1. Author: Celene Adams
Client: Confidential
Date: Jan. 15, 2009
How to …… Internet advertising
…
Chapter 5
How to select, set up and use a database
OVERVIEW:
A database connects the dots between what you’re advertising and where, what you’re
selling, who’s buying your products, and why and when they’re buying. It analyzes the
information to help you find new ways to market and to increase customer satisfaction.
This attracts repeat business, saving you time and money. Plus, it’s more effective than
a spreadsheet, which can only create lists of data.
Setting goals for your database
Before choosing a database, know what you want to do with it.
For instance, you might consider all or some of the following objectives.
• Tracking customer data, such as contact information and buying habits
• Tracking daily sales
• Tracking sales trends
• Creating targeted marketing campaigns
• Tracking ad effectiveness
• Analyzing information, such as who is buying, when and why
EXAMPLE:
South Sun Products, a San Diego jewelry store, uses its database to create targeted
weekly email coupons to customers. When customers use the coded coupons, the
point-of-sale database automatically enters their demographic information. Periodically,
it also generates a sales report that shows where the coupons are most effective, with
whom and why. For instance, it finds the store’s customer base is predominantly female
and shows the women’s age, their zip code, the type of jewelry they buy, that they most
often buy gift items, and that the store’s appeal for them is largely its selection of beads
and other craft items to create handmade jewelry. The owner then tailors advertising to
meet these customers’ needs and so attracts their repeat business.

2. Author: Celene Adams
Client: Confidential
Date: Jan. 15, 2009
EXAMPLE:
Swiss Watch Gallery, also in San Diego, gets a whopping 60% of sales from its
database! The store asks each customer to fill out a name slip, so that it can record
which products they’re interested in and how they found out about the shop. It follows
up with a thank you note and sends emails or calls when an item fitting their needs
arrives. Using a database costs the store a fraction of what it would cost to advertise in
print or on a website, and the ads it does run have a much wider impact than they
otherwise would.
How to select a database
Ease of use is key to setting up a database. PC Mag offers a list of user-friendly
databases, along with product and price reviews.
View the demo video after choosing the software. Also check out the templates that
come with it. Templates can do everything from organizing your inventory into
categories to tracking customer demographics and frequency of repeat business. You
can customize templates to do what you want and to store the information you need.
How to use a database
How you use a database will depend on your goals. To track Internet promotions, for
instance, you’ll need to know where online your customer heard about your service or
product. If you’re seeking to place ads in other Internet venues, you’ll also want to know
why the customer visited that site. This will reveal customers’ service and emotional
needs and help you to target other similar sites to place ads.
Information you might want to collect:
• Name, job function and title, company name, address, and phone number.
Personal information (home phone, address, email)
• The market the individual is in or their service needs
• Whether the customer is a repeat client
• What the customer buys and why
• Whether the customer uses coupons.
If you’ve already collected some of this information and have stored it in spreadsheets
or documents, you can drag and drop it into a database template and generate a report.
This will help you see what additional information would be useful to add to your
database in future.

3. Author: Celene Adams
Client: Confidential
Date: Jan. 15, 2009
How to gather information
Gather customer information by:
• Asking for it on your landing page
• Creating a hyperlink on your home page that enables users to email you the
information
• Inputting the information at point of sale
• Asking customers to leave a business card with their purchase or to fill out an
entry form for a store drawing, so that you can input their information into the
database later.
How to manage a database
Managing a database is crucial to its effectiveness. Update it regularly because it costs
time and money to create ads targeting customers who’ve moved or whose needs have
changed.
To keep your database current but ensure the information isn’t compromised:
• Create a policy of when records should be deleted and created. Designate the task
to one person.
• Train other staff to add new clients and update records on a daily basis.
• Backup your database regularly.
WHAT TO DO NOW
Visit filemaker.com or netsuite.com to view online demos of simple-to-use databases.