Sometimes, you just don't have the time to devise an elaborate marketing campaign: a dramatic current event shakes up the world economy, the Fed makes a snap decision to adjust its interest rates, or a competitor unveils a new financial product that requires a quick response.

How do you go about creating a quick-start marketing campaign? The following are a pair of key strategies that will get your message to the right people – simply and quickly.

Find the One Attribute

Our first strategy is powerful precisely because it's so simple: with one-attribute marketing, you identify the attribute that separates those who acquire a product from those who don't, and select your target pool accordingly.

For example, say a financial institution determines that individuals with $2,500 or more in credit card debt are five times as likely to take out a particular type of loan. Once the $2,500 threshold has been identified as the critical parameter increasing the loan's attractiveness, the FI can then easily target its product marketing to the pool of prospects that meet that requirement.

An added benefit of the one-attribute strategy is that it can also be applied to future data, something that is not the case with more complicated models that rely on more variables. With one-attribute marketing, simplicity truly is a virtue.

Choose an Effective Channel

When time is of the essence, you may only have one chance to reach your potential customer. When you have to deploy quickly, it's critical to use the channel that is the most effective for reaching your target. Let's look at the effectiveness of the various channels.

In the age of hyper-electronic communication, it's amazing that direct mail is still the most effective marketing channel. With a hit ratio of about 95%, the advantage of direct mail is its coverage. The disadvantage, of course, is the time lag – a mailing generally takes from three to 14 days to reach its intended recipient. And if mailings are only sent out, say, once a month, marketers cannot respond to quick changes in the market or current events.

Email can be a highly effective channel if your account holder has indicated it to be their preference. It arrives instantly and with the ability to include graphics, links, and interactive features. However, while over 60% of the direct mail population has email addresses, only 20% of them can actually be reached. Many consumers have chosen to block third-party emails, which may, more often than not, wind up in a spam folder or the trash bin.

For many years, telemarketing was the crown jewel of direct marketing. Then, with the advent of cell phones and “Do Not Call” lists, telemarketing's reachability plummeted from 80% to 18%. The best use for telemarketing is as a follow-up tool.

As the customer has already had contact with you, they do not tend to perceive the call as invasive. The only time telemarketing is recommended for a first contact is when you are certain that the customer is actively shopping. As they are close to pulling the trigger, you don't have the luxury of sending a direct mailing, which takes days to arrive, or an email that might get re-routed.

Strike a Balance

A final note on choosing a channel. Even though you are trying to get your message out fast, that is not an excuse for ignoring your consumers needs. If your prospect put his or her home number on the “Do Not Call” list, for example, it makes sense not to call their cell phone, either. Respect consumer wishes and don›t let time be a reason to ignore customer-centric marketing principles.

While these two strategies are very effective when resources or time are a concern, we are not advocating that you jettison the more sophisticated marketing models that bring multiple selection criteria into play.

Even with quick-start campaigns, you can incorporate your more sophisticated models after the fact, providing more finely honed results when you redeploy. This combination of action and adjustment, responsiveness and precision, will pay dividends for your financial institution over the long run.

Kesna Lawrence is SVP-client strategy at Datamyx. He can be reached at 561-405-4402 or [email protected].