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.
