Marketing event optimization

D. A. Selby
2007 IBM Journal of Research and Development  
We present an algorithm for performing multi-channel marketing event optimization. Previous related work, which made use of a complex mixed-integer linear program to generate a marketing plan, was capable of providing plans for only groups of individuals, referred to as micro-segments, and considered only the direct mail channel. Today, most firms use multiple channels, such as e-mail, call centers, and direct mail, to contact customers with marketing events. Our method successfully overcomes
more » ... ny past restrictions and reduces the run time for the marketing scenarios so that computation can take place on a daily basis. The algorithm used is an advanced form of a greedy heuristic which-given a set of marketing events by channel, a set of individuals, some constraints, and the concepts of saturation and cannibalization-determines the optimal set of marketing events to present to an individual customer. The algorithm is embedded in a solution that is designed to operate as an interactive what-if scenario planner, or as a batchoriented job that can continually maintain each customer's future contact plans in an optimal fashion.
doi:10.1147/rd.513.0409 fatcat:vhg5totkyvdcxjnjmbz7zc7hje