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About Multistage Programs

Siebel Marketing supports both single-stage and multistage marketing programs. In a single-stage program, contacts are targeted in a stand-alone campaign, with no follow-up campaigns planned. During a multistage program, contacts in the first stage receive follow-up treatment in the program's second and third stages, often based on the contact's response to the original campaign. Multistage programs use stages to mark each phase of the program, campaigns to track separate instances of marketing messages, and campaign waves to track each batch of customers that are contacted. The following are types of multistage programs:

• Marketing program with recurring campaign. Scheduled to recur at standard intervals or specific times (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly). For example, your company sends out a welcome kit and free gift to new customers on a monthly basis. Each month, a program stage occurs, new customers are identified (based on the segment criteria of account longevity of less than a month), and the welcome campaign is launched.
• Event-triggered marketing program. Provides a follow-up activity based on an action. For example, a customer visiting a product catalog may trigger an email offer to that customer based on items included in the customer's cart. If no response to the email is received, a telesales campaign launches to offer the customer a special offer on the product.
• Response triggered marketing program. Uses response data to drive the next stage of the marketing program.

  For example, the marketing manager of a bank designs a program implementing the company's goal of increasing the number of bank-affiliated credit card customers. Within the program, he creates a campaign with two offers and two treatments, one offering a card with 10% interest and a $25 annual fee, the other offering 14% interest but no annual fee. These treatments are sent to 250,000 of the company's customers who do not already have credit card accounts with the bank.

  After 30 days, response information is used to:

  • Send a welcome packet of information to each new credit card customer who responded to one of the treatments.
  • Offer an 8%, $25 annual fee card to everyone who did not respond.

    When using repeating stages, be sure that your segment criteria exclude customers who were targeted in any previous wave of the same campaign or stage. This precaution prevents the customers from receiving redundant messages.