Trusted Customer Data Leads to Two Times Higher Revenue

New Study Reveals Customer Data Initiatives Are a Top Priority for 68% of Survey Respondents in 2010


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - January 7, 2010) - Almost every company would like to extract more value from marketing expenditures. Research has consistently shown that personalized email campaigns lead to 2-3x higher conversion rates than mass emails. But many companies struggle with personalization because of a lack of data integration and bad data hygiene practices. If marketers can't trust customer data, how can they use it for more relevant, personalized, timely interactions that drive revenue? According to a new research study, "Customer Analytics: Leveraging Customer Data to Fulfill the One-to-One Marketing Imperative," published by Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), the top two challenges with customer data include an inability to segment and target customers through customer data (50%) and a lack of trust in customer data (34%).

"Best-in-Class companies are customer data champions demonstrating a strong organization-wide culture that values customer data management and actively uses customer data to build more meaningful customer experiences," comments Ian Michiels, Research Director for Aberdeen's Marketing Automation research practice and the author of the report. "Customer data is stifling marketing efforts across the world. Disparate data, lack of data hygiene practices, and a lack of resources to support customer data have left Laggards and Industry Average companies with inferior performance in return on marketing investments."

The findings represent a call to action for all marketers to start taking an active role in managing customer data. The study highlights customer database processes and procedures from 155 organizations to identify how top-performing organizations build trust in customer data and use this information to achieve superior performance in marketing.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Equifax and TargusInfo. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5870.

Visit Research.Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary Customer Management Research.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

© 2010 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com

Contact Information: Media Contacts: Ian Michiels Aberdeen Harte-Hanks 650-678-6762 ian.michiels@aberdeen.com