Method of determining the effect of internet advertisement on offline commercial activity
First Claim
1. A method of evaluating the commercial effects of Internet-based communication, comprising:
- providing a customer database of past offline customers;
for each customer, attempting to determine an email address;
generating an email list of the determined email addresses assigning a different identifier to each address;
transmitting a promotional email to the determined email addresses; and
in response to a user acting in response to the email, collecting the identifier and associating it with a device identifier associated with the user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of evaluating the commercial effects of Internet-based communication. The method begins with generating a sample of offline customers and attempting to determine an email address for each customer in the sample to generate an email list. A unique offline identifier is assigned to each customer on the email list, and a promotional email including the unique offline identifier is transmitted to the determined email addresses. User online activity in response to the promotional email is recorded, and the recorded activity is associated with the unique offline identifier and a unique online identifier. Offline purchasing activity is recorded for each customer after recording web browsing activity. The unique offline identifier is associated with the offline purchasing activity, the unique online identifier is associated with the web browsing activity, and the unique link between each customer'"'"'s offline activity and that customer'"'"'s online activity is established for those responding to the promotional email. The association of the online identifier and the off line identifier allows evaluation of the multi-channel commercial effect of the online marketing communication.
142 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of evaluating the commercial effects of Internet-based communication, comprising:
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providing a customer database of past offline customers;
for each customer, attempting to determine an email address;
generating an email list of the determined email addresses assigning a different identifier to each address;
transmitting a promotional email to the determined email addresses; and
in response to a user acting in response to the email, collecting the identifier and associating it with a device identifier associated with the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of evaluating the commercial effects of Internet-based communication, comprising:
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generating a sample of offline customers;
for each customer in the sample, attempting to determine an email address;
generating an email list of the determined email addresses;
assigning a unique customer identifier to each customer on the email list;
transmitting a promotional email including the unique customer identifier to the determined email addresses;
recording user online activity in response to the promotional email, including associating a user device cookie with the unique customer identifier; and
recording offline purchasing activity for each customer, including associating the unique customer identifier with the offline purchasing activity. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of evaluating the commercial effects of Internet-based communication, comprising:
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a commercial entity generating a sample of offline customers;
for each customer in the sample, attempting to determine an email address;
generating an email list of the determined email addresses;
assigning a unique identifier to each customer on the email list;
transmitting a promotional email including the unique identifier to the determined email addresses;
a second entity recording user online activity in response to the promotional email, including associating a user device cookie with the unique customer identifier; and
recording subsequent offline purchasing activity for each customer, including associating the subsequent offline purchasing activity with the cookie. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification