Is Twitter (Becoming) the New Hyde Park

If you walk through Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, London (UK) you hear a lot of opinions. There are a lot of people who stand out and openly express their opinion on any subject. These opinions are very audible and basically sound like a bunch of yelling. As long as you don't say something illegal and don't use profanity - you have free reign to share your opinion. I find this place really amusing as there are more people talking and very few listening, with only a small fraction paying attention to what is really being said! Sound familiar?

Twitter is turning into a launch pad of how a lot of people are planting tweets, re-tweeting, but rarely listening.

A quick survey of some good friends who Tweet. I asked them to share feedback on how they are using Twitter, and what their response from Twitter really is. Their opinion, people are polite and re-tweet what they are saying but there are no responses back on what is really being said. Fewer people are listening.

A look at a few business over time on Twitter. A tweet six months ago led to a large number of responses or feedback. Today, with 10 times more followers, each tweet elicits less than 5% responses compared to the past.

Lists in Twitter are going to create interesting challenges for the 'Tweeter' - you have to learn how to multi-task as you message different lists with different messages. A bigger challenge for people who are in small businesses or those who Tweet while they are doing other things.

Twitter is also like the Jim Carey movie, the Truman Show with one significant difference. Imagine hundreds if not thousands of shows running concurrently. This gives people a lot of things to look at, good choices no doubt, but again very few people focused on listening.

There are more applications that are being launched that allow people to reuse tweets, this allows business and individuals to reuse Tweets and repackage old information as they reach out to people. You need to go back to the basics and remember that Twitter brings together the power of now, merging both your computer and mobile. You have to go back to the fundamentals and create interactive conversations.

Hyde Park also has some great speakers. They have a following, they are engaging, & they respond to the questions thrown out to them.

To fix Twitter you have to focus on three things - you have to learn to listen so you can participate in conversations, you have to build trust so your followers will click through on what you provide them, & you need to communicate relevance else you are as irrelevant as the loud obnoxious ones in Hyde Park.

Email, Facebook, & Reviving Your List

A multi-channel retailer offered everyone on their list an incentive to come shop – web, call center, or store. Buyers were given a discount, non-buyers were offered a little more. Even if you didn't buy, you could win something. You spun for free shipping or gift with purchase. If you didn't want anything you could even get a small gift if you paid for shipping & updated your preferences. There was also a grand prize winner. You had to tell them a little bit about yourself, and of course, all offers were e-mailed to you.

You were even given the option to share your incentive on Facebook. A 'free-shipping' turned into a 'free-shipping + gift' if you shared with your friends on Facebook. If one of your friends from Facebook were to purchase, they too were asked for information about their preferences.

The sequence of events that led to this were quite interesting. You got a direct mail piece at home or a phone call. They provided you with an access code with a timed incentive to respond. You went online – input your offer code & were e-mailed a confirmation link.

This confirmation link asked you to provide preferences – a few questions & a big thank you with a coupon you could redeem immediately. If you didn't open, click, or use the coupon you got a gentle reminder.

You were even encouraged to call their call center or visit one of their stores with your coupon. Their employees could help find you your perfect gift! Those who purchased items were encouraged to write about their purchases on the merchants Facebook page. If you posted it on Facebook, you were given another offer and the ability to share the offer with your friends.

Prior to doing this this merchant was averaging response rates of less than 5% open rates with a dismal click-through. They were also averaging three communiqués a week. With this coordinated cross channel blitz they reduced their offers to one a week and have enjoyed open rates of more than 25% with high conversion rates & even higher engagement.

The post purchase survey and subsequent messaging from the customer revealed that customers now felt like they were part of the club!

Your Webinar Changed My Life!

This was the subject line of an email that I received from someone who attended an online workshop by Builder Radio. The rest of the email read as follows.

I sat and tried to think of a catchy subject line to prove I learned something yesterday…

Thought maybe an “ego builder” would prompt you to open but you don’t seem like you have a big ego. Plus the subject line has nothing to do with this email which is misleading and illegal. See! I did learn something.

Anyway-would you mind sending me the subject lines that work you offered to us yesterday? And is there any way you would share the electronic presentation as well? Let me know if you would. Thank you!

Have a terrific day!

Here are some additional ordinary statements that now pack some punch …

Trucks are the greatest luxury! I have TWO! And I love them both. We go places together.

On an email selling camping gear with the subject line, ‘How to pitch a tent…’

I have a big box in my garage that has everything I need to camp. I just throw it in my truck and go! Most important thing is toilet paper, flashlight, lighter (or fire starter logs work best) and tent. All the rest is gravy!

Come to think of it, chairs are nice too…and pots and pans, and silverware, plates, cups, sticks for hotdogs and marshmallows, pillows and blankets, towels –big and small, Ziploc bags of all sizes, batteries, radio, rope and bungee cords, trash bags, bug spray, soap, games-sorry, now I am telling you how I camp…

Just don’t show up to your site at night. Makes it much more difficult to pitch a tent.

Our dialogue continued and I realized that this copywriter at heart put so much punch into everything she wrote – it got me to read it.

With so much of our focus on deliverability, engaging subject lines, and call to action we tend to neglect something that gets people into reading more. To create dialogue you have to write well. Good copy sparks interesting conversation. Be it Twitter, Email, Facebook - you have to engage and capture attention quickly.

Our Service in Action call in November (11/20 - @ 2.00 pm EST) will focus on 'How to Stand Out in the In-Box.' We will introduce you to a roundtable of experts that will lead the discussion around best practices.

From Direct Mail to Email & Social - Mark's Story!

Mark came from the world of direct marketing. He ran programs to engage consumers and businesses with all kinds of direct response materials. His principled approach to marketing provided him with a few very strong fundamentals. Advertise with a superb image, write awesome copy, & have multiple 'great' calls to action. The world of online has provided him an avenue to apply his direct marketing experience.

Online to him is direct marketing on steroids. You are able to see results in near real time as marketing campaigns can be launched with great speed. To leverage the effectiveness of the internet Mark feels that these are fundamentals for any marketer.

1. A welcome campaign, hopefully with an offer to engage, is sent as soon as possible after first contact with the potential customer. He prefers to automate this offer with an offer that is relevant. The channel of contact or initial engagement could be the company web site, an ad on Google, an offer in a magazine, or even content from social media channels.

2. If people want to get off your mailing list, he recommends an EASY to navigate Opt-Out process, but with an intermediate step to allow the user to ammend their profile. Perhaps to change their contact information, adjust their preferences, or even receive a reduced volume of communiquees.

3. Don't just plug in the name of the recipient. Check to see if the information flows correctly. Poor, incorrect, or inconsistent personalization sucks! Twitter is interesting, 140 words to get your message across - they couldn't have taught better lessons at Direct Marketing school.

Mark is passionate about racing - he enjoyed racing cars and loves riding bikes. The web offers him the opportunity to test out offers really fast. He loves email and continues to be thrilled by the opportunities presented through social media.

Mobile Media or 'Mocial': An Interview with Jacob!

Jacob was one of the first users of an iPhone. He has always tried to do all of his work on a mobile device. He is big on blogs and social networks, and yes he pulls most of this up on his mobile device. To him the future of interactive marketing will be delivered on mobile devices - with social networks & user interest driving relevant content.

Here are some tips from him to make campaigns more engaging:

-Marketers should assume that their customers are checking emails on a wide variety of mobile devices, so start using mobile text versions and use header row offers that will display in the message preview on a mobile devise screen. Images in HTML should be reduced in file size so that a mobile device will not take as long to download the images, and a better ratio of text vs images should be worked for.

-A/B testing to learn how to shorten a subject line so that it will deliver the most impact in with the least amount of space. Short subject lines will also display well on mobile devices where real estate is very limited.

What Jacob doesn’t like:

-Blanket offers that do not apply to the email receiver; by getting more information at the subscribe page, offering a recepient to update preferences, and then using past purchase history, geographical location, past email history, and the wise use of surveys, a much more targeted offer can be presented that will encourage engagement, not unsubscribing.

What can Social Media do?

- Build a good blog that is updated frequently with valuable content, then add blog post snippets into the email to pull people to the website. Blogs are a softer sell and provide a rich source of content and interaction. Provide responses and feedback on the blog to build a community, and then tie the blog posting back to products offered on the website.

Perhaps the most important thing Jacob points out is for marketers to learn how to engage their customers on social media channels while they are on the move! Think about it, you are at a 'real' social event, and you are on a 'virtual' social event at the same time. Mobile social networking will facilitate two way communication based on your location.

That is where we are headed.

Engaging Your Customers: Interview with Ebony!

Ebony is a make over Diva - looks, life, & branding. Make-me-over-Eb continues to transform the lives of many. She touches her clients through multiple WEB channels & continues to apply her creative focus to guide many businesses in their communication endeavors.

She wants you to engage the recipient in 'short-talk,' by continuously asking them questions. She thinks long surveys put people off and loose focus. She believes in really short opinion surveys - one to three questions. "It is important to use a promo code with the survey so you know what response can be attributed to a particular survey." Her style of writing copy is also engaging as she encourages you to 'aspire' and wants to help you get there. If deals are good, she wants to make it easy for you to share the deal or spread the word leveraging email & social media channels.

She hates mass email without proper segmentation. Worse than that is the lack of personalization. She feels that everyone takes time to provide their email id, the company that collects this information should have the obligation to personalize and treat you like an individual.

She LOVES how Blog Talk Radio engages its audience with weekly emails about updates to their tool for their subscribers. Blog Talk Radio also features links to articles in their blog that highlight various podcast programs they host. They also send screen shots of the new features, and links to information on their website about the new features. Her key message here is that Blog Talk Radio wants to make sure that their 'guest,' you feel welcome and never lost. She encourages marketers to use social media channels to improve their personal & brand leverage.

In a world with social media 'experts,' Ebony is one of the few originals who actually uses Social Media to create interactive conversations with those she serves.

Check out her radio program at Blog Talk Radio, it is a great source of learning.

13 Ideas to Reengage Your Customers & Prospects!

It’s inevitable, at some point you’ll lose contact with some of your customers and prospects… but don’t worry, there are a number of ways to reengaging them, here are a few simple yet effective ideas:

1) Send a simple email with the subject line – Do you read your email? or Do you read your catalog?

2) Offer more control over the type of emails they receive and the frequency of the messages; if the consumer can control this interaction, then they are more likely to participate.

3) Send a We miss you! email with an offer (better yet, try a split test without the offer.) This will hopefully capture their attention and give you the opportunity to target more effectively.

4) Go back and look at the links they clicked in the past and then target them with similar offers.

5) Keep the focus on the transactional, send an email at the conclusion of the transaction. If they have purchased, ask why; if they haven’t purchased try to find out why not... the goal is to keep them engaged.

6) Check their activity across other channels, see what they are doing, remind them about your program and see what you can do to get their attention using alternate mediums.

7) Integrate multiple channels, send a print piece that offers part of the story/ offer and references the remainder on the landing page. This is a great way to grab the customer’s attention and test the validity of your data.

8) Ask your people, your frontline folks are your lifeline to your customer base. Ask them what customers and prospects are saying about your email campaigns and leverage their feedback into the process.

9) Let them truly be the first to know; if you promise a good deal via email, make it come true.

10) Be sincere, tell them about the benefit of your email program, stress the environment, your ability to serve them better and your savings – stress how you can translate these savings into a benefit for them.

11) Solicit customer & prospect feedback - ask them about your campaigns, your products, your services. Make this information available over the web for others to evaluate and comment on.

12) Open up your social media channels, and do listen to what people are talking about on those channels.

13) Humanize your campaigns - let your customers reach out to your organization if they need to. An email help desk helps answer questions, analyze results of campaigns, & provides real time feedback for improvement of your campaigns!

You could pay a research firm thousands to get free and relevant advice from those you serve!!