Mobile, Email, and the Consumer

In most organizations you have separate initiatives for email & mobile. Plus it is rare to find these digital marketing initiatives tied directly to traditional marketing programs. Most people look at email and mobile as a cost benefit program because it is cheaper to execute than other direct marketing programs.

What makes things myopic is that marketers measure these programs with a time to redemption clause - 'you can get things done quickly.' Very few organizations are beginning to invest in email and mobile to build branding across channel.

While marketers like that you can track both these channels, they tend to track things separately. As a consumer you may get an email offer and a mobile offer. Both offers are tracked, but there is little coordination between what was offered across channels, and worse, almost no leveraging of one channel response into the other.

In an ideal state email and mobile should not be looked at as an email program & a mobile program; but rather think of them as a consumer marketing program. The consumer comes to you because you provide value. This value could be information, products, services, or special deals. Your focus should be on engagement and how the offers can be simplified as they are served up to the consumer.

Marketers should make it very easy for the consumer to communicate back with them. They need to leverage the consumers feedback into how the consumer can be approached on the 'other channels.' The more the user is engaged, the more feedback they provide - the more interesting your content can get.

Are you leveraging user generated content into your mobile & email mix?

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The Right Way to Make a First Impression: Social, Mobile, & Email

I have had the unique opportunity to provide consulting services to a relationship company, helping them improve their communications. As part of the process I’ve learned a lot about their first meeting they hold with their clients, during this meeting they give first date suggestions, including:

1) Look sharp, act confident and speak clearly

2) Engage in a back and forth dialogue – ask, then tell

3) Pay attention to what your date is saying and doing

4) Don't get distracted by outside influences – focus on your center of attention

5) Don't forget to say Thank You

Digital marketers can also learn from their first date advice, one could even compare those first messages as first dates, because:

1) You have to make your messaging crisp – your content needs to grab the recipient’s attention and you need to clearly tell the recipient why they are receiving your email.

2) Ask the recipient for their preferences, this can be done by their click patterns or when they complete a short survey – keep them engaged and serve content relevant to their interests.

3) Pay attention to what the recipient does after they provide their preferences for example, if they said they liked the sports section, did they actually go there? You must tie your analytics.

4) Keep the content focused so that the recipient isn’t distracted, allow them to clearly focus on their items of interest.

5) Be grateful and send them a note asking them to give you feedback on the first email – was it what they wanted? Was there something else you could offer?

Digital communication channels are private and personal, so remember that you have the privilege of communicating with them – after all, it’s your first date!

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11 Simple Tips to Make a Winning Video for Social Media

Video?!?!... why? That’s typically a part of the conversation from a lot of marketers when suggesting the video route; but there are three very effective reasons to incorporate video into your marketing efforts –

1) Your consumers want to see things;

2) some entertainment/ education requires an “in-person” demo to convey the message – video is the best way to make the two converge;

3) video is expressive and engaging.

The best part is that you don’t have to have TV-quality equipment to effectively use video for your branding – your winning video is just a few steps away, just consider the following:

1) Create brand awareness.

2) Balance the education with the entertainment quotient.

3) Focus on the viewer – how will your message help with the experience/ purchase decision?

4) Showcase your merchandise or offering.

5) Offer interaction – ask people what all they would like to see, let them drive the experience. For example, rather than showing the entire How To video, offer chapters/ sections for the viewer to self navigate.

6) Use the Paul Harvey approach – Tell a little, use intrigue and then drive viewers to a more focused landing page(s.)

7) Tag your video – Key words will be picked up by search engines… they love video!

8) Short is effective – Be crisp and clean, don't drag things out and make sure your video fits in short timeframes.

9) Remember Post-Sale – Videos are good prior to the sale, but are even better post sale because it reinforces the purchase decision and fosters interaction.

10) Initiate a dialogue via email after the video

11) Allow the user to post your video or related comments via social media – just imagine the impact.

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10 Ways to Kill Your Brand

There was an interesting discussion on LinkedIn about what a brand means to a consumer - we had to use no more than two words to describe it. Some of the words that were used included 'Service,' 'Trust,' 'Recognition,' 'Promise,' 'Relevant Identity,' 'Emotional Connection,' & 'Unsolicited Recognition.'

Here are some things that you should not be doing:

1. Do not change, because that is the 'mission' of your business.

2. Trying to build consensus on everything and seeking everybody's opinion.

3. Believe that your brand is immune to cultural, technology, and demographic changes.

4. Being fearful of losing your job if you were to make any changes.

5. Not solicit and encourage input from those who interact with consumers.

6. Engage with buzzwords, social media, but only rarely.

7. Congratulate yourself for being at the top of your industry without wondering if your industry will be there in 5 years.

8. Ignore criticism from consumers, your peers, and your front line employees.

9. Never benchmark or evaluate your program against other industries much less competitors. Those guys are clueless and their ideas have no relevance to an aged and revered brand like yours.

10. Consumers are idiots (see No. 8). Listening to what they think or feel about your brand, or how it could better meet their needs is just stupid. What could possibly come from it? New product ideas. More share. Why bother?

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What is the right social etiquette?

The consumer experiences your brand through multiple channels. They experience it when they visit your branch or store, your ATM's or kiosks, when they speak to your people, & even when they click around on your site. How you speak, what you say, & how you respond go a long way in building your brand. Social media is no different, your online presence helps you define your brand and how people can experience your organization.

Consistency, effective messaging, easy to 'find information,' no surprises, & welcoming is what most consumers expect from your brand & site. All of this also applies for social media plus add 'engagement.' Social media is dynamic - it should be a back and forth dialogue. Your consumer speaks to you - don't forget, you have people in charge of execution of your social media channels and you need to help your people in how they interact on social media.

You really have no control over what the consumer may say on your social channel or how they frame questions to you if you are using it for feedback. So you have to be careful in how you answer and how much of the question you repeat (or rephrase) as you try and elucidate your response. How you respond to this first leading question is not only the pathway towards your dialogue, it is what the world will find archived for your brand. So be careful what you say, what you say will stay there forever and unlike Vegas it is there for everyone to find.

Many companies have put together a social media policy, but this policy leaves a lot to be desired. You still have no guidelines for what your brand ambassadors are saying (even though they may be using their personal profiles to talk.)

Take a look at these tweets - some are from people representing brands, the others are from people whom you can associate (very easily) with brands (just google their tweets, then google their id, & voila - you know who they work for).

oh yes, please do bully me. That will most definitely help you get what you want. #ornot

I really can not think straight. I'm worse off than a goldfish. I need to get tested, this is bad .
too bad the xanax REALLY wants me to close my eyes.

O....M....G.... 7 Kahlua Mudslides last night = REALLY bad headache this morning!

I want to come visit on 7/20 for a conference. Can you think of a reason I need to go to the NY office so I can justify? ;)

Turns out the ten thousand welts on my arms, legs and face aren't just a bunch of mosquito bites.

Bottom line - this type of dialogue is not good and should not be allowed. You should define the hierarchy necessary for releasing important information and the best way to keep a dialogue going. This should be part of your policy.

Established policies cover everything from responding to user feedback, monitoring the conversation and co-branding posts that can be added alongside their own. Policies also include how to respond to feedback – ranging from simply monitoring to individually contacting those making negative comments.

Things like promptness, responsiveness, & tone - they all play a major role. Defining and adhering to a policy is really your social etiquette.

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Key Learning: Marketing Sherpa, EEC, Online Marketing Summit

Three major industry events recently concluded. Their focus was around engaging consumers leveraging the digital channel. Marketing Sherpa & the Email Experience Council focused on engagement through email. The Online Marketing Summit focused on all things digital.

Here are some key lessons from each of these events:

This is what Sherpa said …

1. Subject lines are like pick-up lines, it’s their job to start a conversation
2. Creating a clearer, more valuable subject line can increase open rates by 25.3%
3. Email subscribers are more cautious and anxious than web browsers because of SPAM
4. Treat the recipients who take time to share their network as an influencer segment
5. Test with the most recent names on your email list; they will give you higher performance rate
6. Content trumps creative. The offer is key.
7. Do not give equally weighted calls-to-action to a recipient; you mitigate your conversion rate.
8. Lose the marketing talk- email is a conversation, not an ad campaign
9. Plaintext continues to outperform busy emails
10. Make sure you have the 3 elements of a good email:
11. 3 C's- Capture, Convince & Close
12. Don’t become too distracted with social media

Here are some highlights from the EEC …

1. Remember that people use multiple emails, some of which are for “entries” and others for “orders”
2. What is the value of an email address??
3. Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior logic used to fuel recommendations email programs
4. Have a Mobile Sign-up Page
5. Have a unique sign-up page URL included on packaging
6. Segment a subscriber based on product / service purchased
7. Plan triggered campaign streams to engage the consumer

These were topped off by what I learned at the Online Marketing Summit (OMS)

1. The best way for a B2B business to engage with social is to use it for customer service & educational content
2. B2C businesses should use social media for acquisition, for engagement, and testimonials
3. Reviews are very extremely important
4. Email has a new boyfriend, a mobile device.
5. Good old-fashioned sweepstakes are the best way to grow your list
6. HTML 5 will be the new rage in 2011.
7. Only 10% of your viewers see your trust symbol on your campaigns because it is below the fold, why hide it?
8. Landing page optimization is vital, this is your next step for email marketers. (focus on the clickers)
9. Pay attention to preference pages.

Content will drive engagement, focus on content, and set up content goals like customer retention, lead generation, thought leadership, lower customer service costs, inspire influencers, etc.

The best learning from OMS - integrate your different digital channels. Their sessions on search and social media were very eye opening and very practical.

I also attended ‘Social Media Masters’ courtesy of the Social Media Club. The key to success is planning, focus, and measurement.

The one major way to make your email program stand out is to focus on consumer engagement through relevant conversations, which means that we have to capture and execute on preferences.

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Some Really Good Headlines (Email, Mobile, Social)

Good content will drive engagement. To notice the good content, you need a GREAT headline. I want to highlight a series of headlines - tweets, Facebook updates, SMS messages, & email subject lines that caught my eye.

The headline grabbed your attention, and all of them used in unison got the consumer to pay attention.

Enjoy your Friday, unwind, and get inspired by these 'Valentine' headlines.

1 - Your dozen roses are doomed!

2 - If you love someone, send them FREE!

3 - Get paid to be more romantic

4 - I'm sorry

5 - The $49 necklace that saved Valentine's Day

6 - Ancient Mayans reveal secret for Valentine's Day

7 - Say 'I love you,' while keeping your big mouth shut

8 - Cupid approves - $59 necklace plus free earings

9 - She loves you, she loves you a lot

10 - Don't panic, you still have time

A few good lessons. First, think about your headline - what is it you are trying to convey. Second, string a series of them together as this can lure the consumer in. Third, get creative - that is the best way to grab your consumers attention.

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Combining Email and Social for Maximum Impact (5 ideas)

Email & social are a perfect combination. You can use social to drive up interest in your email program, you can also use social to increase the interest within each message (through the effective use of user generated content).

You also have a number of interaction points when you can engage the consumer to notice your email and social programs. Here are five possible interaction points where the recipient can be engaged. Email does a good job to get you there. Social media can help you take it a little further.

1. The very first message - When people sign up to become members of your organization, club, or even your email program - send them a welcome message. Share your social media links. Go one step further, send them a link to a special video, pictures, an article, or even a peek into the inner circle (perhaps your Facebook page). Make it easy for them to join your social media circle. Don't just say join us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter - give them a teaser with a real reason to sign up.

2. When you thank them for the transaction - Don't forget to thank people when they transact with you. Send them both an email message with a link to your social media site and solicit their feedback. Encourage them to send you back a picture or video for you to use on your social media sites of them using your product or service. People are more interested in feedback from their peers versus your companies opinion on a product or service.

3. Feature your user generated content - If you are featuring different items and unsure of peoples preferences, list multiple offers and track them. If people click on an event or a product, follow up with them on that particular product or service. Don't just make your email about pushing your products or services, instead show off your user generated content which includes picture, videos, testimonials, and invite people to contribute.

4. Keep soliciting their input - Give people reasons to join your inner circle by asking them for feedback on what they think about your product or service. If you are hosting a workshop on financial services list two to three things that people might learn. Clark Howard's Video Minute is a short effective clip that draws a lot of interested people.

5. Leverage the power of a digital receipt - When a purchase is made send the user a transactional receipt with a simple how to (use the product or service) video or pictures. If you are a retailer you could send them a video of how many different ways the ensemble could be worn, perhaps a clip showing how to wear the scarf, a financial institution could encourage people to use an online savings calculator. My daughters school shares next weeks menu via a short podcast. This encourages us to go look at the site to plan out next weeks meal.

Email gets to your inbox quicker than direct mail. It can be used as a push vehicle to engage people and also be strengthened by user generated content collected via social media. Used in conjunction, it is an effective means to drive engagement. It is quick, can be personalized, and an effective way to create an interactive conversation.

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A few tips on how to handle unsubscribes

Now that the holiday messaging blitz has passed and email frequency has returned to some (sort of) normalcy, email marketers 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 customer service representative (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.

Don't make answering the questions mandatory. It will force people to give you an answer you don't want or make them mark you as spam.

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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Five Clicks to Track for your Email Program

This one is a classic and offers the fundamentals on what metrics to look at first for your email marketing program.

One of the strongest ways to segment any campaign is through the click-through data collected. Personalization, relevance and even timing can all be improved through proper click-through analysis.

Most marketers look at the click-through as a summary of the analysis in the life of a single campaign. They then measure it across campaigns by looking at how the each campaign performed comparing the click-throughs over time. While this might give you great results to see how well you are doing; it does very little to improve the overall effectiveness of your campaign.

In an analysis of some of the best email programs in the industry – here are some things you should do with your click-throughs:

1) Purchase Click – Thank the consumer for having purchased your product; set them up to receive survey about their purchase. Ask them about your product(s), your service and their feedback. Leverage this information into follow up campaigns – for better results, run this as a separate stream of communications. It is more targeted and will do better.

2) Click without Purchase – You now know what the user has clicked on, so leverage their click-through into your preference strategy for personalization. Highlight the item they clicked on as part of a follow-up campaign or include it as one of three offers in a subsequent campaign. In fact, it wouldn’t be bad to get user feedback on the item they clicked on in a non-buyer survey down the road.

3) Bunch of Clicks – Track all the items they click on and personalize. Put out an email featuring a number of life stages to consumers – now track and see what life stage they are clicking on. Perhaps a click on College Education might give the financial institution data to try and personalize an offer on College Loans or Automobiles (the kid needs a car). If you are selling cities or products – give them a number of options, watch what they click on and then try to zero in.

4) Unsubscribe Click – Respect this click and do what I do, ask the unsubscriber why they have unsubscribed. This is extremely good information to help you improve your email program. More importantly, I am able to talk three out of ten unsubscribers into understanding my email program; re-subscribing and some have even become vocal promoters.

5) No Click - This is concerning, you have to try to keep your recipient engaged. Look for opportunities to solicit feedback or opinion from your recipient, else they will just fall off your list. If you have a call center or a direct mail program that can be leveraged - reach out to find out what is keeping the recipient away.

Click through information is a vital gauge on your online marketing program. It can give you focus for your campaigns.

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It’s Valentines Day: How Do You Create Excitement?

Can you visualize sounds? Can aromas come alive in the dark? Welcome to Opaque’s Dining in the Dark! We recently enjoyed a dinner hosted by Opaque at the US Grant (a luxurious hotel rich with history).

We were taken into a room that was pitch black. Our guide was our server; she was visually impaired and made us feel really comfortable. We thought that our eyes would adjust to the dark, we never did, but we didn’t need to.

Our evening was guided by our other senses, the US Grant Chef’s Mark & David had put together a delectable meal. Our young hosts Danielle & Ethan were courteous, and knowledgeable.

A way to truly enhance your senses – recognizing people by their sounds, being able to use your palate, and truly get your senses to guide you.

Just imagine, for an hour or two that you cannot see, that you are abandoning vision for a new, more stimulating dining experience – one that we often take for granted – this is “Dining in the Dark.”

Lessons for a digital marketer - we have to use the same tools that we have at our disposal to try and engage consumers. They key is that we have to think about making connections, making an impact, and getting the consumer to come back.

A few things that you can do to enhance the engagement process – first, draw them in – what is your headline going to say – think hard about what you are going to say to get the consumer to continue.

Second, first impressions - can your image and copy make an impact? Pictures can tell a story, and with good copy you can draw the consumer in further. Think about the copy that you put into your campaign – a little intrigue, perhaps a small incentive, perhaps the rest of the story is going to get the consumer to click through to the next page.

Third, is it your word or theirs? Your consumer is more interested in user-generated content, not manufactured content. Get your influencers, and contributors leading conversations and feature those conversations within your campaigns. This is the most effective aspect of engagement and the right way to drive conversations with social media.

Fourth, keep your door open (ears too). Keep asking your consumers about their feedback, track their interactions, and leverage all these preferences into the conversations that you create with the consumer.

Fifth, think about building excitement and leveraging that expectation. Try to appeal to their other senses. Look for ways to partner with your consumers to promote your brand, and try to give them an experience they will never forget.

You have to try new things – be creative, keep talking, and build up your library of content using social media. Look for ways to turn your ordinary into extraordinary.

Our experience with Opaque was exotic. Absolutely extraordinary! Truly inspiring! And, yes – we will be back.

Do click through to Dining in the Dark (it is worth checking them out), and if you want to see a really good hotel, click over to the US Grant. And, do enjoy Valentines Day.

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You Have to Message on Relevance

We’ve all been there, you get an email from a company but are not exactly sure why. I’m not talking about some funky segmentation or broad-brush promotional email – I mean an obvious what-were-they-thinking?

In a quest to increase their interaction with consumers some brands have been relentlessly pushing two types of campaigns.

The first one is a random, 'what the heck were they thinking.' Imagine getting an email with an offer that is absolutely not connected to anything you have ever done with that brand. In fact, it is so random that it makes you wonder if they even bothered to look at your past transactions or purchases.

The second type of campaign that is a little worse is the one where you think they are on to something, but the landing page is where they fool you. So many businesses are trying to get you to engage with them on social media. They put out interesting messages requesting you to follow them or join them on their social media sites. The problem is that when you click through to the social media site - there is absolutely no connection to where your interests may be.

I just had one of those with a well-know online retailer; I’m on their list but my recent purchase had nothing to do with any email I’d received – in fact it was opposite my purchase history. I got the standard transactional messages, an email receipt and then a few days later a shipping notice with the tracking information. All positive things, except littered among these valuable updates were promotions for items in the new category as well as items in past purchase categories. It was almost like the volume was turned up because I had bought something; my receipt frequency had gone from three emails a month to getting six in a week.

I’m of the opinion that the purchase should be a flag to not mail your traditional promotional campaigns. As a buyer, I’m only interested in my order and the associated details (confirmations, shipping notices are all fine.) After receipt, I’ll likely be receptive to an invitation for a survey/ review but other than that I simply want what I ordered… it’s almost too late to show other items or offers.

What is worse is that one of my financial institutions targets me with seasonal campaigns on getting a mortgage with them. They personalize the offer for my account. The issue I have with this campaign is that I closed this particular account with the FI more than three years ago. Yet, every few months, someone wakes up and tries to sell me something that I really can't have.

As a business, you build up trust and segment to personalize effectively. Do it well, and you can engage. If you confuse the consumer, you loose them forever.

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Improve Conversions: Take Time, Think About Your Headlines

It might seem like common sense, but the number of marketers who come up with subject lines as an after thought is astonishing. The subject line of your email is a very important piece of your email campaign. It is the first thing your customer or prospect sees and is usually what motivates them to open and read the rest of your mail.

The subject line is also one of the easiest things to test in email. There is no hassle of creating new content, just splitting up a portion of your audience and trying out different subject lines to see which one gets the best reaction.

A best practice is to try out three different subject lines. Try one that is informative, one that is esoteric, and one that is full of intrigue. Try subjects with personalization, and ones without. Whatever you do, make them ‘active’ or 'leading.'

Send out the test and see which subject drives more opens or more sales. Then use that subject line for the rest of your campaign. As cost effective as it is to send emails, you can't afford to not test subject lines on a regular basis to see what will work best for your brand.

Now don't just stop here, use all the subject lines to drive the similar content on Twitter and on Facebook. Personalize the headline and use it to drive enagement with the consumers that you serve.

Take time to think your subject lines through, make them actionable. Headlines are a good and very effective way to engage.

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Five Simple Questions to Ask Your Consumer (before you hire a consultant)

Before you hire a consultant to help you with your digital marketing initiatives think about opening up a dialogue with your customers.

It is a great idea to stay in touch with the consumer as you can take pulse of the campaigns that you are sending and listen to direct feedback. This can be held in person, over the web, or even by a simple survey.

Here are five simple to ask your consumer.

1 - Why did you sign up for email?
Have them list the reasons they signed up for your newsletter. Ask them what other campaigns they receive (from other companies). Share with them the goal of your newsletter and see if there is agreement. Use this feedback to see if you are meeting their general expectations.

2 - What do you like about our campaigns?
Have them list three to five things they like about your campaigns. Ask them about specifics - see if they remember some of your past campaigns (without showing them any of these campaigns). Ask them to help you prioritize your content. See what people like to read within your campaigns. Ask them what they think about campaign resends (to non openers).

3 - What do you not like about our campaigns?
Ask them about content they do not care about or things they simply dislike about your messaging. It could be your subject line, it could be your merchandise, it could even be the time it takes for your content to load. Ask them if your personalization is appropriate - you might get some interesting feedback from your consumers.

4 - What do you think about three 'specific' campaigns?
Next show them three specific campaigns - pick one that performed well, one that performed poorly, & one 'average' campaign. Ask them to critique these campaigns.

5 - What other channels do you notice us on?
Make a list of these other channels - it could be a paper catalog or a paper statement. It could be on social media channels, on TV or Radio. Don't tell them about your other channels, just listen to what they are saying. The idea is to see what other channels influence the consumer, how you can leverage content between channels, & if there is anything you can do to drive cross channel success.

You could pay external consultants a lot of money to get their feedback on your program. Look at your consumers instead, they are the ones that your program is designed to serve anyway.

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Five Ways to Drive ROI with Social Media

Many have invested heavily in social media, many more are still trying to figure things out. Even the companies that are playing in the social media space are still not completely sure on how they can measure the success of their efforts. Businesses typically cite the following reasons to get involved:

'It is a way to engage our consumers.'

'That is where our consumers are.'

' Everybody else is doing it!'

While these are all good reasons and quite true, you should seek a way to measure success so you can make your engagement more effective, gain the trust of your consumers, & outdo 'everybody else.'

Here are five key principles to apply -

1 - You use social media to increase your outreach. Pick a few channels and stay focused to drive 'growth' metrics. Perhaps you are looking to find more people or raise awareness. List what you want to do and then measure that metric month over month.

2 - You use social media to let your consumer know more about your organization.That way if the consumer is in the market for a particular product or service you want to make sure that they are aware of what your organization has to offer.

3 - You use social media to go viral. If you speak tactfully and offer value on your social media channels your consumer will share what you offer with others. Keep thinking of ways to engage your consumers in a dialogue - answer their question, solicit their opinion, & make it easy for them to share.

4 - You use social media to cut costs. There are dozens of things you can do to begin cutting costs from your traditional marketing channels through judicious application of social media. This is an absolute requirement to drive social media success.

5 - You use social media to drive revenue. It is easier to measure your success in the digital world and the impact of social media can be measured easily. Pick a few programs and then use social media to try and sell those programs within your organization.

You have to save money, and drive revenue to continue any marketing program. Social media is no exception. If you are perplexed on specifics (make money & save money) - I have put together a number of specific ideas that span a number of organizations including retailers & financial institutions.

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How to get your first sale, everyday!

This one is a classic. It is a strategy used every single day by merchants to engage their first consumer.

As I grew up in India, I watched merchants treat their first customer of the day with a lot of respect. The first customer was thanked, even given a freebie, offered a cup of tea and in some cases if the customer asked for a special deal they often received it.

The rationale for this exercise was to set the tone for the entire day. It was considered to be a bad omen if the first customer walked away without making a purchase so merchants were very careful to not let that happen, this practice is called Boni.

 (pronounced beau knee)

To apply this back to digital marketing, I would like to recommend the following learning:

• Activity/ Loyalty points: Award points for their purchases etc. the more points a prospect has should result in more opportunities/ better deals. Advertise this on your site and in your community so readers know what to expect and what will help them build elite customer status.

• First Responders: Let your top customers know about deals first, we should always make sure that our best customers are reassured they will be the first to receive information from you. A furniture company I am working with has taken this advice to heart and actually sends emails on behalf of their salespeople to their elite customers. Additionally they take the extra step of making their salespeople call these elite customers to remind them to check their inbox for that special offer.

• Quote ‘em: Ask your first group of buyers/ responders for a quote and leverage it. Publish their quote about why they are buying the product/ service on your landing page along with the date so others know it is current. This makes your site a lot more interactive, gives you additional authenticity and helps you refine your offer… most importantly you create a bond with your buyers.

• Follow a Pattern: Inform the customer about the order they just placed, ask them for feedback and leverage that feedback to get back to them promptly.

• Cross the Channel: Imagine the excitement you will create if a call center representative tells your caller they were the first (or some number) phone order that day and were getting a special deal. More than exciting your customers, this will actually make your employees more enthusiastic about playing along.

What is interesting about this idea of Boni is that people always come back to the merchant they have purchased from – not necessarily the first thing in the morning, but at some point, because they have trust and an established relationship. The goal here is to build sustaining relationships as you create interactive conversations.

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Successful Case Studies Series: How to Involve your Entire Team to Grow Your Digital Assets

A small cataloger offered its employees $700 a month, and a grand prize of $5000. The rules were simple – every month the rep to collect the maximum number of email ids won $400, second place was $200, third place $100. The rep with the most collected over the course of the year received $5000.

Of course, there was a catch, there was a group goal. The rep only got the $5000 if the group goal was met. Everyone worked hard together; there were training meetings and “rah-rah” sessions. The program was advertised to the reps via email.

The program cost $21,000, they had 30 seats (at the call center) and 92 employees (who participated actively) over the course of a year. They collected 564,615 legitimate email addresses at 0.26 cents per email… 32 employees earned the incentives, the call center was transformed but the customers were the ultimate winners.

I have applied a similar approach work with a Credit Union. Their member base was over 200,000. They had 12,000 email addresses. A systematic incentive program like the above has them with more than 80,000 email addresses and more than 40,000 members signed up for e-statements.

We also drafted a simple script on how to ask for the email, how to counter common objections, and how to send the message in near real time.

Education, empowerment and getting selling your employees will drive longer term benefits rather than running specials for customers.

Need some good reasons to share with your customers or your team?

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Don’t Forget to Leverage the Abandoned Transaction

Most of us know the effectiveness, yet very few follow up on abandoned transactions – even fewer do an adequate job, resulting in fewer conversions and more lost opportunities.

When you survey consumers as to why they dropped the transaction, the most common responses (in order of priority) were:

1) Needed to ask a question

2) Got frustrated or lost

3) Comparison shopping

4) Too much information required

5) Technical difficulties

To help with issues, you have to be super responsive and acknowledge the respondent’s issues:

1) Explore real time chat

2) Keep shipping charges competitive (if applicable)

3) Simplify the checkout process – be different from the store but keep it personal

4) Save the shopping cart and follow up with an email

It may be harder to accomplish the first three tasks, but as the eMarketing manager you can easily implement the fourth. Here are a few suggestions to help get things going:

1) The Abandoned Cart email needs to go out within 48 hours

2) The email should always have a split test – with and without an offer as an incentive to complete the transaction,

3) The email should inquire – Could you tell us why you left the cart? Leverage the information, and update customer’s profile.

4) The email should have a simpler call to action and an expiration date – Dear Customer, All you have to do is click on this link, call or print to take to a store/ branch; this offer is valid for (less than five) days.

5) Whether you close the transaction or not – update the customer’s preferences with specifics regarding the products or services that they selected.

6) If you have the bandwidth, turn the incomplete transaction over to your customer service team for follow up.

The abandoned cart is a great micro campaign opportunity. You already know the prospect is in the market and you can leverage their specific preferences into a one on one opportunity.

Want to read 17 best practices for email, mobile, & social marketing?

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How to drive repeat purchase behavior?

We pay so much attention to converting a prospect into a customer – contests, discounts, specials, free shipping etc. all in the hopes of having a new person walk through the door. Following conversion, there is often a disproportionate shift in retaining the customer. Very little is done to keep the customer.

Think of the number of one-time buyers you have; maybe these ideas could help increase their likelihood of re-purchase:

1) A simple thank you email goes a long way; thank the customer and ask them to come back.

2) A survey with and without an incentive, asking the customer about the transaction (and addressing any issues) does well in keeping your brand top of mind.

3) Send a reminder X days/ weeks after the purchase, reminding the customer of their experience and inviting them to revisit.

4) If you are selling financial services – it’s important to explain the benefits of the purchase/ investment made; give the account holder the opportunity to invest again.

5) Mix channels – send a postcard or call them to take measure of the purchase.

6) Solicit their feedback and leverage on a testimonial page.

7) Insert a copy of the email that made inspired their purchase, include your contact information and encourage the recipient to contact you with any suggestions.

8) Give a super deal on their third (fourth or fifth) transaction.

I’m Loyal

I travel a lot – presenting best practices and meeting great digital marketers across the globe. I try to be loyal to certain hotels, restaurants (going back to the same place), airlines and car companies. I do this for two main reasons – the first is the assurance that I will be treated better for my loyalty, the other is the points (to travel more.) These intangible and tangible benefits help people pay attention and insure active, future involvement.

Here is an article on how to start a loyalty program correctly.

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Email Marketing is Not a Commodity Business

As my friends gather at this years Email Evolution Conference hosted by the Email Experience Council, I would like share some snippets of what one shouldn't be doing.

Marketers are striving real hard to connect with consumers through multiple digital channels. The consumer is most willing to share their email id with the business. The expected tradeoff from the consumer is privacy, trust, and value.

The email marketer certainly understands the value of the email id. The challenge presented is the misperception by others (within the organization) about the true value of this digital connection.

Here are some first hand stories –

An esteemed multi-channel marketing consultant told a major B2C retailer that the email id is a mere commodity and suggest that they not worry about this aspect of their business. This business has invested heavily in their future – email is now less than 5% of their overall marketing budget.

Many trade organizations are actively selling workshops on effective email marketing. They are hosting panels, publishing whitepapers, and selling consulting to engage email marketers. Unfortunately, they do little to heed their own curriculum and their deeds are a prescription for worst practices.

A major telecommunications institution strongly believes that email is just a passing fad and had created the office of a temporary email-marketing manager. This lack of focus has resulted in a revolving door, a lack of commitment to the consumer, and higher than normal paper statements! Guess what? Their latest email marketing manager resigned two weeks ago.

A financial institution is a firm believer of the email marketing process. They are absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to email to drive dramatic ROI. It used to cost them 85 cents for promotional paper mailers. Their fully loaded cost for email marketing through a digital design agency is five cents per email. Guess what, they feel that even if they put out 15 email marketing messages in one month, it only amounts to 75 cents! You can only imagine the ill will they are creating with their consumers.

A major trade services organization hosts learning events – in person and over the web. They use email to promote their events and stay in touch with their consumers. Their CEO told his team, ‘Who gives a s*** about the email program. We can use anything to connect to the end user!’ Their outsourced email marketing program drives 99.4% deliverability, 76% opens, 59% click through! How would you like to work for this CEO?

There is a science to this process. It takes time to attain good deliverability and even more time to create an engaged following. Respect your program, adhere to best practices, and give your email-marketing manager a raise.

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