Long Island: Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

The Northeast United States is a direct marketing hotbed unlike any other, as validated by Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and purchase here).

As marketers, we need to think about the differences we see in geography. This map shows outstanding performance in Manhattan, marginal performance in Queens and The Bronx.

Then we head out on Long Island, and we find a multichannel hotbed of customers who prefer both e-commerce and catalog marketing.

Finally, we get out to the Hamptons, and we find a veritable plethora of Catalog Crazies and Catalog Fans. We see a similar trend as we move north toward White Plains.

Repeatedly, we see suburban customers who are focused on e-commerce, exurban customers who are potentially appropriately called "multichannel" customers, and rural customers near urban areas who prefer catalog marketing. Our marketing practices can adapt and respond to these realities. Remember, Catalog Crazies and Online Bliss customers spend nearly twice as much as the average customer.

Colorado: Mountains In Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and purchase here) clearly indicate that mountain states are direct marketing hotbeds.

Colorado might be the most interesting of the mountain states.

Looking at this map, we see several unique trends. Eastern Colorado has e-commerce potential, especially along I-70. Denver, like many major metropolitan areas, is not an e-commerce or direct marketing hotbed.

Move to the suburbs and exurbs, and you see a bunch of Online Bliss and Online Spend zips, the most productive online zip codes that exist.

And then we head west, into the Rockies, away from Denver. There, we find a ton of Catalog Crazies and Catalog Fans. This is interesting, because marketing best practices tell us to have a full multichannel offering for our customers --- yet the customers in Western Colorado love direct mail and catalogs, and use the telephone to place their orders. This is traditional catalog marketing at its finest.

When we think about catalog marketing, e-mail marketing, and search marketing through the perspective of Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics, we think about many ways to customize and personalize our marketing to the folks we are communicating with. We don't send an e-mail marketing message offering buy online / pickup in stores to a customer in the Rockies of Colorado, do we? We don't necessarily scale our catalogs down to 48 pages to drive web traffic to a customer who lives in the Rockies of Colorado, do we? And we might think about social shopping when considering customers who live in Boulder.

Appalachian Mountains: Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

Another interesting outcome of the beta of Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and purchase here) occurs in mountain areas.

This map shows trends from Washington, DC to Atlanta.

As we leave Washington, heading southwest, we migrate from Online Bliss to Catalog Fans. In Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina, there are many productive zip codes in the Catalog Crazies and Catalog Fans segments.

As we approach Atlanta, the focus shifts, with many productive zip codes northeast of Atlanta, mostly in the Online Bliss and Online Spend segments.

Mountain areas tend to be very productive regions for direct marketers. As you get closer to cities, e-commerce is prevalent. As you get farther away from cities, traditional direct marketing and ordering over the telephone becomes important.

Urban, Suburban and Rural: Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics

One of the unique validations of Hillstrom's Zip Code Forensics (read about and purchase here) is the consistent difference in behavior between Urban, Suburban, and Rural zip codes.

This map features the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison markets. Look closely at Chicago and Milwaukee.

The inner city zip codes perform well below average. As you move out from the inner city, into the suburbs, you see e-commerce take over, with many Online Bliss and Online Spend zip codes.

Moving beyond the suburbs, and we begin to see Catalog Fans, and even a few Catalog Crazies.

Repeatedly, across the United States, we observe this behavior. Direct Marketing is a uniquely suburban, exurban, and rural practice --- something the marketing experts who preach multichannel strategies may not have ever had the data to validate. And this makes sense, folks! You go back to the early days of Montgomery Wards and Sears, and you'll see that the catalog was the commerce lifeline to rural folks.

You think differently when you know that many urban areas, retail hotbeds, are not always direct marketing responsive. You think about e-mail marketing differently when you think about targeting a suburban and exurban customer. You think about catalog marketing differently when you think about targeting an exurban or in some cases a rural customer.