Think Holiday… Christmas in July, whatever you want to call it, we’re planning ahead for the season. Tomorrow’s Service In Action call will help you get your email campaigns ready, we’ve compiled tips, examples and always have plenty of opinions to share.
Check out our updated site, and make plans to join us to learn how to capture some summer sizzle in your 2008 Holiday campaigns.
We look forward to hearing you on the call!
Are you ready for the proposed CAN-SPAM Updates taking effect in July… do you even know what’s on the docket? Tomorrow’s SIA call is an opportunity to discuss proposed changes to the legislation, your responsibilities as marketer and how to make the appropriate updates to your current approach.
Visit the Service In Action site for specifics on the Friday call; you can prep for the discussion by reading the FTC Summary of the changes or… if you’re having difficulty sleeping, check the full report.
We look forward to hearing you on the call!
One of the top questions we receive in the eComm Biz centers around SEO – and I’ll admit that despite researching myself, there are still items that give me pause.
Interest in the topic has inspired Friday’s Service In Action call; we’ve invited our friends from SearchPeers to provide an overview of keyword targeting, proper coding for your site and the mysterious world of metatags.
I’ve seen a sneak preview of the presentation and we’re covering Dos and Don’ts, tactics for reducing risk and the cost benefits of SEO versus affiliate marketing, adwords and other efforts. This is your chance to brush up on the fundamentals, so clear your calendar or sign up through the Service In Action site.
We look forward to 'hearing' you on the call!
According to a recent Marketing Experiments survey, a typical landing page visitor spends only five seconds on the page. This means your chance to further inspire the person – who clicked – on a portion of your email is pretty small.
So how do you stand out, inspire more click throughs and maybe convert someone in those five seconds? It’s a complicated engagement model that relies on brand recognition, perceived value and phenomenal creative – join tomorrow’s Service In Action call (2:00 PM EST) for one of our most popular discussions. Give your opinion on email examples in our The Good, The Bad & The Iffy session, this is your chance to learn from the best and avoid the some mistakes from the rest.
Look forward to hearing you on the call!
Friday’s Service In Action call focused on bringing the customer back and the ability to keep customers engaged. Our guests have done an outstanding job creating loyalty programs; Steve and Phil, many thanks to you both.
Maybe your business is ready for a loyalty marketing program – here’s a checklist to start things off, even if you don't have a big budget:
1) Survey – Ask them what is important, what they like and dislike; ask them what you can do to improve things and what will make them come back. Ask them how they would like to be rewarded. Use this online survey to convey the importance of the channel and set the precedent of how you’ll be communicating with them.
2) Reward them with Points – If they complete a transaction, verify information, send feedback or make a purchase, give them some recognition. These points add up and result in a snowball effect, making your customers pay more attention.
3) Send Updates – Include their points balance and remind them of the point hierarchy… you're only X points away from the next level. Keep thanking them for the business – on your website, via email, through your call center or in-store representatives.
4) Help them with Redemption – Whether it’s a percentage off, merchandise or upgrades make the process easy, make the customer feel their points are worth something.
5) Give the Intangibles – Have a special line for loyal/ elite customers, send thank you cards from the owner... mix it up across channels, this shows the customer that they are part of the family.
Loyalty marketing is true one-to-one interaction – you know everything about the customer, which are arguably easier than attracting new prospects through mass media advertising.
Remember, Friday’s call is available as a podcast and the next call is April 25.
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. 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.
We’re Loyal
As many of you already know, we travel a lot – presenting best practices and meeting great email marketers across the globe. We try to be loyal to certain hotels, restaurants (going back to the same place), airlines and car companies. We do this for two main reasons – the first is the assurance that we will be treated better for our loyalty, the other are the points (to travel more.) These intangible and tangible benefits help people pay attention and insure active, future involvement.
Our next Service In Action call (this Friday at 2:00 EST) focuses on getting customers to repeat their purchase behavior; we’ve invited some experts to share their thoughts with us – these ideas will truly help us derive some great ideas to apply to our own environments.
A colleague of mine ran a seminar for eye care professionals in Miami; he had a list of 1,200 people and 75 spots to fill. Fortunately, he had their permission to market along with email, address and phone number. As he compiled the email IDs he found that he had a little over a 1000 unique addresses.
He quickly put together a short general message to those names – something to the effect of
… I’ll be sending you an invite to a special networking event in Miami. Please look for details next week for details.
About 300 email IDs bounced, many were completely bogus (i.e. junk@junk.com). After weeding out the bad addresses, he retargeted the 700 people with a second email – he had 250 openers (people knew of him) and about 150 unique clicks on the seminar link. His small team called every one of the clickers and secured about 80 people to sign up. He personally called a few bounces, got their correct email IDs and a few more sign-ups – his total registered was 114. The day of the seminar he had 93 people show up. Following the seminar, he sent a direct mail to those people who didn’t have correct (or any) email address on file. These people were encouraged to click through and provide their email id's.
His current marketable list is just under a 1,000 names, he takes great pride in keeping it current. His monthly newsletter averages open rates of 85% and gets great click through. Every single bounce is treated with great care – resolving each block or bounce through a phone call. This personal commitment has resulted in a clean list that is totally marketable.
His story is just one on the topic of list hygiene; join our next Service In Action call is this Friday and learn how our friends from Anthropologie, AAA Carolinas, Coastal Federal Credit Union and EBSCO Pradco Brands keep their customers engaged and their lists current. Hope you can make it; visit the Service In Action site for specifics on this 2:00PM (EST) call.
“Damn good information!” This was one of the quotes we received from Eric, one of the participants on Friday’s Service in Action call. Our call focused on leveraging emerging Web 2.0 technology into your general marketing mix.
Dog.com talked about leveraging their online community to create unity. Their site is not about selling but about customer service. Their community gives you the opportunity to personalize information around your pet, bringing participants back to the site again and again. If you have a pet, you absolutely have to register – their community is phenomenal.
Stave Puzzles was closed December 25 through January 1! To keep their customers engaged they offered games, a blog and a community site to keep customers and friends engaged through the holiday season. They do this to build a loyal base of fans, and this is what helps you drive new products and new sales.
Reagan and I visited an 1154 LILL Studio store and were fascinated by the amount of help we received from their customers. Everyone wanted to help us design our bags, we had nine people mill around a table and only one was an employee! They’re on their way to creating the same sense of in-store community on their blog.
If you read the blog at King Arthur Flour it is extremely engaging; there are recipe after recipe of heavenly palate creations. They follow a great process to move people from stage to stage. You read a little summary of the recipe and then have the opportunity to click on the link to the main article. They have incorporated pictures and links to all the ingredients you need to create the recipe.
One of the concerns raised about blogs was about listing negative feedback, inappropriate information or promoting competitors. A lot of senior management is concerned that this could tarnish their company’s reputation. Not so surprisingly every one of the businesses on the call have encountered a minimal number of issues – more importantly, they felt that their readers actually policed their community sites against these threats.
The personal passion and commitment each one of these companies exude towards their customers and prospects is what makes me love these businesses. Thank you again and thanks to all of our readers and friends who have been an inspiration to us. Not only have we had the opportunity to learn from you and with you, but we have also enjoyed you taking the lead by implementing seemingly simple ideas.
Remember, incorporating Web 2.0/ User Generated Content into your marketing mix is very easy; the key though is starting correctly. Philip and Reagan should to publish a book on the best things to do (and what not to do); until then, contact us for help with your endeavors.
Thank you again, and you can always listen to the podcast on the SIA site.
Join today’s Service In Action call at 2:00 PM EST to learn how to incorporate User Generated Content into your marketing mix.
Today’s call will be a roundtable discussion with representatives from Dog.com, 1154 LILL Studio and Stave Puzzles about ways they have strengthened relationships with their customers and prospects through feedback and Web 2.0 techniques.
Visit the site for information or come back for the podcast if you can’t make the call (available by 5:00 PM EST). We look forward to hearing you at 2:00!
On our Service In Action call this past Friday, Return Path’s Amanda Bacher talked with us about deliverability. Here are some of the things we spoke about; you can also listen to the entire call through the podcast on the Service In Action site.
Service In Action: If an organization sent marketing messages through a third-party and transactional email from internal servers – would their deliverability be affected?
Amanda Bacher: Since the IP addresses are separate, the answer would be no. However, we all need to be careful about the transactional emails we send through our internal systems. Banks send out e-statements/ notifications, retailers put out order confirmations – these are important, transactional emails that also need to be delivered. The challenge here is that these messages are often text-based and harder to track. Also, many users look for the unsubscribe button – something that is not required for transactional messages. Since these don't have unsubscribe buttons, users mark them as spam. So I would encourage you to keep checking your IPs, there is a good chance that you might be getting dinged.
SIA: If the ESP put their logo on your message, would it impact deliverability?
AB: From a deliverability perspective, the logo really doesn't matter. What matters is the IP that is associated with the email. The larger issue is that you should be carefully of the brand you are promoting. Should your ESP get a free ride on your dime? You should also be mindful of the company your ESP keeps – you may implicate your reputation through other companies they work with.
SIA: Senders are tracked through consistency in volume – how do you deal with a weekly email that turns into a three-per-week or more during the holidays? A cataloger that used to target me once a week is now sending me an email every single day and it is driving me nuts!
AB: It is important to disclose the frequency you will mail your customers at the point of sign up and stick to that. Also, give customers the control; ask them how often they would like to hear from you. Changing the frequency could result in complaints. Bottom line, insure you have a message that is relevant to your audience when sending them an email.
SIA: Should non-responders be sent from a separate IP address?
AB: Sending to non-responders through a separate IP may be worthwhile; as this will protect the reputation of your main IP. However, sending from a brand new IP address might not be a good idea because that IP will have no reputation and is less likely to get delivered. Also, make sure the separate IP is setup with the feedback loops so you can collect complaints and remove them from the list. Set the expectations with the client that they may end up dumping a lot of data but it is worth in the long run because spam traps can impact your deliverability.
SIA: What is the one thing you can do to improve deliverability?
AB: Keep your list clean – remove your bounces expeditiously.
To listen to all the tips, simply connect to the podcast on the Service In Action site. Our next call will focus on user-generated content and is scheduled for December 14th at 2:00 EST.
Want to stay ahead of the count and get your messages to the intended recipients? Join today's call for tips on these subjects, and insights of the landscape for 2008. Our group of deliverability experts will discuss ideal practices and help you get prepared.
We’ll also share some campaigns that leverage user provided content, so you can learn how they’ve capitalized on customer feedback to strengthen their campaigns.
Our call starts at 2:00 PM ET/ 1:00 CT; visit the Service In Action site for dial-in and webinar information.
Special thank you to Jeff Greene for sharing his Five Killer Secrets for Effective eMarketing – for those of you who missed it, we’re working on an archived surprise. Be sure to check back.
Join tomorrow’s call for Five Killer Secrets for Effective eMarketing.
Our presenter, Jeff Green, oversees the publishing and placement of over 35 channels (including advertising, media, website and email marketing) yielding continuous member and marketing communications for Costal Federal Credit Union.
Devoted to evolving his trade, Jeff uses his experience across many mediums to mentor others; he even finds the time to engineer successful philanthropic drives on a limited budget.
We look forward to hearing you on the call - details are on the Service In Action website.
Join us today at 2:00 for our tips on improving your 2007 Holiday Campaigns. Visit the Service In Action site for dial-in information.
The count down for the holiday season is on – retailers feel the crunch typically around June 1.
So what do you do to make sure your 2007 Holiday is the best yet? We have a couple ideas; join us for tomorrow’s Service In Action call. We’re running down our Top 10 list to make sure your campaigns have a little something extra.
The call is tomorrow (September 27) at 2:00 EST. Dial-in information is available on the Service In Action site. Hope to hear you there!
I received an interesting call from Diner’s Club yesterday asking me to validate some of my credit card transactions – some were mine, some were not.
From what I’ve learned, my number was stolen, a duplicate card made and then tested with a few small transactions. This duplicate card was sold to someone who tried to use it at a hotel in Paris; well the gendarmes (French Police) swept in and arrested the crook.
Since my call yesterday, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out how my number was procured, and it seems that a Chicago-based merchant made an imprint with a pocket card scanner. According to Diner’s Club, a number of similar instances have resulted from this particular merchant (real owners using their card there).
In total, I spoke to six Diner’s reps, ironically the first five had no idea about the actual issue; however, when I did get to the right person, they made amends and gave me some points to lessen the inconvenience. In addition, he used a bit of ingenuity to sign me up to receive the Diner's newsletter along with email alerts if this should ever occur again. I was very impressed and wanted to pass along to anyone with a call center – spend the bucks, train the center and get them in the email marketing game – you can only win.
Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to get any additional information on the person who bought my phony card – I was hoping to invite them to this month’s SIA call (September 28), to get their take on the holiday communications focus. We’re planning to highlight some of the great things you all have been doing, share effective campaign ideas to help you get closer to your customers and prospects, increase email id collection and share some social media avenues to help with marketing – YouTube, MySpace, Blogs, Twitter and custom games.
Retailers, catalogers, banks, credit unions, not for profits, travel and entertainment companies alike can leverage the upcoming season to drive effective email communication. So in conclusion, I have a couple parting points:
Let us know how you enjoyed today's call! What topics would you like to see covered in the future? We want to make these calls as valuable as possible for you, and your feedback helps us do that.
Please leave us a comment here for us. We appreciate your time.
Have a good weekend!
Don't forget today's Service In Action call at 2pm EST. We'll be talking about The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Best Practices in Email Creative.
Remember, the call is free!
The call in number is 1-800-774-4523, meeting ID 8816. The presentation is hosted here.
We hope to hear from you today!
This Friday, August 17th, 2007 at 2:00 pm Eastern, we'll have our next Service In Action Call. This month's call will be the ever popular segment, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
You can learn a lot just by watching, we’ve learned a great deal by simply signing up for emails and waiting. Over the years we’ve gathered a collection of some awesome, some useful and some really pitiful campaigns – join us to learn how to improve the best and avoid the pitfalls of the rest.
If you have some email examples you would like to share, please email them to Reagan, and we'll look at them on Friday.
Call 1-800-774-4523 and enter Meeting ID 8816. Remember, the call is free.
We hope you enjoyed today's Service in Action call. Please post comments here on the blog with feedback on today's session, and to mention what you would like us to cover in future calls.
Thanks!
