Evaluation of cost per contact and cost per response in interactive and direct media planning: A Spanish case study

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study is to analyze over time the evolution of associated costs of direct marketing in Spain and offer operational conclusions for the optimization of marketing budgets intended for the establishment of contact and/a relationship with the customer.

Design/methodology/approach

This study analyses and compares the relationship between advertising messages sent through direct mail, electronic mail, telemarketing and short cell‐phone messages (SMS), over five years. In the context of a loyalty program, and by means of a historical analysis, an alternating media marketing test is presented: a total of 10,000 contacts per medium studied per year were made.

Findings

The relationship that exists between the cost per contact and the cost per effective response for each one of the above mentioned direct and interactive media.

Practical implications

A series of operational conclusions can be extracted for direct media planning and its marketing budget optimization with regard to choice of medium according to expected response and choice of medium according to cost per response.

Originality/value

The relevance of this work is based on the relative lack of information in Spain over the cost of communications channelled through direct media. Besides, the inclusion of advertising by SMS in this work is particularly relevant due to the fact that the novelty of this media channel means that it has only been analyzed independently by very few existing studies.

Citation

Reinares Lara, P. and Manuel Ponzoa, J. (2008), "Evaluation of cost per contact and cost per response in interactive and direct media planning: A Spanish case study", Direct Marketing: An International Journal, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 159-173. https://doi.org/10.1108/17505930810899311