Special SIA Thanks

Thank you again to everyone who participated in today’s Service In Action call – the interaction was fantastic and I think there were some great points shared in regards to the balance between email and social media efforts.

If You Missed It
For those of you who missed it, the podcast is now available on the Service In Action site; some of the key take-aways when using Social Media are:
1) Make it Easy: Social Networkers are there to interact, if they’re loyal to your brand and want to make reference to your offer, they should be able to with a few simple clicks.
2) Be Honest: Remember that Social Media is meant to be in/ among friends, a forced/ stodgy voice is going to alienate faster than help.
3) Word of Mouth: This is an electronic word of mouth medium, keep that in mind when searching and engaging others.

If You Made It
The last follow up I had from the call was for the Facebook Demographics shared, here’s a quick paraphrase:
– 45% of social network’s users are age 26 and above; nearly 25% are 34
– Women 55+ are the fastest growing demographic group; 17.5% since the end of September 2008
– 45% (aged 34-49) logged on in one to four times per month

These (and more) are available in yesterday’s eMarketing article, Facebook Audience Matures. Mark your calendars for the March 27th call – Video in Email, presented by Goodmail!

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Your Schedule

Today’s Service In Action call focuses on the balance between email and social media – entertain the thought of your email campaign being like a live TV show. It’s on at a particular time, relevant for a particular audience and the recipient can change the channel at any point. Much like a television show, the recipient can DVR (save) your email for later viewing, they can search it on the web for when they’re ready to find it.

According to a USAToday article, Nielsen stats showed that the average American watched television 151 hours per month (up from 146 hours in the same period 2007.) A greater percentage are watching recorded TV – enabled by DVR, TiVo and Start Over features offered by some cable companies.

Consider how the landscape of television has changed in the past years – full episodes are online, enhanced experiences are also available, complete seasons are available in DVD format, found on YouTube etc. Similar to this is the evolution of email and social media. Web 2.0 plays a valuable piece in the email environment – applying television trends, the use of social media will soon become second nature to your email recipients… are you prepared? Make plans to discuss more of this today @ 2:00 EST.

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SIA: Balancing Act — Email & Social Media

Like all of you, we’ve seen articles, posts and comments about the balancing act between email and social media – some pondering if one medium would outweigh the other. We’ve planned to use tomorrow’s Service In Action call to share insights, squelch rumors and strategize plans for both camps.

Make plans to join us tomorrow – it should be a great call, over 78% of participants in our Email Yogi poll chose this topic!

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The Long Tail

I attended a workshop at a tradeshow earlier this year… unfortunately, the session itself was less than memorable, but there was a point referenced that made me start thinking about segmentation strategy.

The term was The Long Tail, I read a great deal about it in 2004 when Chris Anderson (Wired Magazine) coined the term. It’s essentially related to retail, think of how a line graph trails off the chart, the portion of where your quantities are small but added together make up a significant portion of your population/ inventory. The Long Tail centers on an era without the constraints of physical shelf space. Consider the chart and traditional retail economics, in this example you’ll only stock the most popular products in your store (the red portion/ head of the graph.) But the volume/ interest associated with The Long Tail is collectively equal in volume and represents lost sales in the traditional model. Now consider a virtual store, all items can be stocked allowing you to serve the niche market often neglected.

Apply this thinking to your email list – are you using a traditional retail strategy for the bulk of your campaigns? Regularly engaging the smaller niche characteristics will help you reach beyond general awareness and marketing. These niches represent the recipient’s demographics, their purchase history, browsing and interactions with you. Your email program is a virtual store; you can easily serve the niche markets to offer a more personalized experience for your recipients… shoot for one campaign this quarter to help move you toward more Engagement in 2009.

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One Step Away

Your customer is one click away from completing the transaction – a sale, reservation, deposit the completion point you’re hoping for – but for some reason, they close the browser. What should you do to follow up with the one that got away?

Last week we blogged about Five Transactional Must-Dos, using that post as a base we’ve expanded to talk about creating a conducive environment to help the recipient complete the transaction.

Step one would be to remind them of their interest – this could be done with a subtle reminder… the image or brief reference. Your second step would be to summarize the benefits of the product/ service. Your final step would be a reminder/ invitation to the place they left off in the process (i.e. abandoned shopping cart.)

Your timing needs to be impeccable, be prompt in your response and if the recipient clicks through, make sure you personalize the landing page.

This post is built on the success of one of our colleagues, a cataloguer earning a 70+ percent open rate from their abandoned cart reminders. Their success is due in part to their focus on being relevant to the recipient and their focus on making sure the recipient is never more than one click away from conversion.

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Aspirational Marketing

I’m always amazed at the loyalty of sports fans – the guys that will brave the cold with letters painted on their chests, the heated fights associated with rivalries even the tattoos people get of their favorite athlete or team. Not to mention those playing the sports in either real or fantasy leagues.

We spent a few days last month at The National Sports Forum, a gathering of marketing peers in the sports and entertainment industry. Their goal is to keep fans engaged, connect with each recipient while knowing deep down each fan has his/ her favorite... and maybe that connection is enough to translate to the aspiration to be like the athlete they follow – to be Like Mike.

This is a lesson for all eMarketers, your products/ services can inspire loyalty, can be a fan favorite – feature them as the hero products they are. Use what you have available to engage, entertain and solicit continuous feedback. Build your own fan base and cultivate it, this is a definite way to succeed.

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Saving Face

The UK branch of Equifax issued a campaign recently cautioning recipients that they may be in danger of identity theft without even realizing it. The campaign referenced the recent bad weather in the UK and how many stayed in and Facebooked instead of braving the conditions.

They warned of the hidden danger that could result from not using networking sites with caution – for instance including your full date of birth. They warned how fraudsters could glean information from a number of different sources and then piece it together – an address or account details can be taken from discarded bills/ statements combined with social networking information etc.

They also included tips for safely networking; we’ve included some of them here:
- Only put the most basic personal details on social networking sites, making it harder for fraudsters to obtain information necessary to take out credit in your name.
- Don’t include information that is used for common verification – date of birth or mother’s maiden name.
- Set up privacy on your profile so only close friends can view your information.

These excellent tips can be used for your venture into social media – maybe include some of these points in your privacy policy; offer them as a resource on your company Facebook or MySpace page. By looking out for your “friends” they’ll be more prone to look out for you.

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eMarketing Futures

The Pew Internet & American Life Project ran a multi-part series on The Future of the Internet at the end of 2008 aimed at predicting what the future of our eMarketing world will hold. They surveyed WWW leaders and analysts hoping to weigh all options and determine the landscape in 2020, here are some of the predictions:

- Mobile devices will be the mainstay for people connecting to the internet

- Voice recognition and touch interfaces will be more prevalent and accepted

- Those enforcing intellectual property law and copyright protection will remain in a constant race as hackers will also advance their methods, finding ways to copy and share content

As eMarketers we’re already aware that our brands, collateral and offers are available at all times… the future moves that access into the hands of many more users, creating design and accessibility challenges that many merely flirt with today. These predicted shifts in access are coupled with current challenges we’re seeing – many fear the acceptance of user-gen content may soon eclipse the importance we’ve placed on traditional eMarketing efforts.

Nothing is certain in our eMarketing future – except the opportunity for you to learn more about these predictions and the struggles between Email and Social Media. Make plans to join our Service In Action call on Friday (February 27 at 2:00 EST.)

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Free Coffee

There are a couple of gas stations close to my home, both are clean, well lit and offer gas at the same price. Both offer free coffee without a minimum purchase, they simply want you to come in and grab a cup. Yet one is always more crowded than the other, for a pretty simple reason – the empty store uses signs to offer the free coffee. The full store has no signs, but they do have friendly people working there. The employees greet you even if you are pumping gas, they ask you to come in and grab a cup of coffee, talk to you and typically while you’re there you pick up other things.

When you begin to think about competitive businesses, there are often few differentiators – product, service, price, reputation, accessories – all factors that influence purchase decisions; but sometimes when these are all equal it comes down to the their experience and your branding… those underlying factors that can’t always be seen but make a huge impression.

As eMarketers we have the ability to carry on very focused conversations with our recipients, we know what they open, we know what they click – all we have to do is zero in and facilitate the dialogue. It is not just about offering a deal, but making sure that you are actually talking to the recipient and keeping them engaged. Take time to understand what they want by watching your numbers, and never forget to thank them.

After about 10 fill-ups at the station, Suzi thanked me and asked why I wouldn't step in for coffee. I felt a little bad, so I walked in and jokingly told her that I prefer tea, she quickly helped me brew a cup and since then when I roll into this gas station, they all know my preference and remember to invite me in for tea... personalized stuff always works.

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Almost Everybody

If you ever wonder about the importance of your role as an eMarketer, you only have to look at the facts and figures associated with internet usage; here are some that I’ve recently encountered:

- Nearly 65% of Americans use the Internet; with females making up 51.8% (eMarketer)

- Current economic strife is having an effect on Internet use, 18.8M searched for jobs online in December 2008 – 51% increase in unique visitors compared to December 2007. (ibidem)

- In the last three years, the greatest increase in internet use was in the 70 to 75 age group; just over one-quarter of them were online in 2005 – dispelling the notion that retirees aren’t online. (The Pew Internet & American Life Project)

- Gen-X users are most likely to bank, shop and search for healthcare information online; baby boomers were just as likely as Gen-Y users to make travel reservations. Meaning that there are no hard and fast rules. (ibidem)

We all know the circular relationship between email and the internet… and while these stats give hope to an increased number of recipients, they also indicate a population savvy enough to find what they want elsewhere. This means preference collection, regular engagement and paying attention to your recipients is the only way to stay competitive.

PS – We’re planning to touch on these demographics and the developing relationship between email and social media in the upcoming Service In Action call; make plans to attend on Friday, February 27.

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The Perfect Chocolate

I recently got a behind the scenes tour of a 70+ year old chocolate company, a business that has built a unique following partly because they were part of their city’s growth and many of the locals grew up with them. The company’s products are remarkable and have been given as gifts for years, yielding certain nostalgia for their loyal following.

The company’s email list consists of mainly locals or original locals who’ve moved away. In order to stay competitive, they need to raise awareness of their products among younger generations, build their list to cover different parts of the country and continue to make the best possible products – challenges not unique to them.

The owners are aware of their challenge and are aspiring to build a recognizable brand, trying to provide the best possible service and engage their customer base to help spread the word. This company has the right strategy… one that all eMarketers should consider – many of us focus on the inactives, considering the actives will always be around. This Valentines Day, consider the ones that “love” you, your active customer base deserves your attention so that they will remain active.

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52 First Dates

A while back we wrote about engaging the recipient with the pizzazz of the First Date campaign, valuable advice but the trouble is that you may get stood-up on that first date... or maybe the recipient wasn’t as interested as you were. Here are some possible scenarios:

1) They didn’t open your campaign – the campaign you so carefully designed to introduce them to your program and set the stage for the next email. All isn’t lost; you just have to sweeten the subject line to get them to open your next campaign.

2) They opened your First Date campaign but they didn’t really pay attention – no clicks, no acceptance of your call to action. Plan for your second campaign, continue to dazzle and attempt to recoup from that first offering.

3) They opened your campaign and clicked through – this is exactly what you wanted but you have to continue to engage the recipient. One click isn’t a whole lot so keep talking to them and make sure they’re paying attention.

4) They opened, clicked but unsubscribed – this happens some times, be prepared but don't worry about too much. If you do things well (Unsubscribe Best Practices) they might come back.

Those first dates are important, but so are all the other ones that make up your relationship with the recipient. You have to shine all the time, so make sure you pay attention to your recipient and provide something of value… you never know when they are paying attention to you.

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Balancing Act: Email & Social Media

Like all of you, we’ve seen articles, blog posts and comments concerning the balancing act between email and social media – recent marketing cuts add to the concern and make you wonder what the future of email and eMarketing holds, and how to get it right.

We’re definitely PRO Social Media, but consider it a component of eMarketing – a collective medium that can enhance campaigns, strengthen your online presence and help engage your recipients between your outbound promotions. Our February Service In Action call is set to discuss the evolution along with where and how you should concentrate your efforts… but until then, here are some points to ponder as you figure where to play:

• 35% of adult US internet users have a social networking profile – a stat that has more than quadrupled since 2005, to according to a Pew Internet & American Life Project survey (December 2008.)


• Over 70% of US internet users (ages 15+) have visited an online social network (no profile reported) according to a comScore World Metrix study (September 2008) – meaning that there’s reach outside of the social community.


• Since 2002, Technorati has indexed over 133 million blogs and reports that 95% of the top 100 US newspapers have reporter blogs… further blurring the line between mainstream media and social networking.


• Business networking sites have played up the community – LinkedIn has several official applications for enterprise users, like SlideShare and a Huddle application that allows a lightweight file sharing and collaboration.

So do you know your balance? Send us more stats and make plans to join the SIA call on February 27.

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Defining Frequency

Yesterday’s Unsubscribe Best Practices post is valuable advice… but it also makes you consider how someone really got to the point of unsubscribing. That unsub is rejection, based on something done or not done. One of the base-level considerations is the number of messages you’re sending to the recipient – the holiday barrage of merchants aggressively reaching out to the recipient, likely made the recipient feel the rapport built wasn’t valued. As if they, the recipient, weren’t important.

Merchants were faced with the reality of no emails equal no sales versus sending a daily email for some sales. Although there was attrition in the form of unsubscribes, sending a daily email this holiday was profitable.

It’s a difficult choice, that daily email could lead to increased number of unsubscribes… but the lack of an offer reduces sales (non-existent or to your competitor.) This delicate balance is sustained by establishing a happy medium, keeping your email sends in check so that the recipient retains the value of information exchanged.

One way to determine your balance, is to prioritize the messages you’re sending by assigning a point value to each. Divide your recipients (actives/ inactives) and make sure they all receive your best campaign – use your segmented groups to play with the emails sent before and after that best monthly campaign and see how groups respond. Focus on staying connected with the recipient and determining your sending frequency.

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Unsubscribe Best Practices

Now that the holiday blitz has passed and email frequency has returned to some normalcy, eMarketers everywhere are sorting through the numbers… analyzing results, determining how to segment in the new year and examining the unsubscribes.

Here are some best practices related to those who want off your list – consider them as you look at your counts and consider your unsubscribe process; these tips are based on industry research, consumer behavior and our experiences:

First, offer them the option to reduce frequency on the first page of the unsubscribe process and include the option for them to supply feedback.

If they go ahead and opt-out, serve a confirmation of the unsubscribe process. Thank them for participating in your program with a simple statement like – We’re sorry to see you leave our newsletter of special and one of a kind offers. If you aren’t selling things, you could say – We’re sorry to see you leave our newsletter packed with useful tips and valuable information. Stress the value but opt them out.

Send an email confirming the unsubscribe (denote this as part of the website language), be sure to include:
– Contact information for your organization’s customer service department (in case they have any problems)
– A re-subscribe link
– An Are you Sure Banner/ link that includes the available specials, rates, your sales outlet or unique promotion – you’ll be surprised at the number of people that unsubscribe and then visit the specials section.

If you can, copy a CSR on the confirmation email to the recipient. Offer the recipient the opportunity to mail you suggestions and (if the info is available) have the CSR follow up with the recipient that unsubscribed by phone. You never know what you’ll learn or if you can win them back.

Remember, the unsubscribe process should be as simple as possible, offer the best type of customer service and serve as an opportunity to find out what really happened. Your goal is to make sure that you treat this separation as temporary so if the recipient has the option of coming back.

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Writing Use Cases for Effective eMarketing

Need a little help building Use Cases for your program? It’s easier than you think, this checklist will help you reenergize and restart your eMarketing efforts and build the email momentum vital to your success:

1) List all Channels – Consider mobile, phone, print, catalog, web, store/ branch, radio, TV, search marketing, your reps, etc… now list these channels so you know where you’re making contact with your customers and prospects.

2) Identify your Consumer (customer/ prospect/ member) – Ask different people in your organization who they think they serve and build a persona for each profile/ type. For instance, Jill is 30 and single; Brad is 45 and married with two kids; Ed is 65 and married. Put together information about each type including how you should communicate with them, map this information with your subscribe page, preference collections and surveys to insure you are capturing information effectively.

3) Decide how you should Communicate – Build a grid listing types and channels, for instance you may have one strategy for the Jill-type when she comes in from the radio and a different one to engage her if she came through search. Now begin grouping types with channels to help reduce the number of combinations.

4) Test your Message – Will the message you’re sending appeal to your core groups? Will Jill respond, or is this message designed more for your Brads and Eds? Make sure you’re segmenting based on content/ offer epically for the top portion of your list.

5) Don’t forget about Growth – Using the combinations created; determine how to attract more customers like them from both your existing base as well as new prospective customers. Think about what motivated each type to give their email address, now write (30 words or less) why people should sign up for email from these channels. Keep it engaging and keep the medium in context for the message – so if a Jill-type saw your TV commercial, think of asking for her thoughts about it online. If she signs up online, offer her a sneak preview of your upcoming radio commercials or web ads.

Remember to engage with your recipients as often as possible, and never forget to factor all possible places they could interact with your brand.

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Use Cases & Email Marketing

In the early nineties I wrote business requirements for complex computer systems, part of process was to plot use cases. The idea was very simple, write requirements and break them down into simpler modules, consider all dependencies and you’ll ultimately find it much easier to solve problems. A use case was part of this; it identified all the users of the system (an actor.) The actor would perform multiple roles (or acts) on a system... each act was a use case. For example, how people interacted with the system (novice, advanced etc.) By merging and analyzing all roles you could systematically tackle complex problems through simplification.

Email is no longer the simple act of collecting addresses and sending offers, it has evolved to include other channels and in an ideal environment, serves as a vehicle for conversations between recipients and the company (AKA you.) Determine your effectiveness by considering all the possible types of people who sign up for your email campaigns. Consider the various parts of your organization that interest that person/ type of person – by coupling each type with various acts you’ll be able to predict how each series of interactions will play out.

Consider the possible communication streams for each of your emails – draw on your strengths as a marketer – over time you’ll be able to identifying each interaction type and engage the recipient in a dialogue leveraging your interactions to drive them down previously designated paths. The recipient will feel as if each message was designed for them – the bonding, transactional, and even subsequent emails based on their click-through – but in all actuality it’s based on the type of subscriber they are.

Remember, we’ve deemed 2009 as The Year of Engagement, employing use cases is a powerful way to help you with the process.

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The rest of the story…

Yesterday’s post talked about piquing your reader’s interest by offering them a little information up front and then coaxing them into another channel. The title of today’s post is a mini-ode to Paul Harvey the original for offering a little nugget of information that built up to the rest of the story…

Here’s remainder of our story, in the form of a few examples that you can draw from:
A flour company lists a recipe on a small bag of flour; they also list a second, partial recipe with a web address taking buyers to their blog. To learn more, users visit the site. The company doesn't sell on the blog, they simply engage – so well that after a few interactions the user becomes an online customer.

My bank leaves me a voicemail, a quick update of how the market did that day. They also offer general advice for the days ahead; this voicemail is a reminder to visit my online banking profile (and it works.)

A gardening company offers tips in their printed mailing – an article listing 10 tips to build a victory garden, but the article only includes seven of the ten with a reminder that the other three will be included in next week’s email. It makes me look for their message.

Your Offer Follows Later is the subject line employed by a travel company; they sent an email survey to their customer base. Recipients who took the survey received custom trip coupons in the print piece that followed, it was a non-traditional way to engage the recipient and deliver exactly what they wanted.

Remember, multi-channel doesn’t have to lead with email or always include a web component; mix things up to foster engagement and make multi-channel work.

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Buying through Voicemail

How many voicemail messages do you get on your home line in the average week? I receive quite a few – appointment reminders, updates from my bank and information from my kid’s schools these are all valuable, quick messages. I also receive the unsolicited pitches via voicemail, offers for carpet cleaning, exterminators and even commercial lawn care; most all of these messages are deleted and in the event that I am interested I typically visit the company’s website rather than returning the call.

I’m certain that I’m not alone, I doubt you have the patience to listen to the entire message, don’t remember the numbers that are rattled off and probably don’t have a pen/ paper handy to scribble the information… so you just delete. Similarly, there are emails like those unsolicited voicemails – they include the entire pitch, too much information which drives the user nuts.

Be a little wiser and engaging, highlight the virtues of your offer in the email, and earn the click-through to your landing page or website. Keep recipients engaged by using simple, clear messaging (remember Double Coverage, your recipient could be distracted.) Keep your campaign lists to one to three offers with sections to hold engagement and never forget your landing pages; users shouldn’t be lost in your offers.

As far as voicemail, you can implement the Paul Harvey approach… but that’s for a future post.

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Three to Five

There are a ton of stats that talk about the average length of time a person spends looking at a marketing email, industry average puts you between three and five seconds – this is assuming you have earned an open! That said, what is wrong with this email?

From Field: Ecommerce_Offers@CompanyName.com (real company name shielded to protect the innocent.)
Subject Line: Sundeep, they are here! Sneak Peak Just for You! Plus $20 off $100 purchase! Entire line of gizmos! Huge Savings Event!

Granted I received this email, but here are the main issues:

Problem I: Who is this email really from (I know we’re shielding them) but in my inbox, all I saw was the first part, Ecommerce_Offers.
Lesson: Keep your headers obvious.

Problem II: The subject line way too long; believe it or not, this is one of their shorter subject lines. Usually they describe one product, this email talks about the entire section.
Lesson: Keep users intrigued by offering an alluring subject line, draw them rather than embedding the offer in the subject.

Problem III: It’s not really personalized, just because they have my name in it doesn't mean it is really for me. I feel more alienated when I see my name in the subject line, I’m not alone a lot of research has shown similar feelings.
Lesson: Look for content based personalization to engage, adding the recipient’s name doesn’t count.

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