After a successful year-long test period involving 20 independent bookstores, the American Booksellers Association is rolling out a Local Marketing Intelligence (LMI) program to all ABA-member bookstores. The LMI program is designed to help bookstores develop a more effective marketing plan by determining who is in their local market area and where their existing customer base is located.
"Initially, bookstores need to provide us with a database of their customer list," ABA marketing officer Michael Hoynes told PW.
"The individual names are not important. The analysis is based on ZIP code information." Hoynes explained that the ABA is working with New Sources Inc., which will conduct technical analysis of the data. "Then our people will identify and adapt the specific analysis for practical marketing strategies that bookstores can consider for their local market area."
Hoynes is aware that many stores might be skittish about sharing their customer databases. "There is a guarantee that this data will not be used for any other purpose than to provide the individual bookstore with an overall analysis of the demographic and psychographic profiles of customers within their local marketing area," he said. "We're providing New Source with these databases on a confidential basis."
With the ZIP code information, customer profiling of the local market can tell bookstores about household incomes, education level, ethnic background, family demographics and age. It will also look at neighborhood clusters and the mobility of the bookstore's surrounding area (that is, current customers who are moving out of the area and new people who are moving in).
The LMI program is being offered in two plans: a basic and a comprehensive evaluation. The basic plan provides the opportunity for a two-phase evaluation of store data. Booksellers are charged $1,000 for each phase they choose. The first phase provides significant local market evaluation within three months. This includes consulting time with New Source Inc. and ABA/Book Sense marketing. Booksellers can commission a second three-month phase for a more comprehensive market analysis. Consultations are a combination of e-mail and phone communication.
The second plan takes five to six months (with an initial report provided within three months) and includes daytime traffic and drive-time analysis. In addition to more local market information, bookstores get additional hours of consultation with New Source and ABA/Book Sense marketing. The fee for this more comprehensive LMI program is $1,750.
The majority of bookstores in the initial study found that their markets exceeded their assumptions. One bookstore found that 20% of its business was coming from more than 20 miles away. Another bookstore owner passed nearby office buildings every day, never thinking of the office workers inside as potential customers. Once these people were profiled, the bookstore began promoting its noon-time events to those office workers.
Bookstores can sign up for the LMI program on the first of every month. Interested bookstores can contact Michael Hoynes at (800) 637-0037, ext. 1204, or at michael@booksense.com.
