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| The matchback process is the science and art of allocating sales to the appropriate customer and contact vehicle. Once more science than art, when customers called or mailed in their orders, matching back sales accurately was simple. Now it has become more challenging: to blend technology and marketing with the goal of statistical validity. |
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| Because marketers want to be able to create more effective and efficient marketing plans with limited marketing budgets, and ensure a high degree of confidence before implementing costly testing and roll-out strategies, they must be sure to: |
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 | Allocate demand to appropriate campaign/promotional effort/marketing strategy (e.g. catalog/phone, paid and organic search, affiliates, email, bounce backs, retail, other non-mail). |
| Allocate accurate marketing costs to each order since variable costs continue to rise. |
| Show ROI accurately by campaign/promotional effort/marketing strategy. |
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| The matchback process seeks to understand a customer's path to purchase by source and channel in order for the merchant to be able to develop the most effective contact strategy. The matchback process must: |
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| Determine the most accurate allocation to specific contact vehicle(s) that triggered sale. |
| Create a method to allocate credit for a sale among multiple contact vehicles as appropriate, to understand the number and mix of contacts. |
| Tailor the process to the specific title's business needs and practices; each title has unique characteristics (contact strategy, merchandising, and business objectives). |
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| The process is changing. At one time the rule was to match back to the most recent contact or most recent catalog depending on business objectives. Today Merchants should be using intelligent matchbacks that incorporate multiple contacts, order curves, and an intelligent assessment of what contacts have had the strongest effect in generating the sale. |
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| The methodology will not be the same for all marketers. Business goals and marketing objectives will shape the process. However, what will most likely be true for all marketers is that the allocation will include evaluation of multiple contacts. |
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| Marketsmith works with clients to define the best methodology and the best analysis of matchback results. We help you determine the universe of orders to be matched back, how frequently they should be performed, how to use campaign metrics in selecting the most useful process, and how to use the results to create the strongest marketing strategies. |
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