Email Marketing: An Evolutionary Tale

I suspect 2010 will be all a twitter (pun intended) regarding social media, and how it purports to enhance your relationships with your clients. A lot of it is hype, but no doubt, the way we communicate with our clients, and the manner in which we promote ourselves has evolved enormously.

In the beginning, well almost, we interacted with prospects face-to-face (an expensive, but active method), and obtained their contact information, which we then loaded into a database.

Eventually we realised, hey, we can also obtain this information via our websites (an affordable, but passive method), and have it automatically load into our database too.

This was when email newsletters exploded, and the premise upon which most email service providers (ESPs) established their businesses.

But the problem was that the process was one-way, and all communications were in the form of bulk messages. It was assumed that all prospects were at the same point in the sales cycle, and that they all had homogenous needs.

Fortunately that has all changed; we have evolved.

STOP

We have?

Well okay, most of us are still stuck in 2005. I frequently hear that many people would like to migrate to a communication strategy that is social media aware, but they cannot figure out what is relevant, how to go about it or who to turn to. Let's discuss these important points.

Consider the above diagram, which was a tough task to keep simple, as the true form is more matrix like. There are many hundreds of social media sites, serving a myriad purposes; I have chosen a few of the more common ones, to demonstrate how an evolved communication strategy should be established.

Online marketing serves the same purpose as traditional marketing, namely to perform as an effective component of your marketing mix. More specifically, to contribute to your promotion efforts (remember the 4 P's of marketing?) in a cost efficient way. Additionally, it serves to perpetually sustain top-of-the-mind brand awareness, so as to facilitate repeat business.

So how do we create and/or maintain this awareness?

Well for starters, get you head around the fact that you HAVE TO engage in dialogue. You need to offer value-adding information in exchange for actionable data. This is done through a combination of social media sites and direct communication. There are two mediums, used effectively, to gather actionable data; email (through the use of surveys) and telephone (through the use of a live operator). I know you can use two-way sms, but it isn't a medium of choice, due to recipient billing sensitivity. All your efforts must ultimately lead to the collection of actionable data, through the heavy use of these feedback mediums and finally, a transaction.

Now, as regards your combination of the myriad social media sites. These must all play a supporting role, all in a somewhat different way. Their primary purpose is brand promotion and awareness, and although you can do all of these things on your website, you will never get the same kind of search engine exposure. So it's kinda like investment diversification; spread it around. One of the end results must be the capturing of prospect contact details, which will allow your nurturing campaign to kick in, ultimately progressing towards a transaction. 

Instead of a newsletter, which is effectively lost to the outside world, you use a blog (Blogger, Wordpress or other). The search engines do a great job at indexing blog articles, so this already places you at an enhanced advantage. Let's not forget that a blog can also use a subscription form, to capture prospect contact details, which can be automatically loaded to your database.

When you research for your blog, invariably it involves reading a lot of source material. Some of this would be of interest to your prospects. So use a reader (Google Reader or other), bundle your sources together and share these articles with your prospects. Your public page gets indexed by the search engines as well.

Then convert your blog articles to pdf, and host online (Calameo, Scribd or other). These articles also get indexed; yes, there is a duplication, but it will catch prospects that do not find you via your blog. Plus, it gives the added advantage of providing a downloadable version. Also, don't overlook providing powerpoint presentations or pdf documents that may be of use to a prospect; manuals, expert opinion, case studies, surveys etc.

Anything that you do, be it blogging, uploading documents, hosting an event, launching a new product, remember to post a one line notice to Twitter. Twitter is an enigma to many. It is simply a 140 (designed for mobile use) character way of sending brief messages. Unlike sms, your twitter messages get indexed by the search engines. So if clearly written, and using a url shortener (Bit.ly or other), prospects can click a link and be diverted to a site of interest.

The same can be said of Facebook and LinkedIn; although you are usually more circumspect regarding the type of news that you upload to these sites. Facebook is usually better for interacting with prospects, and has the added advantages of being able to be an active medium (it can email fans), and it can capture prospect contact details, via a subscription form. LinkedIN has similar advantages, but is best used when targeting a business audience.

Then, of course, a picture tells a thousand words. It always enhances your communicaion if you can include a link to a video (You Tube or other), or to pictures and/or photos (Picasa or other) of relevant material. With photos, it is usually a good idea to show pictures with clients interacting with your brand.

Summary

You need to put it all together in a way that it simple enough for you to maintain. The glue is your email marketing. You use the social media sites to promote your company, and to drive prospects to provide you with information. This information, in turn, feeds your communication campaign, which perpetually encourages your prospects to engage with your brand. But do not restrict yourself to email only. Vary your contact media; use snail mail for birthdays for example. Don't allow your communication strategy to become predictable and mundane.

Finally, if it still remains overwhelming then contact Dialogue Marketing. We will put it all together for you, show you what and how to maintain the strategy (or do it for you).

Find a downloadable copy of the article here.

Dialogue Marketing: Keeping Email Marketing Efforts Effective

There are so many Email Service Providers (ESP), that the product has almost become a commodity, where only price is the issue.

At the same time, a lot of businesses already have some form of email campaign or other. And in the midst of all of this we have email recipient fatigue, with declining read rates, reduced click throughs, increased unsubscribes, and all around reduced effectiveness.

What now?

Well, for starters, it never was about the technology. The technology was, and is, only a facilitator. The technology is almost at the point where you can expect a certain minimum, like CAN-SPAM compliance, unsubscribe and bounce functionality, auto-responders, customised fields, and such like. So now it is up to you.

Email was never the panacea, or the silver bullet. Like everything else, it boils down to your strategy.

The Strategy Centres Around Dialogue

You cannot rely on mass email alone, and expect to simply blast out message after message, expecting business to come flooding in. If you did expect that, then you clearly still believe in the Tooth Fairy too. Even segment, batch and blast has lost its shine.

You can only reverse the trend through dialogue. Yes, two-way communication. But you will surprised how many people don't get it, are too lazy to get it, too arrogant to listen or are just stupid. I have repeatedly explained the process to many businesses, only to have them email me their standard monthly newsletter, or their standard monthly specials. Sigh.

However, email marketing is still the most effective marketing tool available, but it cannot operate in a vacuum. You have to combine it with other mediums and strategies, incorporating fax, voice, sms, web, blogs and snail mail.

You have to engage in conversations, and you have to nurture your contacts to the next stage, whatever that may be. All of this requires a well devised communications strategy that dictates when and how to deploy these instruments.

Establish Some Goals

The goals are obvious, establish how many phases there are to the sales cycle, and then design a communication strategy for each phase. Use a combination of communication mediums, and create opportunities to communicate with your contact within each phase. Use these opportunities to re-affirm your relationship, and to gather information. This gathered information should advance your awareness of the contact, and should, in turn, lead to new opportunities to communicate.

The collection of meaningful data, and the creation of relevant communication opportunities will greatly reduce unsubscribes, and all the other myriad problems, but at the same time produce revenue producing opportunities.

The Key Ingredient

The magic is you. You have to be completely dedicated to your strategy, and once you implement, you have to persevere. I have seen too many businesses with fantastic communication strategies, the best of technologies BUT no will to support the vision.

Too many commentators and ESPs go on about the details, like dealing with bounces, or the subject line, or the correct time to dispatch a message. These are important, but too many assume complete competency on the part of the business. Without you engaging in the process, there can be no dialogue. So go on, you be the champion.

Using Dialogue To Nurture Your Leads

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Alternatives To A Newsletter .... Demystifying The Mystified

This week I was helping a prospective client establish a communication strategy to acquire new business. The process sometimes seems confusing, so I have taken this opportunity to explain it in more detail.

It is extraordinarily rare that a prospect is ready to purchase, when you happen to make contact. Assuming you have a market, of course; usually you will make contact with a prospect somewhere in the sales cycle, just not where you need them to be. This can be best described as harvesting green bananas; and may account for 95% of your leads.

What this means is that if you do not nurture this prospect, until they are ready to transact, chances are they will be lost to a competitor. It is suggested that 80% of marketing expenditure, on lead generation, goes to waste, due to lack of discipline and commitment.

So what to do?

Well, that is the point of meaningful dialogue. You need to engage prospects consistently, and through value-added exchanges. I intentionally use the word dialogue, and exchange. There is no point simply blasting out newsletters, or emails. All this does is create work for you, and you end up operating in a vacuum. You never become better informed as to the state of the prospect; and you could well be hurting your brand.

So the objective is to share information with the right people, and in so doing establish a relationship. Ultimately, the ongoing, timely sharing of information maintains a brand awareness, which leads (pun intended) to a transaction. Dialogue marketing is more than just having a salesperson call every so often, to find out if a prospect is "ready to buy yet."

It has been demonstrated that 69% of buyers are more inclined to transact, where a salesperson has assumed the role of advisor. This means that it is important for you to share knowledge, and educate your prospects. Forget the scripted sales pitches; the cheesy verses that interrupt my dinner. Become the trusted advisor that your prospect calls, when they are ready to transact.

But how to do it?

Here we are going to refer to my diagram, above.

You probably have a source of leads; this could be advertising, trade enquiries, seminars, trade shows, or any myriad of sources.

Make sure you add your website and blog, to those sources. But ensure that your website and blog provide the ability to collect prospect information. This information, together with information sources from other areas, should be fed into a centralised database.

Now, and this is where the confusion comes in, there is always a tendancy to want to blast off a message, telling the prospect everything you can do. This is wrong. If you tell them everything upfront, not only are you pressure selling, but you haven't shared any knowledge and you destroy your the opportunity to communicate in the future, without repeating yourself.

You need to nurture them; gently. You send a message which discusses a topic relevant to their situation (call this Dialogue 1). Included therein could be a link to a related blog article, where you can lay the subject out in more detail. An important part of the dialogue, is to include an online (or email embedded) survey. If the survey questions (never more than 3) are answered, these give you an insight into the state of the prospect, and may provide a selling opportunity.

So, if you have 5 key areas that could cause a prospect to transact, instead of mentioning all 5 upfront, you break them up into 5 or more seperate communications, which are dispatched at timed intervals. Each contact relates to one of the key areas, which is supported by a blog article and an online survey. Last week I discussed Dialogue Marketing for Financial Services; this was one example of a value-added exchange.

Any response by a prospect, that produces a selling opportunity, takes the prospect to a different database, and a new series of messages.

It is important to place yourself in your prospect's position, think through what is important to them, and then create a meaningful communication strategy.

And The Results?

Close ratios are higher, sales pipelines are stronger, brand awareness is stronger, customer retention is 50% higher, and nurtured prospects produce 250% more qualified sales leads, than unnurtured prospects.

Download a printable version here.

Dialogue Marketing for Financial Services

This week I thought, "Enough with the theory and background explanations, lets share a real world example". So that is what we are going to do, work through how technology can assist somebody in, say, the financial services industry.

We all know about the financial services industry; it is much like the pre-owned car industry for the most part. You are faced with high pressure sales people, who palm themselves off as financial advisors. Everytime you hear from one of these guys, it is usually over dinner, or when you least want to hear from them. What is more, they have one purpose in mind; to sell you another product, and then, poof, not to be heard from again.

I have rarely dealt with the same financial advisor twice.

So the relationship appears lopsided, or asymetric. Now I know I am generalising. There are some excellent advisors out there, but for the most part that is not what people experience.

As a professional advisor, you have the opposing problem. How do you manage to prospect successfully when the perception people have is a poor one? All you want to do is be given the opportunity to show what you are capable of, but you need to secure an appointment first. How do you do this?

Surely there must be a way to finesse both sides of a strained relationship; where everybody gets what they want?

The answer is a resounding yes.

Imagine not having an advisor breathing down your neck. Imagine being able to have your situation assessed in private, and yet at the same time being provided with information that is valuable to you; like how much you may need to save each month.

But at the same time, imagine being the advisor, where you don't have to face telephonic rejection daily, yet are still able to engage in a dialogue; where you can still offer a valuable service, and at the same time be notified of potential opportunities.

This "win-win" situation can be accomplished with some imagination and the use of Dialogue Marketing. So without spoiling the fun, watch the video to see what is possible.

The Newsletter Is Dead ..... Let It Go Already

Okay, maybe not dead, but it definitely has lost its shine. You wouldn't say so though. I can hardly go to a website these days without being invited to join their mailing list. Now building a database is a business imperative; don't get me wrong. But what is so compelling about wanting to read your verbose newsletter?

In the early days, say 1995, not many people were into newsletters. So it offered a differential advantage to the early adopters, and was a way of delivering company news, with some really neat graphics.

Problem is, the newsletter became ubiquitous. Every schmo has one; and that's okay, as long as it isn't your only or primary method of keeping in touch with your clients.

I spend a fair amount of time going to networking events, and they are all very similar. You usually meet the same ever so accomplished, ever so successful, ever so on top of everything kinda person. Cool.

Now, as soon as I explain how technology can enhance your efforts at relationship marketing, you can see the thought process, "Ah, email and newsletters".

What is even more enlightening, is what happens after these events. Invariably you get plugged into a standard email newsletter system, and you get bombarded with meaningless junk, not even remotely connected to your interests, until you unsubscribe. It's like, hello, there is a disconnect here.

Okay, I appreciate that people just don't know that there is a better way. The pathway isn't clear, and it seems so complex compared to a simple newsletter.

So what went wrong?

They Are Boring

Newsletters aren't about the customer; they are about the company. They are generally self-promoting screeds, with mostly useless information. Aside from telling your clients that Susie or Johnny was promoted, or blabbing on about some amazing promotion, there is very rarely anything in it for the customer.

They Treat All Customers As Equal

This is a noble cause in politics, but not in business. Today you can personalise a newsletter, by being clever and inserting a customers name and a few other personal details; but this isn't really identifying the customer as an individual. Essentially everbody gets the some monthly blast.

They Don't Build Relationships

Think about your relationships; there is a lot of give and take, or interpersonal exchanges. They aren't all one way traffic. How can a relationship be forged if you aren't getting to know your clients or prospects any better, where the only information dispensed is yours, and where you determine when to communicate?

They Are A Waste of Resources

Have you ever tried to consistently publish a newsletter? Many have, and I get requests for them all the time. They are time consuming; customised newsletter templates are expensive to design; they are notoriously difficult to get delivered; and continually finding compelling content is a nightmare. My experience is that generally most newsletter efforts become dormant, only to be revived when a quick promotion needs to be conducted.

You could be fooled into believing otherwise, though. There are lots of email service providers, all offering free generic templates and easy terms. The issue isn't them; it is you. You have been lulled into thinking that this is the silver bullet. It isn't. You need to have a clear communication strategy, and this needs to move away from message blasting, and towards timely, personalised and targeted communications, using many of the mediums available to you.

They Never Get Read

We all have a problem with inbox clutter. As we sort through our daily emails, we scan for key identifiers, like names or subject lines. When we get a newsletter, it is sometimes a nice to have, but we usually save it, hoping to return later and read in leisure. But that rarely happens, because the next tsunami of emails has arrived. So your email package may be telling you that read rates are high, but hey, nobody is really reading.

So what now?

My next article will cover some really neat, easy and effective new ways of communicating, that can handsomely compliment a newsletter, or better yet, replace it all together.

Download a printable version here.

What Is Relationship Marketing?

I've always been uncomfortable with the concept of relationship marketing being about authentic connections, meaningful dialogue, hugs and kisses because it is quite simply nonesense. It is insincere, and your customers know this. Your primary concern is sales; and ultimately profitability. So it was refreshing to discover marketers that were starting to state the obvious.

Source: CopyBlogger

Raise your hand if you’ve heard of relationship marketing. Now keep it up if you know what it means.

Lots of hands still up, huh? OK. Fine. You, there. You with the iPhone and the I’m Kind of a Big Deal on Twitter t-shirt. What does relationship marketing mean?

Mmm hmm?

Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. I tuned out at “creating authentic connections” and “establishing many-to-many connections that foster meaningful dialogue.”

DING DING DING. You are WRONG, my tweep, my Facebook friend, my FriendFeed flunkie.

Let’s talk about what “relationship marketing” really is, shall we?

According to Wikipedia, and Len Barry who coined the term, “relationship marketing is a form of marketing which emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction, rather than a dominant focus on point-of-sale transactions.”

1. Relationship marketing is not about relationships. It’s about marketing.

As a relationship marketer, I focus on making sure you not only buy my stuff today, but you keep buying it over and over and over. “Relationship” refers to the customer’s purchase history, not some deep interpersonal connection.

We do not take moonlit walks on the beach. We are not friends. We are not acquaintances. As a matter of fact, we couldn’t pick each other out of a police lineup.

As a business, I’ve simply agreed to listen to you — or, more likely, people demographically similar to you — for long enough to know what you might buy. Then I make it and sell it to you.

If this is our relationship, we both need therapy.

2. Relationship marketing is not about authenticity.

I could tell you I’m just an ordinary person who happens to be exactly like you. I could tell you I’m the reincarnation of Cleopatra’s pool boy. I could tell you I’m a one-eared lumberjack.

It doesn’t matter a whit. If I get you signed up for my advance discount list and give you a good enough deal, we both win.

3. Relationship marketing is not about transparency.

Transparency is nice, and sometimes necessary, but it’s not what this is about.

It’s fascinating when Rand Fishkin tells me how much money he made last year, but it doesn’t affect whether or not I keep my SEOMoz

membership.

4. Relationship marketing is not about connection.

Just because Steve Jobs doesn’t know your kid’s name doesn’t mean you’re going to buy a Dell next time.

5. Relationship marketing is not about being social.

Social is Sunday morning brunch with your buddies. It’s not Twitter, and frankly, you’ll have a tough time selling anything in either place.

6. Relationship marketing is not about equality.

The only thing that’s equal about you being my “fan” and me begging you for money is that we’re equally codependent.

7. Relationship marketing is not even about communication.

I buy apples every week and the things don’t even have a label, let alone a communication strategy.

You joining my Facebook fan page is not a relationship.

You following me on Twitter is not a relationship.

You commenting on my blog is not a relationship.

Let’s face it, if your boyfriend treated you as badly as I do, your mother would tell you to break up with him.

Relationship marketing is about marketing.

The touchy feely, Summer of Love, gosh-aren’t-we-great-friends stuff is nice. Sometimes it’s even necessary. But it’s not what relationship marketing is actually about.

Relationship marketing is about getting the customer to stick around long enough to keep shopping. And it’s about making sure that customer comes back next time to buy more stuff.

Don’t fall so in love with the relationship that you forget about the marketing. Like talking about benefits and not just features. Like having a halfway decent market position. Like a real call to action. Like, you know, selling stuff.

All the authentically transparent connections in the world won’t fix those if they’re broken. But stick a Wheaties coupon on the back of every box of Wheaties and you’ve got it nailed.

Author: Naomi Dunford

How To Stay Close To Your Customers In Difficult Economic Times

Ouch. Watching your sales revenue plunge, but your operating costs remain stubbornly high, is causing you immense stress. Your margins have evaporated and you need to do something fast or go bankrupt. The natural tendency is to slash anything that you feel is not important, like that marketing budget. But you know that your brand will simply disappear, as your competitors continue to shout their brands from the rooftops. The alternative, if you keep spending on marketing that does not definitively lead to sales, you will be sunk. Does this sound like your dilemma? If it doesn't then you are clearly in a recession proof industry.

Of course you cannot slash your marketing. The key is to concentrate on marketing that builds repeat business, and do it fast.

Most businesses concentrate on attracting new clients and do very little to look after their existing clients after the transaction is complete.

I mean as a consumer yourself, when last were you "Thanked" for your business, or even better, when last were you contacted by a vendor that hadn't seen you for awhile, worrying that you may have defected? I will guess probably never.

Marketing is not directly correlated to sales, unless you are holding a blowout sale, where you are basically discounting your product to make the revenue. A lot of good that is going to do when your margins are already waffer thin. So the key is to keep your brand top-of-the-mind, and achieve this without the traditional marketing expense. The first place to begin is with your existing clients. It is much easier, and cheaper, to keep your existing clients than to pour loads of money into trying to attract new clients. Besides in a recession, the quickest way to land up in the poorhouse is to blindly pursue your mass marketing strategy.

So how do you set about keeping your existing clients? Well for starters you need to ask yourself whether you know who your clients are. Do you have a database of your past clients, or do you simply complete the transaction and let them walk out the door, perhaps never to be seen again? If you don't, then stop wasting time and implement a system that will allow you to gather your clients contact information at your various touchpoints.

So now the data is starting to come in, now what? Once you have started collecting this data you then need to communicate with your clients, and this should start immediately with a simple Thank You. Here communication means developing a meaningful relationship instead of mass emailing that simply erodes your brand value and shoves an endless supply of product down your clients throats. By meaningful relationship I mean use a give-and-take system. Provide value-add information in exchange for information. Everytime you communicate you have a branding opportunity, and if done correctly you slowly build loyalty. Imagine being able to track your individual client's so closely that you will be able to identify who your top spenders are, or being able to identify potential defectors before they go to your competitors. Oh great, I hear you saying cynically. You are not IT literate, you don't have the funds to develop a system and you don't know where to start. What now?

Well this is where Dialogue Marketing fills a niche. Dialogue Marketing provides an affordable system that will start creating your database instantly, and will help you design customised communications that will automatically, and periodically communicate with your clients across multiple mediums like email, text, fax, voice or snail mail. These communications can be fully interactive, gathering more client information for you, which in turn may trigger further communications to the client or internal notifications to personnel. The communications can also incorporate a points system, where points will be communicated via the medium of your choice and can track transactions, highlighting key information. All of this is designed to keep your brand top-of-the-mind and to encourage a repeat sales cycle.

In future postings, I will break the features down and explain them in more details, and what it will accomplish for your business.