What Is An "Action Stream"?

You'll hear me talking about "Action Streams" in the next few weeks, and for good reason.

What is an "Action Stream"?

It's the (unique/different) marketing activity you initiate when a customer "takes action". You want customers to take action (to "engage" as the muttonheads say), it shows you that the customer is interested in you.

Want to see an example of why you need Action Streams?

The table below is for customers with one (1) life-to-date purchase. Each row represents months since last purchase. There are two columns of interest ... one column represents repurchase rates in the next month for customers who did not visit your website last month ... the other column represents repurchase rates in the next month for customer who DID visit your website last month. Which group of customers do you think performed better in the next month?

Oh my goodness!

A customer who last purchased 31-36 months ago AND visited your website last month had a 5.6% chance of purchasing next month.

A customer who last purchased three months ago and did not visit your website last month had a 3.3% chance of purchasing next month.

Which customer is more valuable?

Which customer, according to your antiquated RFM-based system, would you prioritize?

• 3 Months of Recency Customer.

Which customer, based on facts and reality, should you prioritize?

• 31-36 Months of Recency who visited your website last month.

An "Action Stream", therefore, is a series of marketing events you initiate because the 31-36 month customer just visited your website. There should be a unique "Action Stream" for this customer, different than your tepid batch-and-blast email campaigns, different than the postcard you send to remind all customers that it is January clearance and you are 60% off this week.

If you don't understand what unique marketing activities you'd employ once a lapsed customer visits your website, tailored to that unique customer, well, it's time for you to start thinking about Action Streams.

More on the topic tomorrow.