Like most people, I typically dismiss email advertisements in a matter of seconds. If the subject line doesn’t grab my attention in the first few words, or if I am unfamiliar with the sender, the advertisement immediately goes to the trash. This week, however, I received an email advertisement that caught my attention for all the wrong reasons. This email had an odd subject line which read: “Great deals on personalized Christmas ornaments.”
You can imagine my surprise at seeing this subject line in the middle of January. Common sense seems to dictate that you shouldn’t be marketing a holiday product after the holiday has passed, yet this happens more often than you might expect. I immediately discarded the email without reading the offer, incentive, or product details. The company may have had an amazing product or offer, but it fell on deaf ears since it was the beginning of the New Year and I had no current or foreseeable need for the product.
Market in a Timely Manner
One of the most important aspects to keep in mind about your marketing materials is the timing of your message or offer. You want your marketing piece to reach your target audience at a time when your product or service is relevant, and when they might be in the market to buy.
A few things to consider when contemplating the timeliness of your marketing:
- Does your marketing piece or offer correspond with a holiday? Whether it is a specific date or a holiday season, be sure that you marketing piece arrives before the holiday.
- Does your offer include and expiration date? If so, be sure that your message is received in advance so that the offer is still good and the prospect has an opportunity to take advantage.
- Is your product or service seasonal? Be sure to market your company during peak buying times. For example, it would do you no good to advertise tax preparation in May.
- When are you most likely to reach your target audience? When marketing with T.V., Radio, Internet, or email, identify when your potential customers are tuning in and reach out to them then. There is no use in advertising a cereal for children during late night CNN.
- Are your marketing messages automated? Automated marketing via the internet, email, or social media is a real time saver, but be sure that your automation is timed correctly.
Think ahead when planning your marketing strategy. If your marketing piece is time sensitive you need to start preparing in advance. I advise many of my clients to flip ahead in their calendars to identify future marketing opportunities like a Christmas card mailing or a big summer blowout sale over Labor Day weekend. Then, mark your calendar at least a month ahead of the event (for a printed marketing piece) which will give you ample time to brainstorm, create, produce, and distribute your marketing materials. Keep in mind that if you intend to create a multimedia marketing campaign, distribute large quantities, or allow time for follow up, you may need to begin preparations more than a month in advance.
A mistake concerning the timeliness of your marketing may seem insignificant but it can affect your company’s credibility. It will be obvious that you did not prepare in advance. It may also appear that you have little concern for your product or customer if you didn’t care enough to give them adequate time to digest and react to your marketing piece. Some companies intentionally distribute coupons or offers that leave receivers with little time to take advantage of an offer-this just frustrates the receiver and hurts the company’s credibility.
I cant stress it enough when I say check the relevance, check the relevance, recheck the relevance of your marketing pieces! When in doubt, think about it from the receiver’s perspective. Would this be timely relevant to you if you received it? If not, shelf the idea and use it when the time is right.
Amanda Moore
Proper email etiquette can work wonders...
Email marketing is a fast growing trend. It is quick, easy, and generates a substantial response rate when utilized properly. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing produced the absolute highest response rate for users seeking to generate leads.
While many marketers are jumping on the email blast band wagon, some still opt for a plain old fashioned email written personally. The latter can be just as effective as a professionally written and flashy email blast, if you mind your email etiquette.
I received two emails this week that caught my attention for two drastically different reasons. The first was from a job applicant who was submitting a resume. Although my company has no job openings right now, I opened the attachment because his email was so well written. The applicant had perfect grammar, spelling, addressed me personally, and took the time to do some research on my company. As I read the email, I felt as if this job seeker knew me, my business, and what I was looking for in an employee. Unfortunately, I do not have a position to offer him but you can bet I am keeping his resume.
The second email was forwarded to me by a friend and actually was a marketing email from a competitor of mine. I have never seen a more unprofessional email. The email had purple font, grammar mistakes, spelling issues, illegal use of ellipsis, capitalization mistakes, random poetry-like indentations all over the place, and exclamation point abuse. My first impression was that I would never do business with this person.
Good email etiquette can be very handy in trying to get your message across. I’m not suggesting that you need to write like Mark Twain but a few tips can help:
- Use a subject line that is interesting and pertinent. You reader should be enticed to open it.
- Use a professional font, color, and signature. Anything too cute will be seen as unprofessional.
- Personalize the email, especially if you want to get the reader’s attention. If you can’t afford expensive email blast services then send the same email to all of your contacts but perhaps personalize the opening sentence.
- Use proper grammar. You don’t need to sound like and English professor, just utilize simple rules you learned in grammar school. Mistakes are fine (no one is perfect) but avoid obvious mistakes such as punctuation or capitalization.
- When in doubt-Google your question. A useful grammar sight can be found at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
- Spell check is your friend, but do not rely on it to catch misused words or grammatical errors. For example, if you are trying to say “whether or not” and you spell it “weather” the spell check will over look it and your receiver will think you want to discuss the recent cold front.
- Reread your email for mistakes. I can’t stress this enough!
- Do your homework. Find out about the company and include some of that information in your email. Looking at your target’s website is a great way to learn their mission statement or business objectives and incorporate some of those key words into your email. The receiver will unwittingly get a sense that you mesh with their company.
Remember, this email could be your first and last communication with a prospect. Emails are easy to ignore and easier to delete, so make your email worthwhile and professional.
Amanda Moore
Cut through the clutter and get your customer's attention!
Keeping in touch with your customers regularly is a vital part of growing your business. How meaningful is the contact you typically have with them?
Regularly blasting your customer or prospect with spam emails promoting yourself, your business, or your special this month is not meaningful-in fact, it can be downright annoying. In an over populated marketing environment we must try to cut through the clutter and stand out with constant meaningful contact.
What do I mean by meaningful contact? Content that is meaningful to your customer not just bombarding them with self promotion…but it is possible to do both.
After you put together what you feel is a brilliant marketing campaign there is still the possibility that the phone won’t ring. It is said that it takes anywhere from 7-10 touch points to reel a prospect in, so it is important that you keep your brand in front of your prospect without overloading them with spam and junk mail-this is where constant meaningful contact comes into play.
Hand written notes or letters are a personalized touch that your customers will appreciate. Hand written notes are a lost art that will set you apart from your competition. They can be utilized as a short thank you note or a card to check in on them from time to time.
Hand written notes and letters take up some time, especially if you are trying to reach a large number of customers at a time. This is when variable print is most effective. Imbedding customer variables in the content of your direct mailer, letter, or email will feel less like a mass marketing piece and can give a more meaningful appeal. Variables can include the customer’s name, company name, images, or even a product or service that you think they might be specifically interested in.
If you are looking to really make a long lasting impression, take the time to get to know your customers and send them things they may be interested in. Send them newspaper clippings or email them a link to an online publication that is highlighting their specific industry or hobby. Include a personalized note or email message just to tell them you saw this and thought of them.
I myself send out monthly newsletters to my customers. This newsletter is not filled with self promoting information but rather useful business and marketing tips that could benefit every business or industry. It is another way for us to get face time with our customer but it is also filled with valuable content that they can enjoy and utilize.
Think of ways to promote your business in a way that will appeal to your customers. Your marketing should be useful to your customer and not seem like blind advertising. Think outside the box and personalize the message to suit the needs of your target market. When in doubt think to yourself: “If someone sent this to me, would I care enough to read it?”
Amanda Moore
www.piptampa.com
Cut through the clutter with a creative twist on direct mail
Integrated direct marketing campaigns consist of coordinated promotional efforts that send a consistent message across multiple marketing vehicles to individually target specific consumers more directly. Because consumers gain information from a wide variety of marketing vehicles and media sources, it is important to cut through the clutter and reach your audience through a variety of channels.
Consumers are overwhelmed by marketing communications so you must make sure to create communications that are timely, relevant, creative, interesting, personalized and contain value. It’s important that promotions contain a unique personalized message, multiple touch points (such as email, mail, or website), one-to-one marketing, and interactive components.
Promotional objectives to consider for an integrated direct marketing campaign:
• Create Awareness
• Stimulate Demand
• Identify Prospects
• Retain Loyal Customers
• Combat Competitive Promotional Efforts
• Reduce Sales Fluctuations
The Direct Marketing Association credits Dimensional Mail as the number one most effective and track-able advertising method with a 5.59 response rate compared to telephone (2.53), catalog (2.24), and direct mail (2.15).
Integrated direct marketing campaigns can consist of any of the following services: personalized direct mail, list acquisition, email, program analysis reports, dimensional mail, promotional items, customized flyers, envelope websites, personalized URLs, generic URLs, web page, online survey, and variable data.
I recently designed an integrated direct marketing campaign that consisted of a dimensional mailer, variable data, promotional item, website initiatives, and customized flyers. My campaign was themed so that it was relevant to my prospects and timely in terms of our economic recession. The package had a label on the box with a variable and posed a marketing uestion to my decision maker.
It wasn’t until they opened the box and saw the contents inside that they knew who had sent the package; and by then I had them hooked. They were already cooing over the goodies inside, personal touch, creative presentation, and information included about how to increase their business with my products and services. The informational piece discussed our differentials, directed them to our website for more information, and included a call to action that offered a gift card to a popular dining establishment if they set up an appointment. The package stood out from the typical direct mail clutter and caught my customers’ attention right away.
The most important part of an integrated direct marketing campaign is to analyze performance, follow up, and get feedback. Did prospects respond to your call to action (i.e. call for an appointment)? If not, consider sending a follow-up mailer, email, or make a phone call to be sure they received it. How successful a promotion is depends widely on the quantity and quality of the feedback you receive.
My campaign has had a 36% response rate so far and was a tremendous return on my investment! Ask yourself, what was the response rate for your last direct marketing campaign? Do you know what your ROI was?
Amanda Moore
