our most popular standard tools are profiled in the following post: "Campaign Optimization - Supercharging Your Data Buy". While I will post on our custom analytic and modeling capabilities separately, I think it is important to mention that we also have a dedicated team of analytic gurus that help larger marketers fine-tune their direct marketing strategies using a variety of customized analytic solutions, including segmentation strategies, attrition and response models, and more!

Factor #5: Industry Experience
Nothing beats working with a data provider that has actually walked in your shoes, understands the ins and outs of your industry and is proactive in developing solutions that meet the ever-changing challenges you face in the marketplace. Tranzact Information Services' management team has an average of over 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. Eighty percent of our marketing professionals have worked with our company for over five years. We are committed to developing products that help our customers capitalize on changes in the marketplace. In fact, you can learn about one of our newest products designed to help mortgage marketers capitalize on an emerging trend by reading the following post: "Zeroing-In on HARP Refinance Leads". Bottom-line: you can rely on our expertise to help you maximize your ROI and keep you ahead of the game.

If you want a sneak peek into the additional factors that contribute to a data provider's ability to deliver the best list, feel free to contact one of our experienced marketing professionals at 1-888-707-7600. Stay tuned for the last segment of Direct Marketing Success Begins with a Good Data Provider!

Direct Marketing Success Begins with a Good Data Provider - Part 1

Sixty percent of the success of any direct marketing campaign can be attributed to the quality, accuracy and "targetability" of the list that is selected. Believe it or not, there is a broad array of factors that can influence a data provider's ability to deliver on all three counts. So many, in fact, that this topic will be addressed in three separate posts. By the end of the series, you will have a comprehensive understanding of how to evaluate and choose a data partner that can deliver the lists that will maximize your direct marketing ROI.

Factor #1: Data Aggregation/Sourcing Strategy
The key here is understanding the importance of multi-sourced data. Data providers who source their data exclusively from a single source run the risk of providing marketers with:

• Less than all of the available data - which translates into missed opportunities.
• Less than the most accurate data available - which translates into a less-than-optimal ROI.

While a single-sourced data provider can provide a "good" list, I think most marketers are looking for the "best possible" list...especially in a marketplace where ROI is becoming increasingly more important.

Tranzact Information Services takes a multi-step approach to sourcing data. First, we begin by consolidating data from both leading national compilers and premier regional suppliers. Then we use a methodical approach and proprietary business logic to compare and contrast similar attributes to ensure we are leveraging each compiler's strengths for both accuracy and coverage. The result is a highly accurate and comprehensive database of 215 million consumers that can be endlessly segmented using hundreds of attributes to meet the widest array of direct marketing needs and objectives.

From a financial services perspective, the most important part of our multi-sourced data strategy is our consolidation of prescreen credit information from all three bureaus into a single data access and delivery platform, Intelidata Express. This tri-bureau capability provides financial services marketers with a number of competitive advantages (see blog post titled: "The Trifecta of a Tri-Bureau Prescreen Marketing Solution").

Factor #2: Data Hygiene Practices
Yes, data hygiene is important (regardless of how silly it sounds), as it plays an instrumental role in ensuring marketers have access to the most current and "compliant" data. Tranzact Information Services conducts National Change of Address (NCOA) scrubs monthly and Do Not Call (DNC) scrubs daily, ensuring the delivery of the cleanest data in town.

If you want a sneak peek into the additional factors that contribute to a data provider's ability to deliver the best list, feel free to contact one of our experienced marketing professionals at 1-888-707-7600! Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!

Customer Retention is a "Sticky" Issue

How "sticky" are your customers? In the financial services industry, there is a strong correlation between the number of products and services a customer purchases and their likelihood of "sticking" around. In fact, many customer retention strategies are designed specifically to facilitate cross-selling opportunities to ensure this "multi-product" threshold is met.

The biggest challenge with traditional customer retention programs is their inability to determine the exact moment a customer is in the market for one of these additional products and services. Our newest program, Loyalty Assurance, can provide financial services marketers with this kind of marketing intelligence within 24 hours.

This revolutionary customer retention strategy cross-references a customer database with credit activity from multiple bureaus. By flagging customers with a wide variety of credit inquiries (a.k.a. "triggers"), including mortgage, auto loan, installment loan, bank card and/or insurance, we can help financial services marketers identify cross-selling opportunities at the very moment a customer is actively in the "shopping mode".

For example, banks and credit unions can cross-reference their checking or savings account holders with pretty much all of the inquiries listed above to identify auto loan, personal loan, credit card and mortgage candidates. Mortgage companies can find cross-selling opportunities by leveraging credit card and installment inquiries to ferret out debt consolidation and/or home equity prospects. Insurance companies can utilize auto and mortgage inquiries to increase their number of dual-policy holders.

No matter how you slice it, Loyalty Assurance offers you a great way to increase your "stickiness" factor. And stickiness pays dividends in the form of higher retention rates and increased customer lifetime value.

Curious and want to learn more about this proven customer retention program? Contact us today for a FREE Loyalty Assurance ROI Analysis. We would be happy to demonstrate how stickiness pays!

Campaign Optimization - Supercharging Your Data Buy

Savvy marketers are always on the look-out for innovative ways to maximize the ROI of their direct marketing campaigns. We have a vested interest in the same ROI metrics, as the better our data performs, the better our bottom line looks.

As some of you may know, we have a dedicated analytics team that works with many of our larger clients on sophisticated modeling and segmentation strategies - all designed to improve response and conversion rates. I will post on our custom capabilities separately - but this same team of analytic gurus is constantly on the look-out for campaign optimization tools that can be leveraged within the framework of our online count and fulfillment system. Our Insight product line features a number of ROI-boosting tools, all of which are available through Intelidata Express. Two of our most popular Insight products are featured below:

Responder Insight
Leveraging historical response activity from a wide variety of national direct marketing initiatives, we have developed a database of consumers who have demonstrated a high propensity to respond to direct mail and telemarketing campaigns. Marketers can use this insight to pinpoint consumers with the greatest likelihood of responding to their offers.

Risk Insight
Marketers using our non-regulated, or Invitation-to-Apply (ITA) databases can leverage our Risk Insight model to target approximate credit score ranges. This model can significantly improve ITA campaign performance and works best when used to eliminate or target the highest and lowest credit score ranges.

We are continually developing new methods of optimizing the performance of our data. Stay tuned for new releases which will be detailed in future posts. In the meantime, you can learn more about any of our exclusive Insight campaign optimization tools on the web. You can also contact one of our experienced marketing professionals at 1-888-707-7600!

Instant Gratification - Real-Time, Online Data Access and Delivery

Back in the dinosaur days of data, you would wait for days for an estimated count of prospects who met your selected criteria. List delivery was a whole other debacle, with your requested file arriving on disk, or even worse, Cheshire labels, a week or more after you placed your order (remember those days?).

With the advent of the Internet and the availability of advanced data processing technology, you should settle for nothing less than instant gratification when it comes to data access and delivery.

At Tranzact Information Services, we have created an online data access, management and delivery platform that provides financial services marketers with just that...real-time access to over 200 million consumer records nationwide, including prescreen credit data from all three leading bureaus.

But we didn't stop there. Real-time access is only part of our solution. We also provide marketers with the unique ability to build highly targeted prospect lists using hundreds of accurate and reliable attributes...quickly and easily, right from their desktop. Savvy marketers will appreciate some of our system's advanced functionality, including the ability to:

• Suppress previous orders, customer files or selected criteria.
• Append selected data to existing customer or prospect files.
• Segment data using multiple levels of criteria.

And data delivery is the icing on the cake, as 99% of our customers can download their data within 10 minutes of placing an order!

Words really can't describe the power of this innovative and intuitive system, and seeing really is believing...so, we would love the opportunity to provide you with a FREE demo. You can also learn more about our online data access and delivery platform on the web!

Zeroing in on HARP Refinance Leads

Earlier this year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency extended the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) through June of 2011. This unique program offers originators the opportunity to write incremental business by giving "underwater" homeowners the ability to refinance their loans when they meet HARP guidelines.

After a recent and thorough review of HARP program requirements, we developed a new product that helps mortgage lenders identify HARP refinance candidates in their market area.

Leveraging our extensive mortgage and prescreen credit data, we have utilized the following models and proprietary attributes to identify over 5 million HARP refinance candidates nationwide:

• Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Lender Model - Leverages our proprietary lender select process to identify homeowners with a high likelihood of having a Fannie or Freddie mortgage.
• Estimated LTV - Identifies homeowners with little to no equity (ideal candidates for HARP!).
• Mortgage Payment History - Leverages our tri-bureau prescreen credit database to identify consumers who are current on their mortgage payments. Use of this data requires a firm offer of credit as mandated by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

All of these attributes are available through our online count and fulfillment system, Intelidata Express, so if you are a current customer, you can run counts for HARP prospects in your market area within a matter of minutes. Feel free to contact your Client Manager with any questions!

If you are new to Tranzact Information Services, we invite you to learn more about all of our mortgage marketing solutions by calling 1-888-707-7600, or contacting us on the web!