Marketing-Fix: 100-Words-On

It’s a natural reaction.  We’ve all had it.  And it suggests a myopic tendency.

Before engaging an expert – who’s very possibly someone ‘just like’ you – consider two things:

Your customers probably aren’t you. How could they be?  You’re immersed in the details of telecommunications, apparel, insurance…whatever.  They’re seeking solutions not minutae.

Your customers expect you to be them. Ask questions, chat ‘em up, think like them.  Deliver what they want – concisely and fast.  They’ll be loyal customers and become fans.

With these in mind, how about finding experts at “wide-eyed innocence”? They can peer in, ask questions, focus, distill and deliver clarity.

As Roy Williams (the wizard of ads) suggests: we’re all uniquely unqualified to market ourselves.

“Listen, I know what our customers want, they’d never want [insert 'fact' here].  No offense, but that’s just a waste of time and money.”
-E Marketing Manager

“That is so…1951, and it’s 2011.”

According to Marketing Sherpa only 46% of electronic marketers actively test
emails, landing pages and such.  True or not – this amazes.

Testing’s never been easier, faster or cheaper than today. Two examples of simple, but powerful testing we’ve done recently:

* Subject-line testing limited to the difference between using ‘watch’ versus
‘see.’  Open rates improved almost 20% with ‘watch’ and click-throughs
increased 15%.

* Content-testing in retail emails that offered product details as bullets
versus paragraphs.  Conversions to sales improved 15% with using full
paragraphs – unexpected, but long a standard in ‘snail mail.’

We’re inclined to believe that we ‘know’ what works – understanding our
customers better than they do, but it’s not true.  From conducting focus groups
to quantitative research to multi-channel testing and being inquisitive wins.

P.S.  If you’re as intrigued by testing as we are check out: www.whichtestwon.com.  It’s fun, provocative and reinforces that our gut can be wrong.

“What’s worse then email spam?  Bacon”

-    Dave Spur, Future Fundraising Now

Dave Spur – always intriguing – recently wrote about the increasing level of unwanted opt-in email we receive.  Bacon he calls it.

He suggests only 18% of commercial opt-in email is wanted/opened and fully 61% deleted.

We’ve moved from spam overload to inbox overload.

Industry leaders like Coremetrics propose sophisticated solutions, but our in-bin suggest that many could start by stepping into customers’ shoes and testing simple options:

Be relevant – take a page from Amazon and tailor your messages to what you know about your customers.

Deliver the right frequency – I mean, does anyone want “exciting offers” from TheatreMania 2 or 3 times a day before tuning out?

Get to the point – how much information do people need?  Williams-Sonoma promotes ‘last chance’ All-Clad sales with a subject line and a link.  That’s direct!

We’ve quoted it often:

“Give them what they want and when they want it.  That’s how you keep them satisfied.”
—Waller and Schell

Facebook, Twitter and similar social sites focus on community and connecting. So, many worry that selling here risks violating a social contract that says: we’re just ‘friends.’

Still, many of us ponder how to make direct marketing work in these environments.

Quidsi’s – soap.com / diapers.com – Facebook app offers a brilliantly simple solution:

Current customers can purchase directly from their ‘My List’ without leaving Facebook. And wouldn’t many soap.com purchases be ‘re-fills?’

Seems real simple and widely applicable. Why not start with:

• What do you most want from your customers?

• What do they most want and expect from you?

• What do you do to deliver on their expectations – simply, quickly and cost-effectively?

There’s no need to make things complicated – or grab every sale.  Why build a jet fighter if a kite will do the job?

Seen on a large billboard on I-76:

“We guarantee you top results for every search engine…

Call us at…”

Our first reaction was—huh?

Outdoor advertising has its place for many campaigns.  But to sell expertise in Search Engine Optimization, it seems dubious.

Three thoughts struck us:

• If we were looking for an SEO expert, we’d contact a pro, like Michael Stalbaum @ createtraffic.com—if not we’d be online googling various search terms.

• We’d want a strategic marketer. Using billboards to sell search doesn’t feel smart.  Billboards are broad-based and consumer-focused.

• We’d want a partner that optimizes our spend and ROI. Outdoor on a major highway can’t do that—it’s expensive and hard to measure.

Our take away:

Think smart.  Act smart.  Look smart. Accentuate and amplify what you’re great at before jumping into the unknown.

Do not expect an immediate call back

Do not expect free advice

Do not expect the answer you wanted

—Consulting Firm Landing Page

Ouch—but, thought-provoking.

Is this firm:

* So ballsy that you’ve got to know more?

* So honest that you might get great insights?

* So self-involved that you should avoid it at all costs?

We applaud ‘being true to yourself’—but at what price?

Three wise-men came to mind:

* Danny Meyer suggests hiring only empathetic people—for every position in the company.  Technical skills can be taught, being welcoming and caring not.

* Seth Godin suggests giving things away—after qualifying the ‘lead.’  A little ‘free advice’ might be worth it, if there may substantial benefits down the road.

* The Dalai Lama suggests that when you want something—give it away.  Period.

We’re there: Why not put it out there and see what comes back—before telling us what you won’t do?

“We really need to email less often.”

“Of course, they need to be more effective.”

Clients have been suggesting communicating less frequently to reduce ‘clutter’ and ‘email fatigue’ while expecting better results.
Wholesale reductions in frequency rarely make sense. For optimum results, we consider:

• Relevance. If you’re a promotional retailer—say Bluefly, Gilt or Wine Express, daily communication keeps customers engaged.  Hearing daily from your accountant wouldn’t be relevant.

• Realness. Recently, applying the discount offered in a Hertz email promotion doubled the cost of renting.  We needed a car, but the bogus promotion quashed the sale.

• Ready-to-go. Don’t be creepy, but ‘know me’ and make it easy to engage.  There’s only seconds to spare between clicking-through and abandoning your email.

Finally, be inventive. Subject lines and creative treatments still dramatically affect results.  Who wouldn’t be intrigued by FTD’s subject line encouraging you to: ‘Tell your boss how you really feel about him’?

“No one reads, their mail.  Everyone knows that.”

–Anonymous

Not so fast…

Clearly, we love email and we admire web sites and apps that deliver value (think of Yelp or Groupon).  Yet, our increasingly empty USPS mailbox makes us wonder if print isn’t being overlooked unfairly.

A new consumer survey found that:
•    Two of three preferred print catalogs to viewing catalogs online.
•    Six of ten preferred receiving printed bills, invoices and financial statements.
•    Eight of ten dollars raised for charity are from mail solicitations.

Direct mail is rarely the most cost-effective way to acquire customers today and the incremental value of multi-channel buyers is declining.  Still, we believe that print should be part of the mix.

To make it effective, we wonder how many have:
•    Abolished silos and integrated systems to accurately measure the value—and incremental value—of every interaction.
•    Created a integrated contact strategy vs. direct mail, web and email strategies.
•    Segmented customers accurately, based upon their transaction and product preferences.

It’s tempting to jump on the latest marketing trend.

For example, trendwatching.com recently suggested creating ‘brand butlers’ to improve the customer experience—and allocating marketing dollars there.

Brand butlers, wow!  Another nicety that—sounds great.

But, perhaps being first with the latest only makes sense when all aspects of customer service work flawlessly.

And how often is this true?

• Consider recent experiences with Fortune 100 companies:

• “Real-time” inventory systems that are repeatedly incorrect.

• “Customer Service Facilitators”—formerly known as tellers—who’ve mastered greeting, but not doing deposits accurately.

“Live Flight Status” that’s hours off.

Before embracing the new and novel, why not:

• Audit how well basics are executed.

• Augment what works to improve service.

• Evolve to the next level when it’s appropriate.

Let’s all clean house before hiring the butlers.

“Don Not Ever Offer Great Service”
–Melissa Data Newsletter

This subject line caught our attention—but, for the wrong reason.  If they don’t care about correcting subject lines, how good can their data products—or service—be?

Yes, everyone’s doing more with fewer resources.  But, the willingness to cut corners, ignore details and rush-to-market is alarming—from lazy emails to massive oil spills.

Doesn’t this short-term approach diminish credibility, demolish loyalty and even dilute profits longer-term?

Customers are savvier than ever, don’t underestimate them.

We’d suggesting engaging and cultivating them by:

• Being thorough—‘little’ mistakes can have big impact.

• Being honest—Domino’s “We Stink” campaign promoting improved quality pizzas delivered amazing results.

• Being direct—BP is spending big communicating their response to the spill, but platitudes don’t sound credible.