Crumbs from the Scone
Once hubs for consumers seeking a little indulgence on a busy day, many specialty coffee shops are now searching for ways to keep customers coming back. Does this mean the days of the Half-Caff Iced Mocha Latte Grande with Whipped Crème and Sprinkles are behind us? In other words, should marketers simplify customer choices in confusing economic times? Well, at least one recent study says: Don’t you dare.
These researchers invited a range of consumers (17 to 66 years old) to sample “new” coffees at a food court. The menus listed 50 coffee names drawn from coffees offered at major chains and a local shop. But subjects received different versions: the coffee options were either uncategorized (just the name of the coffee), or divided into 10 categories. The most informative category labels specified attributes of the coffee flavors, such as “Complex,” “Spicy,” “Nutty,” “Mild” or “Earthy.”
The catch? All of the subjects were actually served the exact same coffee, regardless of the extensive categories describing their choice.
The result? Hold on to your Latte: Customers who received the most complicated options (the name of the coffee, divided into 10 categories) were most impressed with the “new” flavor. Researchers concluded that “the number of categories partitioning an assortment leads consumers to feel more satisfied with their chosen option.” This worked even when the categories were not informative at all.
Source: “The Mere Categorization Effect: How the Presence of Categories Increases Choosers’ Perceptions of Assortment Variety and Outcome Satisfaction” by Cassie Mogilner, Tamar Rudnick and Sheena S. Iyengar.
Crumbs from the Scone
“While US consumers are fully embracing text messaging,” says Alan Berrey in an article at MarketingProfs, “very few enterprises have followed suit.” And when you consider that 80 percent of Americans own mobile phones, and send over one billion test messages each day, it makes sense to develop a strategy for this largely untapped channel. Here are some of Berrey’s pointers:
Join in. “Far too many companies do not support text messaging at all,” he says. “The key ingredient for most companies is simply to get started.”
Let people know you’re there. Demonstrate your texting proficiency early in the customer relationship, and you can fully employ the channel throughout the sub-processes of acquisition, support and retention.
Keep it short. Messages need to be relevant, timely and brief. “If you cannot convey the message in 160 characters,” he notes, “then the message is probably not well suited for text messaging.”
And be sure to integrate with other channels. “Text messaging rarely stands on its own,” reports Alan Berrey. “In most cases, [it] is used to augment other communications.”
Source: MarketingProfs.
Crumbs from the Scone
Chances are good that fewer than 15 percent of your list clicked on at least one link in your last email. “Think about that,” says Mark Brownlow in a post at Email Marketing Reports. “We have over 85% of subscribers not clicking on email they explicitly asked to receive. Over 85%. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? A missed opportunity?” The first step in improving that rate, he argues, is to identify the chain of events that have to unfold before a subscriber chooses to clink on a link. Brownlow points to five key factors:
Delivery. This is the first hurdle: if your recipient never gets your email in the first place, she can’t make a decision one way or the other.
Recognition. According to Brownlow, positive memories and associations about your company label your message as “unworthy of instant banishment to the spam or delete folder.”
Pre-interest. Your message itself looks interesting enough to merit further investigation.
Interest. After a more in-depth look at the content, readers want to take further action.
Interaction. They find the right outlets, tools or environment (usually in the form of a call-to-action and link) for follow-through.
Email marketing still works, Brownlow reminds us. The challenge is to optimize its effectiveness. “Imagine how much undiscovered potential still remains, given that we’re only getting clicks from under 15% of the audience for each individual email,” he concludes.
Source: Email Marketing Reports.
Crumbs from the Scone
What do kids—and, maybe, you—like about Bazooka bubble gum? It could be the flavor, or perhaps the size of its bubbles, but we’ll bet it has more to do with the Bazooka Joe comic strip contained in each wrapper. You open it up, hope for a strip you haven’t yet seen and chuckle at the corny joke, even if it’s a repeat. Good times.
In the Editorial Emergency newsletter, Julia Rubiner opines on a similar thrill she gets from the recently redesigned packaging of her favorite Wrigley’s product. While she appreciates the compact dimensions and tab closure, “what’s made me an even more ardent fan of the Classic Bubble iteration of the Extra brand is the cheeky copy printed on the inside flap of said envelope package,” she says.
The first slogan she saw: “15 sticks of unadulterated, mind numbing, euphoria-inducing, earthshattering, long-lasting, and humble enjoyment.”
Another pick: “Doesn’t bubble gum remind you of your childhood? It reminds us of your childhood. You were a cute kid.”
And her favorite: “Made with real bubbles.”
The collect-them-all mentality of the fun-loving copy has upped the volume of her purchases, and she is even considering the purchase of other flavors to see if they say something different.
“After all,” says Rubiner, “by the time you spot that chewy copy, you’re in the bag—you’ve already purchased the product. In other words, these morsels aren’t meant to make you buy the product; they’re meant to make you keep buying the product.” And that’s Marketing Inspiration.
Crumbs from the Scone
“A good opt-in procedure lays the foundation for a strong email program,” writes Loren McDonald in an article at MarketingProfs, “but a well-thought-out series of welcome emails will help turn your newcomer into a long-term subscriber.” A proper welcome program speeds up engagement, notes McDonald, and reduces list churn “because you reach out to your new subscribers and establish inbox recognition while the opt-in is still fresh in their minds.” He recommends a program with these elements:
A transparent opt-in process. Begin at your subscription page with a clear explanation of the topics, frequency and formats your subscribers can expect. “The double opt-in confirmation email is not a welcome message,” he says, “but it can explain that a special message welcoming the new subscriber will come next.”
A multipurpose welcome message. In addition to general pleasantries, use this for purposes like affirming your company’s value proposition and inviting the recipient to visit your site for a purchase or to complete a profile.
A series of follow-up messages. Ease new subscribers into the relationship with “drip” emails that minimize inattention and attrition.
“[I]f new subscribers don’t act on any of the emails in your welcome series,” says McDonald, “that inactivity can trigger a new track of emails that offer help, advice or surveys to uncover problems.”
Source: MarketingProfs.
Crumbs from the Scone
You’ve been considering starting a B2B blog. But you’re afraid that once you start it up, you won’t be able to maintain it. How much do you really have to say in a given week, to keep your copy fresh, and meet the needs of the Big Bad Blog Clock? Good news: In a blog at the MarketingProfs’ Daily Fix, Mack Collier offers all the tips you need to keep a corporate blog humming. Among them:
Don’t put so much pressure on yourself. Develop a “dedicated group” of bloggers, he says. And make sure these writers are committed: “If each blogger needs to write 2 posts a week, they have to be willing to give you 2 posts a week.”
Develop a posting clock. “Ideally, a company blog should have at least 2 new posts a week, and up to 5. Less than 2 is too little, and over 5 is usually too much.”
Stick to it. “Set up your posts to run in the middle of the week, and then move outward,” Collier advises. “Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are usually the best days for traffic, so schedule posts to run these days, usually around 10am-noon.”
Post pictures and bios of each blogger. “Remember that ultimately, people don’t want to connect with companies, we want to connect with people,” Collier says.
Source: MarketingProfs’ Daily Fix.
Crumbs from the Scone
It’s that time of year when even for-profit companies focus on non-profit giving. For instance, some merchants add an option for charitable giving to their Web sites, or set aside a percentage of holiday sales for a cause. So, what’s the best way to get customers to give to a public service such as the Red Cross this time of year? Recent research has a rather surprising answer: nix the feel-good approach.
Researchers studied reams of data from a public television station seeking member support over the course of two years. They found that the most effective fundraising appeals combined two rather unflattering messages:
It’s not about benefiting you—it’s about helping everybody else (other-benefit appeals).
Something bad will happen if you don’t contribute (negative-emotion appeals).
The appeal that said: contribute to the betterment of the community, or else bad things will ensue and you will feel guilt and shame, actually got the most positive response in terms of call-in donations.
Why? With a service like PBS or the Red Cross, donors know they’ll receive its benefits whether they give or not. Therefore, giving based on benefits becomes nothing more than a transaction. When the focus shifts to helping others, however, it brings back the concept of giving. Add a pinch of guilt/shame for motivation, and voila!
Source: An Empathy-Helping Perspective on Consumers’ Responses to Fund-Raising Appeals. Robert J. Fisher, Mark Vandenbosch, Kersi D. Antia.
Crumbs from the Scone
In a post at MarketingProfs’ Daily Fix blog, Lewis Green ponders an age-old quandary facing marketers: How to prove value to a company’s top leadership. “Let’s begin by ending the argument regarding ROI,” he says. “When we say we can’t measure it, we sound like whiners. Our bosses don’t want to hear it and we will never convince them that marketing efforts can’t be measured in terms of a return on investment as measured in dollars.” Here’s his solution:
Stop measuring ROI against tools like social media, public relations and advertising. Instead, he argues, marketers should present ROI based on the success of quarterly and annual results. “The objective might be something about getting the right people to notice the new product and to get that product in the right places,” he says. “[B]y working with sales and customer service and retail in this example, the marketing effort can take credit for creating most of the initial sales of the product.” In other words, he continues, you can “create a formula that represents each functional area’s cost as compared to revenues.”
Develop case studies for each and every campaign, project and objective in which marketing plays a role. With realistic metrics, you can gather quantifiable data that bolsters anecdotal evidence, and demonstrate to key decision makers how marketing contributes to the bottom line. “I bet that soon marketing will not be seen as discretionary spending,” says Green.
Stop using jargon, acronyms and generalities to frame marketing success. “When we do so,” he argues, “the others around the table hear blah, blah, blah. Be specific. What did we do and how did it work?”
Source: MarketingProfs’ Daily Fix.
Crumbs from the Scone
“Contrary to popular belief among marketers,” says a ReturnPath whitepaper, “an unsubscribe request is not necessarily the end of a customer relationship. By executing a well-thought-out, positive unsubscribe experience, a company can extend their brand equity and keep the customer for years to come, even if that customer is no longer an email subscriber.”
To see how well corporations currently manage the opt-out process, ReturnPath unsubscribed from 45 email lists it had previously joined for another study. While most included links to unsubscribe or preference pages in their messages, a few still required recipients to send unsubscribe requests by email. The majority of the companies provided immediate confirmation that an address would be removed from the list. Some even offered the exact date this would take effect.
However, surprisingly few offered anything but a total opt-out: only 2 companies out of the 45 studied offered options for subscribers to change the frequency they received email, or to opt out of just some of the marketers’ emails. And only 11% of companies allowed subscribers to change their email address on the unsubscribe landing page.
“While the basics were well-executed in most cases,” concludes ReturnPath, “most companies did not realize maximum benefit from the opt-out process.” Their mistake? Treating the process as a technical transaction instead of an opportunity to continue a conversation with the customer. It pays to make that goodbye a long one.
Source: MarketingProfs enewsletter
Crumbs from the Scone
In a post at GrokDotCom, Jeff Sexton puts the winter-holiday quandary in blunt terms: “[Y]ou won’t keep profit margins healthy unless you actively take business away from someone—either from direct competitors, or from businesses outside your market/category. If the pumpkin pie gets smaller, you’ll have to cut a fatter slice in order to get the same amount of holiday pie.”
According to Sexton, one way to achieve this goal is by giving your online customers a point-of-action assurance that returns and exchanges will be extremely convenient and easy. Sexton points to this quick primer on the topic by Bryan Eisenberg.
“Point-of-action [assurances] help us overcome that one last moment of doubt,” says Eisenberg, as in, “I think she hinted at this one, but can I exchange it if she wants that other digital camera instead?”
He praises Lands’ End, for instance, which uses the headline Guaranteed. Period. when outlining this policy right next to the order form: “If you’re not satisfied with any item, return it at any time for an exchange or refund of its purchase price.”
Says Eisenberg, “[A]dapting these techniques to your own checkout process can help close the sale and keep them coming back—not just to return things, but to buy from you year-round.” And that’s Marketing Inspiration.
Source: MarketingProfs enewsletter
