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There's
a scene in "Minority Report" where Tom Cruise's character
walks into a shopping mall and is inundated with digital personalized
advertisements and sales pitches. The idea is that his identity
is recognized by businesses and based on the information they know
about him, they try to entice him to buy something. While we can
still roam the malls in peace, we are not that far off when it comes
to our internet access. The real question is how to make those pitches
effective and not a perceived nuisance.
Any company can use electronic mail as a tool to reach your customers.
Along with your website, advertising, brochures, customer visits
and phone calls, email provides a direct avenue to stay in contact
with your potential purchases of your products and services. Email
has the benefit of being inexpensive, customizable, and has virtually
immediate distribution. And the success of an email marketing campaign
has clear, quantifiable results, which offers better market research
than almost any other form of advertising.
Avoid the Spam Label
Television programmers know it. Advertising agencies know it. Your
business communication efforts should include it. To keep your distributed
email in customer inboxes just a little bit longer, you have to
change your mindset about your customers on the web and in email.
They are viewers with very fast and even shorter attention spans.
If they don't like what they see, you can be quickly deleted-or
worse, put on a list of junk emailers that will automatically delete
your sorry excuse for customer outreach.
So rather than flashing banners promoting empty pitches and flagrant
self-aggrandizing, design your communication to be a valuable experience
to your customers. That means creating solid content and saving
the marketing fluff for your website and brochures.
Create Compelling Content
Audiences are much less likely to delete your email if you provide
an element of value. Describing other customer experiences, promoting
a better or easier way of doing something, discussing industry trends
can illustrate a solution (rather than just saying you are the solution).
Give them your expertise and empower them to make the right decision
for their business.
You don't have to be a clever marketing writer to create compelling
content. Keep your audience interested with good, old-fashion, useful
information. A clear, convincing style (minus the hard-sell persuasion)
in a package lightly decorated with graphics and clean formatting
give your piece the dignity you'd expect from experts not salespeople.
Catchy titles and headlines don't hurt, but be attractive, not slutty.
Look at the attraction stage as a process, not a goal. Most business
buying decisions involve lots of research and analysis. Add value
to your message by providing as much complete research as you can.
If you insist on shameless self-promotion, resist the urge to send
out entire brochures to your customers. It's quick and easy, but
ultimately burdens them with too much information too soon.
Find Your Audience
Your best audience is those individuals who have opted-in to your
notices. You know they'll want it (if they like it), and you know
they're most likely to act on it (because they've shown previous
interest). The most straightforward way to attract opt-in is on
your website. Another is to add a link to your corporate email signatures.
A simple registering process with an email address submission will
put them in your database.
The next level of quality audience is your group of existing (and
potential) customers. If you have their information in your customer
database and/or business cards, put them in distribution list. You
can give them the option to be removed but don't give up that initial
contact. If the service is valuable, they'll stick around. The best
part about using your existing customers to start your distribution
list is that it's free. However, your reach is limited to those
who you make contact with.
Your next target should be other distribution lists. Make the rounds
at groups on the web that have crossover interests to your company.
You can also hit up local business networking groups and user groups.
For the price of a small sponsorship, you might be able to gain
additional visibility.
If you've exhausted the industry in which you work, you can also
go after untapped areas by purchasing email lists from publications
and list brokers. Be warned however. They're called blind mailings
for a reason. You're shooting for that 1 in 1,000 hit that makes
the effort worthwhile. One benefit is that it makes you look bigger,
but you do have to spend more and there is no guarantee on the quality
of audience you're getting. Because they are an unknown, consider
a completely different creative content than you would use with
qualified audiences.
Technical Mumbo-Jumbo
Don't let your lack of the technical aspect of mass email distribution
deter you from creating an email marketing campaign. If you can
imagine it, you can send it. Don't forget: you have the ability
to personalize the content they receive.
Start with what you want to say and keep a list of those you want
to say it to. Keep your life simple. Let the geeks and dweebs figure
out the delivery process.
A couple of things to remember:
Keep it light on the graphics--Your viewers don't need to wait
and won't.
Tale of two formats--Those who use exclusively text emails loathe
HTML only emails. Keep text-only versions on hand.
Include an unsubscribe option--This is an e-courtesy and you should
respect it.
Keep viewers anonymous--Make sure other viewers can't see names
of everyone who receives the email. You worked hard to build your
list, so you should keep its contents confidential. Your customers
will appreciate it too. Don't forget to spell it out in your privacy
policy.
Unify communications--Your email marketing should have some correlation
to your website, if not in design, then in content. Content in email
can be leveraged in your website and provide even more perspectives
into the company's offerings. Likewise, you might be able to cannibalize
the content you produce for email for use in brochures as well.
Persistence of Effort
By simply being consistent, you can gain an audience. If they actually
look forward to your information, they won't unsubscribe. Keeping
yourself on their radar reinforces your company's brand identity
and strengthens customer relationships.
As with your products or services, the quality of what you put
out will determine if they keep coming back. Offer something worth
reading and they will read.
More Tips
Be an innovator--Most e-strategies are copies of what other people
are doing, but you should also try to determine what's best for
your business and customize existing models. Keep an eye on the
competition and try to out-do them.
Lead the horse to make him drink--Don't put whole articles on the
email. Instead provide teaser paragraphs hyperlinked to take the
reader to the website.
Discounts are cool--Everyone likes to save money and if your viewers
have a product in mind and needed that extra financial push, getting
a special value email could be a welcome beacon to help close the
deal.
Help for the non-writer--Freelance or in-house writers are good
sources for content. The truth is that they actually enjoy more
original writing than writing about canned technical procedures
or highlighting features and benefits.
Contested contests--Be wary of offering contests or prizes to attract
viewership. Aside from legal and accounting issues, people who often
enter such promotions are more interested in the prize than the
product.
Derek Cheng (d@zoodc.com) is a
freelance creative marketing communications consultant with over
14 years of experience in high tech and business communications.
His virtual presence is located at www.zoodc.com
and can be reached at 650-245-9311.
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