Geographic Marketing
Penetration and Response Analysis: Learning From Your Own Customer File
Penetration analysis shows where your customers are concentrated. Response analysis shows which mailed prospects became customers. What each one needs, what it shows and how to use the results.
AVS Leads · · 3 min read
Your customer file and your last mailing already hold useful answers. Two kinds of analysis get them out: one looks at where your customers are, the other looks at who responded.
Penetration analysis: where are your customers?
Penetration analysis looks at an existing customer database geographically. Customers are counted by area (ZIP Code, carrier route or a custom territory) and compared with the total households or businesses in the same area.
The result shows:
- Where customers are concentrated
- Which market areas are stronger, and which are weaker
- Which areas may be worth future marketing
A high share in one area and a low share next door is a question worth asking. It may be a sign of untapped territory, a competitor, or an area your service doesn't really reach.
Response analysis: who responded?
After a direct-mail campaign, response analysis compares your new-customer file against the original prospect file you mailed. Matching records are flagged, and the results are summarized in a custom Excel response report.
That tells you which prospects became customers, and, if the file carried source or keycodes, which lists, areas or segments produced them.
What you need
- Penetration analysis: a customer file with names and postal addresses, plus the market area you want to compare against.
- Response analysis: the prospect file used in the mailing and a file of customers acquired since the drop. Source codes on the mailed file make the report more useful.
Keep it honest
- Small files produce noisy results. Treat patterns from a few dozen customers as hints, not findings.
- A match shows that a mailed prospect became a customer. It doesn't prove the mail piece caused the purchase.
- Run penetration again as your customer base changes, and run response analysis after each campaign so results can be compared.
Learn more about customer analysis.
General information only. Postal standards and legal requirements change; confirm current rules before each campaign. Questions? Talk to a data expert.