What file types does the Appliance recognize?

The Semcasting Marketing Appliance was designed to be able to read delimited text files that contain IP Addresses, Postal Addresses or Zip Codes (Zip5s). 

In order to upload a file into the Semcasting Marketing Appliance, it must be a delimited text file containing a header line with the column names. Valid delimiters are comma, tab, and pipe (|). The Appliance supports IPs, addresses, and zip codes and automatically determines the delimiter and looks for specific headers in the first line to determine the file type. Input files may contain other fields besides the required ones. The file type is determined in the following order: 

If the file contains the header "IP", then it is assumed to be an IP file. IP addresses must be complete and in the standard format (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx). 

Next, if the file contains both an "ADDRESS" header and a "ZIP5" header, it is assumed to be an address file. Addresses must be in standard CASS format. 

Lastly, if the file contains a "ZIP5" header, it is assumed to be a zip code file.

How do I customize reports?

Consumer and Business reports can be customized with the name and logo of your company, agency or advertiser. The data variables you include in each report are also customizable, so you can choose to only include the variables relevant to your campaign.

How do I retrieve report?

Once you have customized your report with the name, logo and data variables you want, click "Download” and a PDF version of your report will begin to automatically download. Go to the Downloads folder on your computer to retrieve your custom profile report.

What is auto-modeling?

Auto-modeling will automatically select all of the data variable ranges that index above the averages in that specific geography. These highly indexed areas are shown above the red line/in blue on the Social Matrix, DII and Net Worth charts in the Profile reports. This feature allows you to only select zones that are “above average.”

What is Profiling?

The Profiles feature of the Semcasting Marketing Appliance is where you can evaluate current or prospective customers. Profiles are available for postal addresses, IP addresses or specific geographies (at the state, city, zip5 or congressional district level). The uploaded addresses/areas are mapped to online Smart Zones, which are comparable to neighborhoods at the consumer level and buildings at the business level. Custom Profile reports are available for both consumers and businesses in the uploaded/selected Smart Zones. These reports illustrate the demographics or firmographics of the matched Smart Zones. 

File Types

Uploaded files must be delimited text files. Acceptable Input File Formats are: 

ZIP5: The file must contain a column labelled “ZIP5”. If you are exporting a file from Microsoft Excel, make sure to change the data format to Special, Zipcode before saving your Zip5 file as a text (tab delimited) file to ensure any leading zeros are not lost. 

POSTAL ADDRESSES: The file must contain columns labeled as “ADDRESS” and "ZIP5". All street address fields must be concatenated into one field. The file may contain other fields, but they will be ignored. Addresses must be standardized and should not include apartment, unit, suite, building or floor numbers. Do not include unit numbers, apartment numbers or the like (also labeled as “more address”). Do not include any PO or mailing boxes, they will not map to an IP address. Do not include any symbols in addresses, such as parentheses, ampersands, commas or periods. Street suffixes should be abbreviated (i.e. ST, RD, BLVD, CIR, etc.). See here for all official abbreviations. ROUTE should not be abbreviated (“RT” or “RTE” will not match). Pre and Post Directionals should be abbreviated (i.e. “W AYER ST” not “WEST AYER ST”). Number street names (i.e. 42ND ST) should be kept in number format and not spelled out (i.e. not FORTY SECOND ST). If you have a large address file that needs to be standardized, use the CASS option under the Tools tab. This will clean, correct, standardize and validate addresses. 

IP ADDRESSES: IPs from web logs can also be uploaded to be profiled. The column must be labeled as “IP”. For a more accurate match rate, do not include duplicates and do not include IPs that are known to be from internal use. Each IP Addresses in your list will be matched to its Smart Zone range where the demographic or Firmagraphic information of the Smart Zone will be summarized and profiled. 

Creating a Profile Using Geographic Selection

Select Geo by State, City, Zip5 or Congressional District, then one or more geographies to profile. Do not attempt to select all geographies of any type, as this is not supported. For faster processing time and improved results, please contact Semcasting sales for nationwide profiles and/or audiences. 

Hold down control key (PC) or command key (MAC) to select more than one state, city, zip5 and/or congressional district. 

To further narrow down your target audience in the selected geo, create an audience (see Audience section below for instructions on creating an audience). You can then create a report for this selected audience, which will reflect the additional demographic selections made. 

How to Create a Consumer Profile

1. ​Click “Report” next to the uploaded file you want to create a report from.

2. Choose “Consumer Report” from the menu.

3. Give your profile report a title. The default report title will be the name of the file uploaded or geography selected.

4. Enter your name and the name of your company (optional).

5. Upload a logo/image to appear on the top left corner of each report page (optional). PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, and WMF formats are accepted. Logo images will not be automatically resized. The maximum recommended logo dimensions for optimal formatting and placement is 400x60.

6. Move variables to and from the “Available” to the “Include” side to be shown in your report. Keep in mind that variable placement on profile report is automatic; Social Matrix, Top Homes & Top Business will always take up a full page.

7. To start over, click Defaults.

8. Click Download once you are finished. Your report will begin downloading automatically in PDF format.

9. Open, review and save your report locally. After reading through the generated report, you should be able to pin-point where/how this group of people is highly indexed/concentrated compared to the averages in the same locations.
    

How to Read a Consumer Profile

Record Summary

•  Total Number of Uploaded Records: Count of the total number of postal, zip code or IP addresses uploaded into the system. 

•  Matched Records: Total records that matched either the Semcasting IP Address file. 

•  Matched Percentage: Matched records in a percentage. Low match rates may be caused by duplicate or formatting issues. 

•  Population: Total population within the unique zip codes contained in the uploaded file.

Coverage

•  Unique Zipcodes: Number of unique zip codes that are contained in the uploaded file. 

•  Unique Cities: Number of unique cities that are contained in the uploaded file. 

•  Unique States: Number of unique states that are contained in the uploaded file. 

•  Unique Zones: Number of unique IP Zones mapped to the uploaded file. 

•  Unique IPs: Number of unique IP Addresses mapped to the uploaded file.

User Type
 Each IP Address has a primary designation of Home, Business, Education, Government, or Wireless User. Some IP Addresses may fall in mixed IP Zones, such as business and homes in the same Zone, and they are not matched to a User Type. Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file and the number of Zones that are targetable in each user type category. 

•  Businesses: IP Addresses for all business types and sizes. 

•  Home: IP Addresses for both single and multi-family homes. 

•  Education: IP Addresses for both primary and higher education institutions. 

•  Government: A branches of the Military along with all Government institutions. 

•  Wireless: IP Addresses for wireless hotspots and wireless network providers.

Location
 The U.S. Census Bureau has designated certain locations as Urban, Suburban and Rural. Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file and the number of Zones that are targetable in each location category.

How to Create a Business Profile

1. Click “Report” next to the uploaded file you want to create a report from. 

2.  Choose “Business Report” from the menu. 

3.  Give your profile report a title. Default report title will be the name of the file uploaded or geography selected. 

4.  Enter your name and the name of your company (optional). 

5.  Upload a logo/image to appear on the top left corner of each report page (optional). PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, and WMF formats are accepted. Logo images will not be automatically resized. The maximum recommended logo dimensions for optimal formatting and placement is 400x60. 

6.  Click Download. Your report will begin downloading automatically in PDF format. 

7.  Open, review and save your report locally.

Record Summary

• Total Number of Uploaded Records: Count of the total number of postal, zip code or IP addresses uploaded into the system. 

• Matched Records: Total records that matched the Semcasting IP Address file. 

• Matched Percentage: Matched records in a percentage. Low match rates may be caused by duplicate or formatting issues. 

• Population: Total population within the unique zip codes contained in the uploaded file.

Coverage

Unique Zipcodes: Number of unique zip codes that are contained in the uploaded file. 
Unique Cities: Number of unique cities that are contained in the uploaded file. 
Unique States: Number of unique states that are contained in the uploaded file. 
Unique Zones: Number of unique IP Zones mapped to the uploaded file. 
Unique IPs: Number of unique IP Addresses mapped to the uploaded file.

User Type

Each IP Address has a primary designation of Home, Business, Education, Government, or Wireless User. Some IP Addresses may fall in mixed IP Zones, such as business and homes in the same Zone, and they are not matched to a User Type. Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file and the number of Zones that are targetable in each user type category. 

• Businesses: IP Addresses for all business types and sizes. 

• Home: IP Addresses for both single and multi-family homes. 

• Education: IP Addresses for both primary and higher education institutions. 

• Government: All branches of the Military along with all Government institutions. 

• Wireless: IP Addresses for wireless hotspots and wireless network providers.

Ethnicity

Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file and the number of Zones that are targetable in each ethnicity category. 

• White: German, English, French, Italian, etc. 

• Hispanic: Mexican or South American 

• Black: African American 

• Asian: Chinese, Japanese or Indian

Number of Children

Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file and the number of Zones that are targetable in each number of children category.

Genders Present

Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file and the number of Zones that are targetable in each gender category.

Life Stage

Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file and the number of Zones that are targetable in each category. 

•  College Age: Head of Household Age is 18-22 Years Old 

•  Starting Out: Head of Household Age is 23-30 Years Old 

•  Career Builder: Head of Household Age is 31-45 Years Old 

•  Prime Earner: Head of Household Age is 46-64 Years Old 

•  Retiree: Head of Household Age is 65 or Older

Political Party

Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file and the number of Zones that are targetable in each Political Party.

Household Income Range

Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file for each range, the percentage above or below the average of the population in the same location for each range, the number of Zones that are targetable in each range and the number of people within each household income range. 

The red line on the graph shows the average of the populations in the same locations.

Discretionary Income Index (DII)

Discretionary income indicates the remaining cash flow in a household after necessities have been paid (i.e. rent, utilities, clothing, etc.). An index of 100 represents the national average. An index of 200 equals twice the national average. 

 Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file for each range, the percentage above or below the average of the population in the same location for each range, the number of Zones that are targetable in each range and the number of people within those Zones. 

 The red bars on the graph shows the average of the populations in the same locations. 

•  DII – "0" Range This group of households usually has annual incomes of under $30,000 and is heavily made up of retirees ranging from 65 to 85 years old who have fixed incomes. A segment of this group is also made up of single and married households who are likely to be in their mid-30s, with one or two children. A majority of the "0" range group live in downscale houses and are not considered to be active investors or savers; in fact they are three times more likely to be over spenders. Their net worth is typically under $50,000 and they have vehicles that rank lowest among all ranges measured. 

•  DII – "1 to 49" Range: Households in this range have less than the average discretionary income, with 84% earning under $40,000 a year. The "1 to 49" range households are evenly divided between married and single households and are a mix of fixed incomes trending heavily toward retirees 68+ years of age and those under 30. These households are less likely to have children and are less likely to have professional or technical jobs. They are less likely to be savers or active investors, and they can be over spenders. The home values in this group cap at $400,000 and many have been in their home for more than 15 years. The little investing that they do is in stocks, savings bonds, IRAs and CDs. 

•  DII – "50 to 99" Range: The "50 to 99" range can be characterized as the young working class group and contain households with individuals between the ages of 28 and 42. They are often blue-collar tradesmen and 75% of them are homeowners. They are likely to have established families with children and their incomes are most likely to be between $50,000 and $100,000. Those in this range are more likely to have savings and are less likely to be over spenders. Households in this group are consistent with young working class families, and would not be considered active investors; however, they do have IRAs, savings bonds and mutual funds. They are also more likely to be investing in life insurance and driving a vehicle that is in the middle of measurable ranges. 

•  DII – "100 to 149" Range: The average household has a DII score of "100", when the household score reaches this level the composition of the household includes incomes of $75,000 to $150,000 and they range in age from 35 to 60 years old. Households in this group are more likely to have one or two children and over 80% are homeowners. Their homes tend to be valued from $250,000 to $500,000 and they tend to have lived in those houses for more than five years. This group of households is financially established and is more likely to have invested assets in IRAs, mutual funds and stocks. They are also more likely to have vacation property and to own a vehicle in the top 30% of value measurements. 

•  DII – "150 to 199" Range: In the "150 to 199" range approximately 75% of the households earn between $125,000 and $200,000 a year. They are in the core earning years of 40 to 60 years old and many of them have been living in their homes for at least six years. These households contain professionals or self-employed individuals with a net worth of $250,000 to $500,000. These are baby boomer families with invested assets in IRAs, stocks and mutual funds. Those in this group own vacation properties and have higher valued vehicles. 

•  DII – "200 to 499" Range: The households in the "200 to 499" range have more money to spend on their lifestyles, homes and their investments, and they spend actively. Most in this range have completed college and a high percentage have also completed graduate school. They tend to be in the age ranges of 40 to 60 years old and have incomes consistently above $150,000, while 40% in this range make more than $200,000 a year. Despite their spending, they are not over spenders and regularly save their money by investing in stocks, IRAs and mutual funds. 

•  DII – "500 to 999" Range: Households in this range have professional or technical individuals and they have a higher than average educational background. Those in this range are 45 to 65 years old and 70% of them are married. Incomes in this range can be found in two pockets, $150,000 to $300,000 and over $500,000 a year, with the higher percentage of incomes being over $500,000. These households own homes worth at least $500,000, but the values range up to $5 million. Of those in this group, 80% have a high level of invested assets in IRAs, mutual funds and stocks while they avoid investing in CDs and savings bonds. More than 80% of this group are likely to invest in vacation property, own top scale vehicles and 50% of them have a net worth over $2 million. 

•  DII – "1000+" Range: Reserved for the very wealthy, these small percentages of the households earn incomes of over $500,000 to well over $2 million a year. They tend to be between the ages of 50 and 65, to have professional occupations with a focus on financial and medical professions and they typically have college or advanced degrees. Of those in this range, 90% own their own homes that value from $1 million to $10 million. These households are likely investors with assets in stocks, mutual funds and IRAs. They have the top net worth, while being heavy donators to charities.

Home Value Estimate

Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file for each range, the percentage above or below the average of the population in the same location for each range, the number of Zones that are targetable in each range and the number of people within each home value estimate range. 

The red line on the graph shows the average of the populations in the same locations.

Net Worth

Indicates range of household's net worth using income, asset, life stage and other financial model components. 

Invested Asset Decile

Decile ranking of a households Investable assets using a combination of income, location, & life stage components - (1 = highest, 10 = lowest)

Charitable Contributions

Decile ranking of a household's charitable contributions (1 = most, 10 = least)

Auto Consideration Set

Indicates the likelihood of an individual owning one of 11 categories of vehicle such as an SUV, coupe, foreign sedan, or compact car. 
 
Percentages shown for each category represent how much of the selected/uploaded audience are in the Top 5 Deciles for each auto category, where decile 1 = the most likely to own that type of vehicle and 10 = the least likely. Therefore, the percentages shown are only for those who are likely to own a vehicle in that auto category.

Social Matrix

Provides a breakdown of the matched records in the uploaded file to 24 unique population segments. Each segment is a compilation of age, affluence, discretionary income and life style. Each record has a location associated with it which has a percentage of the population that it matches within the social matrix segment. 

Numbers reflect the percentage of matched records from the uploaded file for each range, the percentage above or below the average of the population in the same location for each range, the number of Zones that are targetable in each segment and the number of people within each net Social Matrix segment. 

The spider chart shows the indexing of each segment for the uploaded/selected audience. The shaded red areas represent the averages of the same locations as the uploaded/selected audience.

Generation Y – Starting Out

•  Timecards & Happy Hour - 18-25 year olds working wage-rated jobs, with a lifestyle that is more focused on personal entertainment than building a substantive career. 

•  Learning the Ropes - 18-25 year olds, just out of college and recently introduced into the work force

Generation Y - Building Bright Futures

•  Urban Yuppies - 26-39 year old city dwellers, just launching into their career and enjoying the luxuries of the city 

•  Career & Family Roots - 26-39 year olds focused on bettering their career and building a stable long-term family unit 

•  Paycheck Planners - 26-39 year olds living paycheck to paycheck

Baby Busters – Established Patterns

•  Following Orders - 40-51 year olds caught in low to mid-level careers, comfortable taking orders from upper management 

•  Asset Builders - 40-51 year olds with successful jobs, allowing them to properly invest and cultivate their long-term assets 

•  Independent Women - 40-51 year old women supporting themselves through their successful careers 

•  Independent Singles - 40-51 year old single men and women establishing a life for themselves by way of their flourishing jobs 

•  Core Families - Low ITA - 40-51 year olds with strong focus on the family. Career and job is secondary leading to financial planning issues and a lower (ITA) credit status 

•  Family Planners - High ITA - 40-51 year olds who strike a proper balance between family and work. This balance results in a comfortable lifestyle and higher invitation to apply (ITA) scores.

Woodstock Generation – Executing the Plan

•  Day to Day Challenges - 52-64 year olds with mid-low level careers and have to deal with day to day challenges to get by. 

•  Luxury Lifestyles - 52-64 year olds living luxurious lives due to high paying professional jobs and greater disposable income. 

•  Comfortable Independents - 52-64 year olds living comfortably. Considered above average in affluence but do not spend on extravagant items. 

•  On Approach - Low ITA - 52-64 year olds, preparing to approach retirement. Low ITA's due to below average asset accumulation and limited financial planning 

•  Tax Free Savers - High ITA - 52-64 year olds who have invested wisely over the years. They have a long term plan for retirement and assets to meet that plan. 

Early Boomers – Enjoying the View

•  BigBox Greeters - Low ITA - 65-73 year olds with limited cash flow and low credit availability. May be working menial jobs to supplement their cash flow in retirement. 

•  Solid & Slow - High ITA - 65-73 year olds living a comfortably, but modest, retirement after having worked hard and planned well. This is reflected in their high ITA. 

•  Public Links & Projects - Low ITA - 65-73 year olds who are enjoying retirement, however, their resources are limited and spending activity is cautious 

•  Pace & Protection - High ITA - 65-73 year olds interested in maintaining their lifestyle and protecting the wealth and assets they've built up over the past few decades 

•  Country Club Snow Birds - 65-73 year olds living comfortably luxurious lives with an interest in participating is social activities with peers. 

Greatest Generation – Modest Futures

•  Early Bird Specials - 74+ year olds with modest needs and resources, looking for the next best deal 

•  Lunch Bunch & Lawn Chairs - Retired 74+ year olds with comfortable, quiet, lifestyle and daily plan Road Trips & Gardening Active retired 74+ year olds, enjoying such simple pleasures as road trips and home gardening

How do I custom select an audience?

Before customizing an audience, it is best to review the Profile report from the uploaded file. Ensure that you have a good match rate and review how these households/businesses profile. 

Click “Audience” next to the uploaded file from which you want to create an audience. For consumer audiences, you can customize the demographic variables. By unchecking boxes, you are “suppressing” out zones where that particular demographic is present. You can also select certain ranges/ combinations of demographic variables to create sub-segments of your target audience for testing. 

Business audiences can be customized by selecting certain industry NAICS codes to include/not include.

What are hubs and how do I use them in creating an audience?

A hub is a very large block of IP addresses that is usually shared with a large number of users/employees. They are not ideal for campaigns targeted towards specific demographics or company types. They are, however, idea for large scope branding/awareness campaigns as well as campaigns targeting wireless devices.

Audiences

The Audiences feature of the Semcasting Marketing Appliance allows you to reach your uploaded/selected consumers or businesses online. Custom Audiences can be fine-tuned using the demographic or Firmagraphic information that we have mapped to our online Smart Zones. Micro-segments can be created for campaign optimization and testing. 

Consumer Audiences

1. Click the Create Audience button next to the file you wish to generate an IP audience from. 

2.  Click Consumer Audience. 

3.  Enter a custom audience name. Default will be “Untitled” so it is best to give each audience you create a unique name. 

4.  Use the filters to fine-tune your custom audience. Uncheck a category to exclude those zones from your custom audience. Click Create once you are satisfied with your audience selections. You will automatically be directed to the Audiences tab. Your audience’s name will show up under Your Custom Audiences. Hit refresh after a few moments to see when your audience is ready (status will change from Processing to Ready). 

5.  Click on the audience name once it is ready to view the Custom Audience Dashboard. This will give you a count of the IP Zones, IP Addresses, People, Unique States and Unique Zip5s in your refined audience. You can also review and verify the selections you made in the Filters and Percentages drop down menus. 

6.  If you would like, go back and further refine your custom audience. Test out different combinations of selection criteria to see how the IP count is affected. Refer to the profile report for your uploaded file or selected geo to learn how these people compare to averages and where they are highly concentrated. Additionally, keep your campaign/client’s goals and/or target market in mind when refining this target audience to ensure that they align. 

7.  You can also create another profile report for this refined audience. If you created an audience from a selected geo only, and not an uploaded file, this is where you can create and download a report to reflect further demographic selection criteria, which was not reflected in the overall geo profile report. 

Business Audiences

1. Click the Create Audience button next to the file from which you want to generate a business audience. Click Business Audience. 

2.  Enter a custom audience name. Default will be “Untitled” so it is best to give each audience you create a unique name. 

3.  Use the filters to fine-tune your custom audience. Uncheck a category to exclude those zones from your custom audience. Hold down CNTRL (Command for Macs) to select more than one NAICS code. 

4.  Click Create once you are satisfied with your audience selections. You will automatically be directed to the Audiences tab. Your audience’s name will show up under Your Custom Audiences. You may press the Refresh button after a few moments to see when your audience is ready (status will change from Processing to Ready). 

5.  Click on the audience name once it is ready to view the Custom Audience Dashboard. This will give you a count of the IP Zones, IP Addresses, People, Unique States and Unique Zip5s in your refined audience. 

6.  People count will be 0 since these are business audiences. 

7.  If you would like, go back and further refine your custom audience. Test out different combinations of selection criteria to see how the IP count is affected. Add in more NAICS codes if you find that your audiences in too narrow, or remove some if you find it is too broad. 

8.  You can also create another profile report for this refined audience. If you created an audience from a selected geo only, and not an uploaded file, this is where you can create and download a report to reflect further selection criteria, which was not reflected in the overall geo profile report. 

What are Data Appends?

The target user for the Data Appends feature is typically the Marketing Manager or the Marketing Analyst in the corporate Marketing Department. Data Appends will allow marketers and analysts gain a better understanding of who their customers are and how well the prospects they identify match up. 

Who uses data appends?

The target user for the Data Appends feature is typically the Marketing Manager or the Marketing Analyst in the corporate Marketing Department. Data Appends will allow marketers and analysts gain a better understanding of who their customers are and how well the prospects they identify match up. 

What file types does the Appliance recognize?

The Semcasting Marketing Appliance was designed to be able to read delimited text files that contain IP Addresses, Postal Addresses or Zip Codes (Zip5s). 

In order to upload a file into the Semcasting Marketing Appliance, it must be a delimited text file containing a header line with the column names. Valid delimiters are comma, tab, and pipe (|). The Appliance supports IPs, addresses, and zip codes and automatically determines the delimiter and looks for specific headers in the first line to determine the file type. Input files may contain other fields besides the required ones. The file type is determined in the following order: 

If the file contains the header "IP", then it is assumed to be an IP file. IP addresses must be complete and in the standard format (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx). 

Next, if the file contains both an "ADDRESS" header and a "ZIP5" header, it is assumed to be an address file. Addresses must be in standard CASS format. 

Lastly, if the file contains a "ZIP5" header, it is assumed to be a zip code file.

How to Append Data

Upload a File

Acceptable input formats are the same as Profiles. 

Select Fields to Append

Once you have successfully uploaded your file, move fields from the “Available” list over to the “Include” list that you wish to append to your file. 

Variables will append the missing data to your file. People Count, Unique IPs, City, State, Zip5, Zip9. 

Counts will show the number of households within the matched smart zone that fall into the variable/demographic. Ethnicity, Number of Children, Life Stage, Genders Present, Political Party, Net Worth, Income, Discretionary Income Index, Invested Assets Decile, Charitable Contributions Decile, Home Value, Vehicle Decile, Semcasting Social Matrix Segment 

Flags will show either a “1” or a “0” with 1 indicating an address or IP belongs to that type of zone. Business, Home, Education, Government/Military, Wireless, Medical, Financial, Marketing/Media, Telecom, Urban, Suburban, Rural 

Request Your Appended File

Once your appends have finished, their status will change to “Ready” and the append dashboard will populate showing the number of records we were able to match and append to. 

If you are satisfied with your match rate, click request to initiate a request with Semcasting Sales. 

Data Fields Available for Append

The variables available on a self-serve basis for appending to your customer records are the same that are available for Profiling. See the help for Profiles for a complete listing of the variables. 

Although there are 40 plus variables available on occasion there may be a request for certain data that is not on the list. Semcasting has access to hundreds of additional variables. Feel free to contact Semcasting support at support@semcasting.com with any special request. 

What is Onboarding?

One of the more requested features for the Semcasting Marketing Appliance was functionality that we call Onboarding. What onboarding actually does is serve are a cross-referencing tool that converts offine to online and back again.

Who will benefit from the Onboarding Feature?

Onboarding was designed to primarily benefit the CRM Platform owner and the IT service that support them. With the Onboarding feature the customer can link online and offline data points from registered customers, prospect mailing lists, email lists, and to website visitors. The Smart Zone serves as a common key where the individuals behind each touch point can be linked and then enhanced with demographic, life style, and transaction history. 

Using Onboard outside of Smart Zones

Some marketers may find it useful to apply the Onboarding feature for defining cross-selling and trigger based marketing. Onboarding can take inputs of IP Address, postal addresses, zip5 designation or demographic and geographic references to output either a Smart Zone for online ad serving or a Postal Address for direct mail. 

Converting Postal Addresses to a Smart Zone

Converting a postal address to a Smart Zone provides a one to many match. One postal address will match to the Smart Zone which, depending on population density, will map to an average of 45 IP in a Zone or an estimated 5-10 households, or 20-25 people. 
 
Common concern in a one-to-many match is that the exact person is not targeted as is done through a cookie. While this is technically accurate the onboarding of cookies does not provide an exact match either. Typically a cookie match is made against a zip code level geography and a single proxy of intent. With the Semcasting Marketing Appliance there is neighborhood level accuracy. Neighborhoods typically share common demographics around affluence factors and life stage, so the one to many match serves the purpose of both a stronger match and offering more individuals and household of similar attibutes.

What Tools are Available

The Tools feature, located under the Tools Tab, is included in the Semcasting Marketing Appliance because CRM Marketing Managers, Ad Networks, and Agencies routinely have to manipulate data files made up of names and addresses. The Tools included are common utilities that are often called on to generate the results required. The inclusion of the Tools functions support both online and offline file manipulation. 

• Add Decile

• CASS Certify*

• Concatenate Addresses

• Count

• De-duplicate

• IP File Formatting

• Match Code Append

• NCOA*

• Nth Sampling

• Phone Append*

• Postal File Formatting

• Reverse Phone Append*

• Random Sampling

• Sort

• Split

• Suppress

• Zip Count

• Zip Select

* Tools that require a Fee for 3rd Party Data Processing

Descriptions of the Available Tools

Add Decile: 

Converts rankings (100-0) into decile (1-10).   

CASS Certify a File

Allows a Customer Postal Address to be updated into a format from the USPS that is acceptable for barcoding and eligible for discounted postage. 

Concatenate Address

Concatenates address fields (Street Number; Street Direct; Street Name; Street Suffix; Street Suffix Direct) into one Address Field. The output will be the a single  field called “Address1”. 

Count

Returns the number of records in a file.   

Deduplicate

Identify and remove duplicated records in a file.   Choose the fields  to dedupe by (ie: address fields, customer ID)  and output a  new file with unique records. 

IP Format

A special format that certain DSPs use to upload the audiences into their platform. The format concatenates IP_BEGIN and IP_END with a space, dash, and space in between them and renames the column as just "IP". 

Match Code Append

Create and a append a match code based on Person Level or Household Level fields.   

NCOA Certify a File

Periodically check and update your CRM database, responders or customer postal file against the National Change of Address Service to see who has moved and update with the new address. Records submitted for NCOA go through the Semcasting Marketing Appliance for processing. NCOA records are current to the week of submission. CRM customer and prospect records should go through NCOA annually to maintain accuracy and deliverability. 

Nth Sample

Sample any size file by nth record.  Looks at the overall sample size and selects, selects every nth record. Example: out of 100 records, every 10th is taken into the overall sample. 

Phone Append*

Used to add a phone number to a name/address 

Postal File Formating

Used to output an 11 digit code to send to aquire names and addresses from a data provider.  

Reverse Phone Append*

Used to add a name/address to a phone number. 

Random Sample

Sample any size file randomly.   In the “sample size” enter the number of records you want sampled. Note:  Do  not include (,) when specifying the number of records. (ie:  enter 25000 and not 25,000. 

Sort

Allows you to sort the file by different fields that are listed. Select the order of the fields in which you would like the file sorted by. 

Split

Splits 1 file into multiple files. In the ‘Number of Files’ tab, enter how many files you would like the original file to be split into. The file will export file into the number of files you have chosen in equal parts.

Suppress

Suppress a file from another file.  Upload the master file that you are keeping Upload the suppression file . Choose the fields that will be used to to suppress with. The suppression file does not need to have the same layout as the master file, but does need to contain  the choosen suppression fields. 

Zip Count

Create counts based on  rank/percentile and decile. The file exports as   a CSV file. 

Zip Select

Create a file based on specific quantites per zipcode and deciles. Enter the number of records you would like per zip code and decile using this format: (zip,qty,low,high).  Low and high represents the deciles.  Use a comma (,) to separate each field. Two outputs will be provided -  list of records in a TXT format and a summary report providing the number of countsrequested and received.  

Retrieving the Results of a Tool Process

Once the Tools function has been processed, the summary will tell you the status of your job. Once it says “Ready” you must go to the Admin tab at the top of the page. In the “Admin” page click on “Tools” and you will see your job at the bottom of the page. Click download and save the file. Click the “Application” tab at the top of the page to process additional jobs.