Double Coverage

Pick up your snacks, claim your favorite seat and get ready for Super Bowl Sunday – one of the most heavily marketed events of the year and the most coveted television ads in the industry. In addition to having prime access, the NFL marketing gurus recently ran a series of TV ads encouraging the viewer to watch both their TVs and PCs to get the expert-view of the game.

Consumers are accustom to the website reference to access additional information, find an enhanced option, greater savings/ offers or place an order – capitalize on this by encouraging your consumers to visit your other channels. Use your emails to drive the connection, just keep the following in mind:
1) Clearly point them to the alternate channel
2) Keep the information relevant (not just for the sake of including)
3) Incorporate a landing page, with easy-to-find info
4) Ask for feedback

Finally, use the feedback collected – point out the comments made or give credit the person in one of your other channels this all-round engagement will build up the effectiveness of your eMarketing program.

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SIA: CRM – Building a Smarter Database

How can you truly anticipate customer needs and synchronize your channels? While some might say that a very sophisticated CRM can determine offers, learn what some really smart marketers have done to appear sophisticated and drive more profitable results for their organization.

Join tomorrow’s Service In Action call to hear how one entrepreneur is helping sports and entertainment companies interact with their prospects and customers in a more efficient manner, leveraging the data collected at all points. We’re starting at 2:00 EST and gaining insight from Eyal Mintz of Fan Interactive, a presenter at our 2008 Panel of Peers and SIA regular.

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Communication Evolution

Let’s flashback to the early 80s, think about where we were with phone technology. The phone companies would charge a monthly access fee to a line that already existed, and would charge long distance fees to make calls to areas less than 100 miles away. This was an awesome revenue generator for the phone giants since there was little cost to them.

Since then we’ve evolved – VOIP, web and cell phones have driven costs down, so much so that the phone companies also had to evolve, adjust pricing and attempt to keep consumers engaged… yet many rely on other means to connect.

We’ve seen a shorter evolution with internet connectivity, imagine a few years from now if broadband was offered free or costs were reduced dramatically. As more households subscribe to this service, people will be able to leverage the power of the internet in all aspects of their lives, yielding more innovation and allowing people to connect efficiently and effectively. Email will continue to help cross this chasm and more people will depend on it for their communication protocol. Who knows where the next evolution will be, but all indicators are pointing online.

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PatraLaiKhak: The Letter Writer

Yesterday’s post is related to today’s and both were inspired by a Bollywood movie I watched a few days ago of an aspiring novelist who sets up a letter writing shop. The movie was set some years back, and the main character moves back from the city to his remote village where people need his help in communicating with their loved ones in different parts of the country. Things start slow, he writes whatever he is told but his letters get few results. He soon learns that the best way to elicit a response from the recipients is to write with his heart, customers come to him and tell him what they wish to communicate; he then weaves a beautiful tale. He is passionate about his job, taking non-responses personally; his results are amazing, he’s able to get people to respond, send money and even come and visit their relatives.

Take a look at your email copy; are you truly getting your message across to your customers and prospects? Do you simply list a product and price or do you write copy that coaxes a click through, here are a few ways to say the same thing:

Golden vanilla pound cake.
Fine-grained, moist and golden is everyone's dream of pound cake perfection.

Sale ends tomorrow.
Our super savings, with over 100 items, ends Friday.

A great bank and superb interest rates.
Find all the tools you need to succeed in your financial life – they’re yours for the taking!

You have been unsubscribed.
We are sorry to see you go, should you have a change of heart feel free to rejoin our newsletter to receive specials, exclusives and information on our shared interests.

Back to the Bollywood tale… the main character’s letters were so well put together that the recipients would write back asking for more if they hadn't received something in a while. Try to elevate your messages, engage recipients and keep them enthralled.

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Letter from your Chief

Email is becoming more mainstream, here is a suggestion to help inform your customers and get them engaged and maybe even convince those who rely on print media:

Dear Customer (Prospect):
Thank you for your support; we appreciate you being part of our email list and your continued loyalty to our brand. Email is becoming a very efficient way for us to communicate and we plan to focus our efforts on this channel.

We are making this decision because email is good for the environment; it’s quick and costs less than printed items. We hope to mail less paper in 2009, using email to send the most time sensitive items – keeping you up to date in near-real time and saving the costs of printing and postage. Our goal is to keep you better informed, in a more efficient manner and pass along savings to you.

My team does not share your email address with any other company, your information is secure and you can unsubscribe from our communiqués at any time. We will also continue to mail items to you from time to time, but we need your feedback to ensure you are receiving the most relevant information.

The information you share will help us customize the emails and printed items sent, so please complete the personal surveys and offer suggestions as you see fit. We look forward to the year ahead.

Sincerely,

Head Honcho
Your Company

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Predictions Gone Wrong

"Two years from now, spam will be solved."

This was a quote from Bill Gates in 2004; unfortunately Bill got that one wrong because spam accounts for 90-plus percent of all email world-wide. We’re nowhere nearer to the spam solution and Gates isn’t the only one to get a prediction wrong, here are a few others:

"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home."
Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977

"Almost all of the many predictions now being made about 1996 hinge on the Internet's continuing exponential growth. But I predict the Internet will soon go spectacularly supernova and in 1996 catastrophically collapse."
Robert Metcalfe, founder of 3Com, 1995

These are three of The 7 Worst Tech Predictions of All Time, an article by PC World’s Robert Strohmeyer that was reprinted on MSN. Check out Robert’s article and let us know if there are some others you’ve seen… Happy Friday.

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President 2.0

We’ve been bombarded with articles, television and web coverage tied to the elections for months, but the most appropriate quote for our blog was in a CNN article yesterday and spoken by David Parry, assistant professor of emerging media at the University of Texas at Dallas. When interviewed for an article on the new Whitehouse.gov site, Parry said that the new site speaks to Obama's awareness of the importance of Web 2.0 technology. Parry continued by saying, "I think it's one of the key reasons he was elected, and now they are using it as a means to go to the people and communicate.”

Parry is right, yesterday at 12:01 the Whitehouse.gov site was rebranded with more interactive features, a photo gallery, the ability to sign up for email updates and a White House blog. This site will also host a weekly video address, slide shows and the latest news about nominations and appointments. There are other changes to the site too, behind these scenes the site has is more open to indexing allowing greater search. In addition to the site the White House Twitter was also refreshed and jumped from 4K followers to over 144K.

We’ve blogged about the role the web has played in the election – Obama’s Road to the Whitehouse, his fight to not Surrender your BlackBerry (which he’s won) and his use of the Change.gov site – but these were just teasers compared to the post inaugural technology and the changes we are likely to see.

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Make it Conversational

We flew a US Airways flight from Columbia to Philadelphia yesterday, the flight attendant made the traditional announcement. After finishing, she went to the exit rows to do the secondary check with the occupants of the row. She talked to them about the safety information, but it wasn't the typical announcement, she greeted the four occupants and thanked them for flying US Airways. She took out the card, pointed out a couple of things and then proceeded to tell them that those sitting in exit row seats are the real heroes. She spoke about the US Air flight last week where everyone survived – she attributed that to a great pilot, quick crew response and an incredibly active exit row section. She kept the people engaged; she joked, answered questions and explained the details. People paid attention and she related to them.

Email is certainly quite common and most emails are like the typical safety announcement made on the aircraft. We’re aware that someone is speaking but we pay little attention to the details. Email should be like the special exit row announcement – you need to empathize and connect with those you communicate with, don't try to mimic your direct mail pieces – get creative and most importantly make it conversational!

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Marketing in a Down Economy

Economic reports show that we’ve been in a recession for much longer than many of us want to admit; maybe you’ve made adaptations to your marketing efforts. Maybe you’re like most and still feeling your way through the necessary changes.

We’ve done some research and have put together a workshop specifically for the VT/NH Direct Marketing Group; we’re presenting 12 Fundamentals to address the three themes introduced in Nancy Shaver’s article, Making Marketing Count in a Down Economy, published in Chief Marketer this past November. Here’s a quick summary of her three themes:

1) Understand your customers
Don't assume your previous customer insights hold true, economic challenges can change consumer views dramatically. Focus your research investments on customer behavior and tracking tools rather than branding. Create and disseminate engaging, relevant messages based on an understanding of customers' preferences, needs and behaviors

2) Concentrate on current customers
Focus on current customers, in tough economic conditions customers feel vulnerable and are more likely to stay with a company rather than make a switch. Increase your relevant engagement to generate sales, help your customers through their difficult situations to build stronger relationships. Use the opportunity to capitalize on the trust and goodwill that you've created and find ways to help them navigate through the slowdown.

3) Analyze and segment
Pay attention to customer profiling to identifying which customers spend the most, new behaviors will emerge during a slowdown; proactively assess and respond. Focus on the improvement of your customer profiling, segmentation and modeling — not just analytics or insights. Use more sophisticated campaign planning, data management and creative execution

Join us tomorrow; visit the VT/NH Direct Marketing site for information on our session. We’re also planning a session in Chicago this April, drop us a line if you’d like information.

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Video & Email

Our friend Andrew Kordek, of Sears, invites you to Say Thank You to a Hero in his December 13, email. His work was highlighted in an article on The Retail Email Blog as one of the first top online retailers to use embedded video – video running inside the email, without the need to clickthrough to their site.

Andrew’s email included a 20-second looping video that begins when you open the message; the sound is not activated in the email but can be heard in the full-length version on the Sears’ site. The absence of sound keeps your recipient from being thrown off when they open the message (imagine the surprise if you opened in your office), it keeps the message size manageable (19KB in this case) and encourages clicks. This message was powered by VHD Technology, compatible with 93% of the Sears’ database, those not compatible saw the first static frame. Other services also allow embedded video; Goodmail Systems will be offering an embedded video service soon.

Video or Not
Despite the availability of the technology, the question becomes whether or not you should put videos in email. I’m worried that the newness and excitement will cause eMarketers to include video because they now can, not because they should.In my opinion, video should be used to enhance your message – in Andrew’s case; the video clip conveyed the message and helped promote the special offer of Sears’ Heroes at Home Wish Registry. Other great uses have been from Wine Enthusiast, they embedded a still leading to a how-to video on using a Waiter’s Style Corkscrew. I’ve also seen inclusion from AEG when promoting long-running concerts and ticket sale announcements.

As eMarketers we also have to weigh the subscriber’s response to embedded video and if it proves to be worth the extra time and investment. This is one of the many questions to be answered in 2009, send us your thoughts!

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Smarter Smart Phones

I will admit that I recently returned my BlackBerry for another type of smart phone – I don’t regret the switch, but I do wish that I could get some of these cool apps for my device.

Logan Kugler recently penned an article in ComputerWord about the 10 must-have free BlackBerry apps, three of my favorites include:

Vlingo is a speech-recognition app that goes far beyond BlackBerry’s inherent voice dialing; with this app, you can use your voice to run Web searches ("Find pizza in Philadelphia,") launch built-in BlackBerry applications ("Open Calendar") send text or compose emails. It even takes over the application key on the side of your device, making it even easier to use.

iSkoot allows you to send and receive Skype calls on your BlackBerry. Logan mentioned the sound quality, easy to navigate interface and the option to chat by text – all while capitalizing on your existing phone settings, ring tones and call log.

TwitterBerry allows you to stay in the Twitter-know even while away from your PC, you can read the latest tweets from your Twitter friends, send your own, read/ write direct messages and view your @ replies. You can even spell check and insert symbols (saving those valuable 140 characters.)

Just think about what this means for your email recipients… factor these items into your interactive strategy and be sure to read the rest of Logan’s article (available by the top link.) Plus if you find short-cuts for other devices, let me know :0)

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Electronic Enlightenment

The end-of-the-year stats all report a decline in printed mediums – namely newspaper and direct mail. eMarketer estimated that the newspaper advertising revenues declined 16.4% in 2008 (to $37.9 billion) and that by 2012, spending will slide further to an estimated $28.4 billion (by far the sharpest drop I’ve encountered.)

The medium’s loss is attributed in part to younger readers preferring to access their news online, a recent Pew Research Center report claims that nearly six out of 10 Americans (30 and younger) said they got most of their national and international news online. These stats attribute to the record drops in circulation and ad page sales. These drops have newspapers struggling to reinvent their revenue models for both online and print.

Likewise, direct mail houses are facing increases in raw materials, postage and decreased demand all the while, they are printing items for a digitally-geared recipient. This is where you, my eMarketing friend comes in. As more importance is placed on the online channel, more recipients expect your information and offers electronically; your recipients are expecting to be part of your interactive strategy, not just receive a postcard with subsequent email follow-up. Use 2009 to ramp-up your interactive marketing strategy, wow the recipient, draw them in and make references to items you have made online, through television or other electronic mediums. Reserve your printed items for the more detail-specific items and use your electronic interactions for the brief, time-sensitive touches.

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2009: The Year of Engagement

ROI is going to be a major focus for 2009, which typically translates to more email in the online marketing world. But now is not the time throw out a bunch of cool special effects, recipients need to be engaged and see the value of your messages. Here are five check points to reach that engagement strategy:

1) Improved Segmentation – Place your recipients into segments and market to them appropriately, a few simple segmentation points include last clicked or opened, consumer (buyer, customer, member) vs. prospect, online vs. other channel and the length of time on file.

2) Active Subject Lines – Tempt the recipient to open the communiqué, this doesn’t necessarily equal esoteric subject lines, create a quick preview of the email to set their expectations and lure them in. Here are a few we’ve seen that have worked and produced significant results, but don’t take our word on it… get your team involved to plan subject lines and never forget that the recipient is part of your team.

3) Achieve True Personalization – Personalize with content and incorporate relevant dynamic elements that fit the recipient’s preferences. Do more than insert the recipient’s name, focus on relevancy and work to engage.

4) Predict & Validate Numbers – Learn to put a prediction on expected results from a campaign – opens, clicks and conversions. Record the actual results and evaluate the delta with your email team, involve your overall marketing team as often as possible to help move toward continuity and discuss trends among your recipients. This group evaluation helps your multi-channel strength and allows you to see what consumers are really doing (Reverse Preferences factor in greatly in 2009.)

5) Carry on a Conversation – Back and forth dialogue is a necessity, accomplish this through small surveys to keep asking if you are meeting their needs. Leverage their responses into future offers.

Remember the recipient is savvy, they expect great things from you and know the value of email marketing, it’s your job to execute perfectly. We see 2009 as the Year of Engagement.

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2009: An Opportunity to Learn

2009 is starting with a lot of learning opportunities – including the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) annual event, Shop.org’s summit for online marketers, the Email Experience Council, Marketing Sherpa’s Annual Summit and the National Sports Forum’s inner circle. All these are in hopes of strengthening marketing efforts in spite of these tough economic times; a climate further complicated for eMarketers as more is placed on their plates. Added to this is the challenge of reduced company budgets – less travel, fewer expenses but no stop to the need for learning, new ideas and creativity.

The economy aside, more has to change to help the marketer, I hope that these learning opportunities move away from seminars with a ‘let me tell you how to” format to sessions that engage people in a dialogue and case studies where the audience is part of the presentation so that the attendee can learn as much as possible, quickly and from their peers.

In case these events haven’t adopted these formats, we have… our Learning Network includes this blog, our Service In Action calls and Panel of Peers events. The next SIA call is January 30, and will focus on getting the most out of your CRM. There are also a number of Panel of Peers workshops in various regions. Finally, we’re working on a series of webcasts to mentor marketers on the best way to engage recipients across multiple channels – your website, email program and social media.

Remember these items are for you so continue to provide feedback so that we can continue serving your needs.

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2009: Challenge & Opportunity

The economic challenges of 2008 inspired some unique approaches for email use, including the dramatic increase in frequency and wide use of negative append strategies. As a recipient, I was barraged with emails the last three weeks of the year, with some companies moving from twice a week to twice a day and many senders landing in my junk folder.

Most emails were deal driven, offering an average of 30% off and some instances of 85% or 90% discounts (with conditions.) Other popular offers included free shipping, free accessories, coupons for future purchases and loyalty points to incentivize recipients.

Now that we’re out off the holiday season, the tempo of emails has slowed down and discounts have leveled off… but the previous weeks have sparked new challenges. The recipient is now more aware of where the deals abound, they have learned that the same items are available from many merchants and they know they can get away without playing full price. These will be the biggest hurdles for the year ahead.

The greatest potential will be to connect with your recipients through preference-based marketing; thankfully those extra emails provide tons of open, click and (hopefully) conversion data.

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1 Update, 1 Warrant

I stumbled across a unique December headline while cruising though the USA Today Technology section, Australia OKs Facebook for serving lien notice. According to the article, an Australian court ruled that the use of Facebook was a viable means to notify a couple that they had lost their home due to defaulting on a loan. In this case, attempts had already been made to contact the couple in person and via email. Historically, Australian courts have granted permission to serve documents via email or text message when it was not possible to do so in person.

This is a unique use of a Web 2.0 medium for a normally uniformed officer responsibility. The beauty of this ruling shows the importance that the courts place on the social outlet… and another indicator of our online society.

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Fueling Change.gov

Yesterday, we blogged about the use of Change.gov and how it will shape the political/ communications future… but there is much more fueling the change in Change.gov – specifically the engagement of the 13 million-member email list the president-elect has garnered.

These opted-in recipients helped raise $500 million for him online, created over 2 million profiles via his social networking site (MyBarackObama.com) and were tapped to make phone calls during the campaign's final days. Their interest hasn’t stopped since November, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 27% of wired Obama voters have visited his site to discuss the transition since the election. Pew also reports that 10% of McCain’s supporters have visited the transition site, Change.gov.

These indicators give hope to the belief that Obama's team can turn election engagement strategy into governance. His team has effectively communicated with their email recipients, sending targeted messages – for instance, Latino and Hispanic supporters received an email announcing Linda Sanchez would be a co-chairman of the inauguration committee.

This critical segmentation and Web 2.0 access to the office are the initial steps to success, the team’s ability to address the feedback received will be the major component to success – we’re hoping for another eMarketer’s success story.

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Change.gov

Maybe it’s my name that gives me an interest in politics, maybe my profession gives me an interest in the changing landscape of interaction between our highest office and the general public… regardless of the reason, the planed used of the change.gov website is a unique feature that will connect the general public with the Commander in Chief’s office.

A December New York Times Opinion piece by Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics Blog, discusses the use of the site to elicit feedback from citizens and host videos of meetings and press conferences. This decision is squarely aligned with the Web 2.0 mentality and makes nods to FDR and Teddy Roosevelt and their efforts to communicate directly with the public outside of established media channels.

The planned use of this site is historic in many ways, both in the democratic process and – more importantly – the acceptance of the technology on Capital Hill. The overall adoption of Obama’s Transition Team also plays to the greater acceptance of technology among the general population… and furthers your plight as an eMarketer.

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Why Bank Online?

As email marketers we need to engage our recipients in a dialogue, there are some financial institutions that do a phenomenal job with their email marketing programs but others forget that they are in the business of effective communications – you cannot simply create a program to take over your paper communiqués (even though that is one of the reasons you could start.)

Introspection about the program is a good way to begin, an important step is to stop and consider why people bank online; those reasons can also be applied to your email program. For instance, people bank online to:

Access services at Anytime – Consumers are always able to serve themselves quickly, their statements are always available, searchable and easily accessed. No waiting for statements or sorting through papers.

Avoid waiting in line – When banking online, the customer is always first, they can go from “counter to counter” to get the right answers quickly.

Easy Bill Pay – It’s easy to pay bills with a few clicks, no writing checks, no addresses, envelopes or stamps. More importantly, transactions are immediate and can be tracked from start to finish. The same principles apply to fund transfers.

Security – Online banking is actually more secure than regular banking; financial institutions continue to invest in improving authentication to make things even more secure. Exceptions are handled through call centers.

Save Money – Many institutions offer an incentive to sign-up for electronic statements, plus there is the out of pocket expense avoided by not driving to the bank etc.

Online banking is very convenient and financial institutions spend a bundle trying to market the virtues of the service. Just remember, that your email program is your conduit to the online banking channel, remind your people – front line and management – about this factor and don't forget to educate your customer about the same.

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In Return for your Email ID

Value exchange is your not-so-secret, secret ingredient in email marketing. Valuable information helps you earn the recipient’s attention, opens and hopefully responses and new names. Here are some successful themes we’ve seen that have worked well:

Three Reasons to Sign-Up for Email – Highlight the three reasons someone should sign-up stressing the convenience of your email program, if it’s simple and clear people will respond.

Your $10 Coupon – Reward loyal customers and get new sign ups by offering them $10 bucks off their order; remember to include an expiration date.

The Contest – A contest can be an effective way to gather preferences on your existing recipients and acquire new IDs while generating buzz for your brand and program. Don't forget to have a few small prize winners, and be sure to make the announcement of the winner via email.

Print and Skip the Line – Bring a printed copy of our email and you won't have to stand in line. Again, you are elevating the importance of this channel and offering convenience to the recipient.

Instant Exchange – Offer something that can be accessed immediately in exchange for an ID, like a whitepaper, tips or free day-pass.

$50 in Your Account – Often used by financial institutions, this strategy is an effective way to get customers to sign up for email and electronic statements. It saves the expense of paper statements/ mailing but more importantly it allows the marketer to track what the recipient is clicking so they can personalize messaging and get recipients to pay attention.

Go Green – Appeal to the recipient’s ecological side and stress the importance of your program. People are beginning to accept email as a legitimate channel.

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Best of 2008: Beyond Email

Welcome to 2009 and the end of our 2008 Review, today’s post discusses strategies to move past email-only. We’ve talked about many strategies to get into the game of Web 2.0, but one of the easiest entry points and acceptance points is through Twitter. Two of our posts on the medium are from January and August, Getting Started with Twitter and Three Practical Ways You Can Use Twitter for your Business, respectively. One recent update to the latter post was announced mid-December about Dell’s luck with Twitter and their $1M sales.

Now getting into the future requires a look at the present… acceptance from your customers and prospects is the best way to have a successful venture into the next generation of online marketing. Knowing which forums are favorites of your base, helps ensure a more successful entry. The best way to find out this info is through survey and our Perfect Survey Series is available for consultation and accessible through our 400th post, 400 and Counting, published this past November. You’ll also get links to our Seven eAbsolutes.

Happy planning, just be sure that we’re part of your 2009!

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