DMA launches research into best and worst customer acquisition practices

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) is to launch a three-month research project into lead generation to provide the marketing industry’s first ever benchmark of customer acquisition practices.

The DMA is partnering with lead generation specialists McDowall to produce the Customer Acquisition Barometer (CAB) to help raise industry standards for collecting consumers’ data ahead of the introduction of the draft EU Data Protection Regulation.

The CAB will canvas senior marketers, as well as survey a panel of more than 1,000 UK adult consumers, to assess current trends and critical issues facing the customer acquisition process.

The report, which will be the most comprehensive of its kind, will cover how key vertical sectors such as utilities, automotive, finance and travel are acquiring customers through online and offline consumer contact. It will identify trends in acquisition channels, budget allocation, cost-per-acquisition and consumer privacy concerns that are shaping the future of gaining new customers.

The findings of the research will be unveiled at a launch event for senior marketers on 27 March in central London next year.

Chris Combemale, executive director of the DMA, welcomed the survey: “The CAB will put a spotlight on the way in which companies gain new customers in the fast-changing worlds of online and offline marketing. The draft EU Data Protection Regulation could well usher in a more stringent data protection environment.

“The proliferation of media channels has increased the number of cost effective and legal practices for attracting new customers. It’s important to learn which methods companies are finding most effective and to share that knowledge across our community. With so much choice of how to attract new customers there are no excuses for approaches that go against best practice, or even break the law.”

Graham Bate, McDowall’s founder and chief executive, said the CAB would be: “[A] state-of-the-nation report into the activity of attracting new, profitable customers – an essential part of every company’s success that is more regulated than ever by compliance requirements”.

“McDowall is delighted to be partnering with the DMA on the development and launch of the CAB. New customers are the lifeblood for any company: if you don’t get enough of them, you could put yourself out of business; if you don’t go about getting them in the right fashion, then a regulatory body could put you out of business. It’s that simple.”

The partnership between McDowall and the DMA follows Rethink TV, the association’s recent summit on data-driven TV held at Channel 4’s HQ, which explored the evolving opportunities for using one-to-one broadcast to acquire and nurture new customers.