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“Adding social-media icons to your email campaigns … takes just a few seconds,” writes Jim Hitch at the Emma blog, “but it can increase your reach and help you identify your most avid followers. Who knew all of that could be as simple as pushing a couple of buttons?”
According to Hitch, the single decision to include that little “t” (Twitter) or “f” (Facebook) icon in your message, can net benefits like these:
Harnessing the power of social media. “Facebook claims that the average user has 130 friends,” he notes, “so every 1,000 email subscribers represents a potential audience of 130,000 people.” From there, the potential reach is infinite, because those people, in turn, have hundreds of friends each.
Growing your email list. “This may seem obvious,” he continues, “but when your content is shared on social networks, it’s typically being shared with a group of people who share common interests, so it’s already likely relevant.” In other words, your content will reach people who are more likely to actively request your email offers and newsletters.
Creating a shortcut for savvy customers. “Even if you haven’t seen it,” he explains, “your recipients might already be sharing your content.” By adding the icons for social sharing, you make their job easier.
Identifying your most loyal fans. “Having your audience share your content is quite an honor, of course, so you may want to provide something special for folks who regularly share or help you spread an important message.” With social-media tools, you’ll know exactly where to find them.
Boost your audience appeal. Your customers are moving fluidly between the email and social-media channels; adding an icon or two to your email messages will help them share—and show you care.
Source: Emma.
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When you work with contractors such as copywriters and Web designers, you might not realize that certain casual statements can earn you membership in the “difficult client” category. Rick Sloboda of Webcopyplus has compiled a list of things best left unsaid, and here are a few examples:
This shouldn’t take long. You might genuinely believe a project won’t take much time. But a remark like this assumes you know more than the contractor you’ve hired for her expertise—or, worse, it implies you’re trying to get the job done on the cheap. “If you’re saying these things in an effort to subliminally reduce the amount of hours you will have to pay for,” he notes, “you’re just going to annoy the provider and start your relationship on the wrong foot.”
Last change, I promise. “Your copywriter has just sent you 15 pages of web copy for approval and awaits your comments,” says Sloboda. “Instead of taking the time to carefully go through the web copy and collect your thoughts on edits, you start firing off emails.” Complicating matters, you’ve also sent the pages to a number of colleagues, who proceed to email their thoughts in a similar, piecemeal fashion. A single document with edits approved by all stakeholders will keep tempers cool—and the streamlined process will keep your costs down.
Turn this (water into wine). A graphic designer might be capable of amazing technological feats, but “even the best designer can’t turn a tiny, pixilated thumbnail into HD.” So adjust your expectations accordingly.
You don’t have to walk on eggshells—all your words need to do is demonstrate a basic level of respect for the contractor’s time and talent.
Source: Webcopyplus blog.
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When people click on your unsubscribe button, there’s a good chance it takes them to a preference page where they can confirm the unsubscribe request, or adjust their subscription to a topic and frequency they prefer. But what about including an offer that tempts them to stay?
In a post at their blog, the Bronto team discusses the merits of a 25% discount coupon offered by one online retailer to potential unsubscribers—specifically, whether the offer seems desperate or brilliant. Here are a few highlights:
Kristen Gregory sees the strategy as a way to grab a final sale rather than keep someone on an email list. “If this were me attempting to unsubscribe,” she says, “I would do the following: 1) unsubscribe anyway or 2) go ahead and use the coupon and then unsubscribe. One negative consequence of this approach is that people can continuously feign unsubscribing in order to receive non-stop 25%-off coupons—unless this is somehow set up as a one-time offer.”
Kelly Lorenz finds the wording confusing. “Combining the offer and unsubscribe language intertwined … makes it hard to discern what I need to do as a consumer to either redeem or unsubscribe,” she notes.
Jeff Levine thinks the concept has potential, given the right presentation. “It’s important to recognize that while a person may wish not to receive emails, it does not necessarily disqualify them as a ‘money-spender’ for your company,” he says. So tying the offer to a survey about reasons for leaving might produce the last-ditch sale suggested by Kristen Gregory—or it might re-engage a subscriber who had felt unappreciated.
The Po!nt: Offer that carrot with care. Offering a discount coupon on an unsubscribe page is a chancy move: It might prompt bored customers to reconsider—or it may just simply annoy them.
Source: The Bronto blog.
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“You might have noticed a trend in more and more marketing,” writes Rohit Bhargava at the Influential Marketing Blog, “where large brands are featuring real people and actual employees in their ads.” Heavy hitters like Intel, Best Buy, Dominos, IBM and GE have all used real team members to tell a compelling story—and here’s how you can get in on the action:
Identify your company’s in-house cheerleaders. “Many times,” notes Bhargava, “you can find the most vocal of your employees already online talking about what they do and what your company does.” Also look for those who consistently earn high marks in customer surveys and close the most deals—they’re likely to be your best ambassadors.
Aggregate their voices for the greatest impact. “If some of your employees are on Twitter,” he suggests, “consider asking them to use the same naming convention for their accounts (such as @bobatyourcompany).”
Establish clear guidelines. Let employees know what flies—and what doesn’t—when discussing your company in online forums. For instance, they should always disclose their professional affiliation and should never share the company’s trade secrets or financial data.
Make social-media efforts part of their job description. “Having passionate employees who want to share online is great,” he says, “but to sustain it you need to try and make sure that they are not overloaded with other facets of their ‘real job.'” Bhargava recommends treating it as any other job component—with performance reviews, incentives and rewards.
Make the most of employee-evangelists by giving them the tools and encouragement to tell your company’s story.
Source: Influential Marketing Blog.
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As direct marketers know all too well, the obligation to collect taxes from Internet and catalog sales depends on whether a retailer has a “physical presence” in a customer’s state. Charging and collecting taxes in these “nexus” states adds an administrative burden to sellers, and more cost to each buyer’s purchase. But does it affect overall sales as well?
To find the answer, one group of researchers studied how customers of a “multichannel apparel retailer” responded when the retailer began collecting sales taxes on Internet and catalog orders after opening a physical store in one state. The analysis focused on “a sample of 13,021 customers who live on either side of a border of the ‘focal’ state in which the firm opened its new store.” Among their findings:
- Internet sales decreased significantly (11.6 percent) in the state where the new store opened. (The researchers suggest the ease of online search prompted customers to simply shop with another merchant to avoid paying the new state tax).
- Catalog sales to customers living in the state were unaffected. (Conversely, the difficulty of finding an alternative retailer kept catalog customers more loyal, the authors suggest.)
“The evidence that taxes lower Internet sales but not catalog sales presents retailers with a trade-off,” the researchers note. “Should they forgo the benefits of opening a store to avoid damaging Internet demand?”
One additional finding suggests that merchants are taking this tradeoff seriously: Retailers that earn a large proportion of their revenue from direct channels are avoiding opening a first store in high-tax states, the researchers report.
The customer is always frugal. Sellers with a successful Internet presence may want to weigh the effect of opening a physical store in a given state. Local customers shopping online could balk at paying a new tax—and move on.
Source: “How Sales Taxes Affect Customer and Firm Behavior: The Role of Search on the Internet,” by Eric T. Anderson, Nathan M. Fong, Duncan I. Simester and Catherine E. Tucker.
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“My dentist is Dr. Matt Stohl of Foothill Dental,” writes DJ Waldow in an article at MarketingProfs. “As an email-marketing nut, instead of critiquing how he administers Novocaine or how the hygienist flosses my teeth … I think about how the staff communicates with customers.” Waldow gives Dr. Stohl high marks, and says if his dental practice’s staff understand email marketing, so can you.
Here’s what they get right:
- They request an email address when setting an appointment. It’s a simple fact: They wouldn’t have received Waldow’s address if they hadn’t asked for it.
- They explain why it’s beneficial for the patient. “The receptionist at Stohl’s office told me that the staff would use my email address to remind me of appointments,” he says. “Simple, yet powerful.”
- They deliver on their promise. Two days before his appointment, Waldow received a message that asked him to confirm the scheduled time by clicking on a large, green button.
- They follow up with other relationship-building messages. “Besides my appointment-reminder emails,” he notes, “Foothill has also sent me a brief survey (which I completed) and a Happy Birthday email.” Waldow believes they could expand these messages to include a monthly e-newsletter.
“On my last visit, one of the dental hygienists … told me that they could [contact me through] … whichever medium was most convenient for me,” Waldow reports. “Yes, for me.” He confirmed that he was happy with his email reminders. “If I could give out stars to Stohl and his staff, they would receive 4.5 out of 5,” he concludes.
Now, that’s healthy, clean customer service.
Ask and deliver. When executed properly, a simple email program can reinforce your relationship with your customers—and strengthen your customer service.
Source: MarketingProfs.
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In a post at Copyblogger, Sonia Simone put an interesting twist on the perennial question “Ginger or Mary Ann?” by asking whether your blog is the sexy-starlet or the wholesome girl-next-door type.
Ginger, for example, wasn’t going to let something like a shipwreck interfere with her glamorous persona. “It takes some creativity and chutzpah to retain your movie star essence in the face of spending the rest of your life talking to the same six mildly retarded stereotypes,” notes Simone. In the same way, your blog might have its own alluring niche, impervious to shifting trends or anything as practical as DIY advice.
Mary Ann, by contrast, was pragmatic and approachable. “[She] looked around and saw what needed to get done,” Simone continues. “She figured out the needs of her community, pitched in, and helped create what was most relevant to that situation and that audience.” It could be that your readers appreciate your blog for its cheerful practicality.
- “Ginger is killer headlines,” notes Simone. “Ginger is linkbait. Everyone talks about her, everyone wants to know what she’s up to. Ginger can hit the front page of Digg with a long, smoky look and a shift of her hips.”
- “Mary Ann,” however, “is passionate about her content community. Mary Ann follows 15,839 users on Twitter. Everyone loves her, everyone links to her. Mary Ann has the face that launched a thousand blogrolls.”
When you think of your blog as Ginger or Mary Ann—and both play an important role—it’s easier to stay true to your mission.
Source: Copyblogger.
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If we were to suggest plain text for your next email campaign, you’d probably laugh in our faces. “The superiority of HTML email to plain-text email for driving response has become an accepted truth in email marketing,” says Mark Brownlow in a post at the Email Marketing Reports blog. “Alchemy Worx, for example, recently demonstrated the power of images: Adding a small, relevant icon to an email boosted total clicks by over 50%.”
But, he argues, there are reasons to consider plain text for the occasional message:
- HTML has become nearly ubiquitous, and a plain-text message—free from color and images—will stand out like “a blank canvas in a Picasso exhibition.”
- HTML is associated with one-to-many communications. “Plain text still says ‘personal’ (all my personal email is plain text) and/or ‘important’ (much transactional email is still text-based),” notes Brownlow.
Therefore, plain text might effectively create the feeling of more personal, one-to-one communication, such as for the following:
- Reactivation campaigns
- Messages from top executives
- Messages that address serious or emotional issues
“A good compromise for such emails might be a rich-text approach, with a subdued HTML masthead,” he suggests, “and then plain text in the main message.”
Plain-and-simple is fine now and then. Under the right conditions, a plain-text message might be more powerful—and effective—than one rendered in HTML.
Source: Email Marketing Reports.
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The editors of Fortune came up with a fun idea for the magazine’s “Best Companies to Work For” issue: Invite the CEOs of two employee-friendly retailers to trade places for a day. Maxine Clark (founder and CEO of publicly held Build-a-Bear) and Kip Tendell (cofounder and CEO of the privately held Container Store) agreed to give it a try.
Despite obvious differences in each business, the temporary job-swap yielded valuable insights. “When the two leaders spent a day working on the front lines of each other’s operations,” notes Bill Taylor at Harvard Business Review, “they encountered all kinds of ideas about merchandising, employee motivation, and in-store communication that worked in one place, and might just work in the other if those ideas were exported to and adapted for the new environment.”
- Clark, for instance, appreciated how the Container Store acknowledges sales associates for a job well done with Post-It notes left on lockers.
- Kendell, meanwhile, liked Build-a-Bear’s “Strive for Five” technique, which is designed to sell each customer five items.
“I’ve seen it time and again,” says Taylor. “Leaders who are hungry for new ideas don’t just aspire to learn from the ‘best in class’ in their narrowly defined field. They also aspire to learn from organizations outside their field as a way to shake things up and make real change.”
Look for innovation wherever you can find it—even if it means adapting an idea from another industry.
Source: Harvard Business Review.
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“Responsible consumer marketers have adopted an ‘opt-in’ email policy for determining who receives their marketing messages,” writes Ruth Stevens at the Harvard Business Review blog. Unless customers give … permission to contact them, the marketer leaves them alone.”
While this works well in B2C environments, argues Stevens, B2B marketers—and their customers—are actually better served by an opt-out policy. Take, for instance, the exchange of business cards at a tradeshow. “Does that exhibitor have permission to contact you by email?” she asks. “Of course. You fully expect to receive email (or phone, or postal mail) follow-up. That’s how you stay informed, build relationships, and do your job.”
But what if you start receiving irrelevant content or too many messages? “You’ll opt out,” she reasons. “At that point, you expect the marketer to honor your request and remove you from the emailing list.” A preference center that manages opt-in subscriptions can just as easily handle their opt-out counterparts, she notes.
Stevens makes her case with the example of Cisco—a major B2B company that adopted an opt-in policy early in the game. “Today,” she notes, “Cisco only has email addresses for 45% to 50% of its customers around the world. Of these, only 29% opted in to receive communications. As a result, Cisco can only hope to reach 14% of its customers by email.” It’s a sobering thought for any email marketer.
Careful with those options. Your B2B customers might not expect—or even want—a strict opt-in email policy; consider just making it clear to them that they can opt out at any time.
Source: Harvard Business Review blog.
“Adding social-media icons to your email campaigns … takes just a few seconds,” writes Jim Hitch at the Emma blog, “but it can increase your reach and help you identify your most avid followers. Who knew all of that could be as simple as pushing a couple of buttons?”
