Email Yogi

25 Best Practices for Effective Digital Engagement

2017-04-23T14:20:00.000-04:00

I am grateful for the opportunity to be speaking at an email marketing conference. Here is a summary of 25 things that are the focus of my presentation and a summary of so much good learning.

1. Deliverability is driven by authentication, reputation, content, and engagement.

2. Simplify the subscription process and enforce it with a real time confirmation message that delivers on your value proposition.

3. Create content streams – it takes more than a single message to engage.

4. Content should provide value and be responsive across devices.

5. Context drives relevance. You cannot say good night in the morning.

6. Test everything – subject lines, content, and landing pages.

7. Segmentation and relevance drive real results.

8. Analytics are key – predict and measure campaign performance so you can analyze and improve.

9. Create a campaign calendar and cap the number of campaigns sent to a single recipient.

10. Leverage all your channels.

11. Maintain a campaign library – from acquisition to nurturing to conversion.

12. Ensure compliance and adhere to high privacy standards.

13. Knowing what they want is an art and science. Keep observing and testing.

14. Do not cry wolf. You will never win. No crocodile tears either.

15. Make it exciting. Keep it interesting. Highlight your expertise.

16. Be sincere. Care. Deliver on your promise.

17. It is the web. Give them unlimited choices. Track. Segment. Personalize.

18. Offer expertise. Showcase expertise. Leverage expertise.

19. If you are too frequent, offer TREMENDOUS VALUE.

20. Can you design for a daily message? Think like a cartoonist, columnist, fortune teller.

21. Can you inspire? Can you make it alluring? Can you draw them in? Remember the Paul Harvey approach.

22. We are moving from OMNI-channel to OPTI-channel. Do you know what they want?

23. Sometimes a strong call to action can be beaten by subtlety. Work your content magic.

24. Can you show that you truly care? Get personal. Answer questions. Showcase REAL testimonials.

25. How would you spend your marketing dollars? Where would you focus? Where do you start?

Do share. Do connect. Do stay in touch – join my monthly webinar on email marketing best practices.

Five MUST Do's for Digital Success

2016-05-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

1) You MUST grow your list
Look back at your list over the past five years (or longer) and see how many new names you have added. Look at your direct mail file. I have checked with financial institutions, catalogs, retailers, travel, entertainment or other companies to find a common thread – the average percentage of names for which people have email ids is less than 35%. Meaning you have another 65-something percent to tap into. More importantly you have to look for constructive ways to grow your list. This means every name counts, so reduce churn and get creative. Your entire team needs to work on helping you grow the list.

2) You MUST know more
About your customers and prospects, that is. Just having an email association is not enough. You need to survey your list at different stages – during the sign-up process, various transaction points as well as stages of inactivity. You need to keep this information in a preference table and also build up operational preferences. Operational preferences are tracking information about a particular recipient – whether they open your emails, they click, or they simply haven't cared. Your approach to asking questions needs to be direct and beneficial; put on your own user hat and see what is really helpful.

3) You MUST interact (across all channels)
No more left hand right hand dislocation – your recipient is on the receiving end of a number of different communiqués. They expect you to make sure they are served appropriately. There is no channel conflict in their mind and you better treat them that way. Some of my friends have started splitting parts of a story across their paper communiqués and online messages… their recipients are beginning to realize that it is the same company that is communicating seamlessly across multiple channels. During a subsequent post, we will discuss ways to make sure your paper communiqués are revered by your recipients.

4) You MUST sizzle
The three Cs – Creative, copy and overall content; focus on what is inside your newsletter or email offer. Recipients are expecting you to grab their attention, keep them tuned-in and steer them towards the offer. Depending on the size of your email program you can have a person or a team dedicated to the online media. You can leverage the same information you put together across other digital channels. Think about every email as a piece of art – take time to put it together, and you will see your efforts pay off. The email channel is doing very well.

5) You MUST make it to the party
As recipients, we often take deliverability for granted; we expect you to show up in our inbox. As email marketers, deliverability should be monitored and perfected daily. Your other customer touch points should be trained on what bounces and deliverability means so they can carry out intelligent conversations with intended recipients. You are legitimate, your offer is legitimate, and you have taken time to put together the offer – make sure you make it to the inbox.

21 Resolutions to Improve Your Email Marketing

2016-02-22T00:00:00.000-05:00

Here are 21 resolutions to improve your email marketing. Try to include these as part of your strategy and keep integrating email, mobile, search, and social as your digital interactive channels.

1 - I will redo my welcome messaging - By creating a compelling must have message that engages the consumer from day one. I will make sure that this message is updated regularly and will include real consumer input as part of this message.

2 - I will create transactional triggers – Think about specific messages for specific transactions. Create these messages and automate the sending process. Review your results weekly.

3 - I will work hard on growing my digital list – You need to set realistic goals and involve your team in growing your email, mobile, & social media lists across all channels. Remember the transactional triggers – enable them for your non-web channels as well.

4 - I will create a preference center – A real cross channel preference center that will solicit recipient preferences, update preferences based on user interaction, & keep the preference tables updated through surveys.

5 - I will watch the frequency of my campaigns – So as not to startle, or numb the recipient from the excessive barrage (or the out of the blue email) of messaging. You can make this effective by tracking your open rates per consumer across multiple campaigns and not just one.

6 - I will keep surveying the customer - Include a survey link in every email to solicit recipient opinion. Leverage other channels into collecting user preferences. Think hard about the questions too – do not use the survey to score how well you are doing. Use the survey to connect with the recipient.

7 - I will survey the non buyer – Reach out to people that don’t buy from you and try to get their opinion. Make them a priority – you will learn something good about your program, get an opportunity to try new things on people that don’t seem to respond, & perhaps convert someone.

8 - I will connect channels (work with the call center, brick & mortar channels) – Yes, we all resolve to do it each year. But here is what you should do – first engage them by pushing offers their way, & two show them all the different ways you can track people. The more involved they are in your campaigns the more they will support you.

9 - I will test before I launch – Test each campaign before you put it out. Have three types of tests – first – a sanity test on what the campaign should do, second involve your team to see what they think will work (and let them find errors), third – test it out on a sub-section of your recipients before you send it out to your entire list.

10 - I will work on improving subject lines – These drive open rates and engagement. A good subject line can also be leveraged into Facebook or Twitter. Take some time to come up with them rather than just slapping them on last minute. In fact, set a goal to solicit subject lines from your peers and narrow them down with testing.

11 - I will monitor my deliverability – Watch your delivered and blocks on every campaign. Don’t mess this up – keep your IP’s clean by keeping your customers and prospects on different IP’s.

12 - I will monitor my metrics – For all my campaigns. You need to look at all your numbers across channels. Innovative marketers this year will actually start measuring success across channels – start campaigns on one channel and transfer people to another. Also, share your reports with other people in your organization.

13 - I will integrate social media into my email (and vice versa) – More than just having links, I will provide intriguing content to engage the consumer. Integrating social into your email will help you build relationships, increase engagement, & drive some very powerful results.

14 - I will play the role of a customer - (Take a look at your campaigns as a consumer). Make a checklist of things that you like about your campaigns. See if the path makes sense, and if the marketing is up to par. Track your subscribe & unsubscribe process.

15 - I will respond to queries and comments – Good or bad, and will do this quickly across channels. If I can, I will create a digital help desk to create a more engaging experience for my consumer.

16 - I will solicit input from my peers to establish success metrics and will share these metrics with everyone on a regular basis. This will keep others involved and drive useful input into my own program.

17 - I will create an inner circle! Try your best to engage your best consumers into an inner circle. An interactive dialogue with them will provide effective guidance for your marketing program.

18 – I will create responsive campaigns – I will create campaigns that are responsive across devices. And as I do this, I will ensure that I limit my content to be respectful to the consumer.

19 – I will create campaign streams –Subscribers may not respond to the first or second message. Nudge them along with two to five targeted campaigns. These evoke better responses.

20 – I will create segments – Successful email marketers have multiple segments – buyers/non-buyers, members/non-members, lifetime value considerations, etc. You cannot be sending the same message to the entire list.

21 – I will anticipate – Consumers love convenience. Help them out by giving them what they might be looking for. Define engagement paths for the various segments to improve interaction.

Make it a Sweet 16!

2016-01-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Make it a Sweet 16!

Here are seven tips to enhance your digital messaging.

I - Leverage the information you know to create a personalized conversation with the consumers you message. The more relevant you are, the more effective your messaging will be. If you know their name, use it. If you know how they have interacted, leverage that information.

II - Segmentation is vital – you have to manage your list. Create a multi-dimensional database – score your consumers and put them into deciles, mine their interactions to create offer categories, and keep testing all your assumptions. Merge the information from your email file into your other CRM sources, including social media.

III - If the consumer you serve interacts with you, you will always arrive in the in-box. If they start ignoring your messages, you will drift into spam & eventually drop off the radar. An email delivered to spam reeks of unprofessionalism; that is if the consumer is to even notice that you showed up in their junk mail folder.

IV - Most organizations have a simple directive – convert direct mail consumers into digital, cut down the cost of acquiring new consumers, and speed up your interaction with those you serve. Digital, especially email offers you a precise means to accomplish all of this. Keep working on growing your reach – it helps with the ROI.

V - Your consumer walks around with their mobile phone – make it easy for them to interact with your content. Being responsive and adaptive is expected. If you drive the consumer to a landing page, make sure that the landing page is also mobile friendly.

VI - Keep talking to those you serve – find out what they like and what they would like you to improve. Yes, testing is important but in the perfect world you need to create an insiders club – a group of consumers who can tell you how you are doing. So many brands put out surveys but do very little to improve their campaigns based on what consumers say.

VII - Anticipate your consumers’ need by serving them what they may be looking for. Anticipating the next transaction saves your consumer time, displays your expertise, and also builds a better relationship between the consumer and your brand.

May you find many consumers and hope you can serve the consumer you seek very well. Wishing you all the very best for 2016.

You Have to Grow Your Email List

2015-11-20T00:00:00.000-05:00

Collecting email addresses continues to be an ongoing challenge for marketers. One reason is that the consumer thinks that when you ask for their email address, that they will get a barrage of unwanted emails from you. Thus, it is important to give the customer valuable reasons as to why they should give you their email address.

Your website is usually the first place you look to collect email addresses. Tell the subscriber exactly why they should sign up for email and what message they should expect. Give them three to five reasons and show them a copy of your past newsletters.

A second place is your front line customer service staff. If you were to ask your front-line people why a consumer should provide their e-mail – you will be surprised by the amount of different answers you get. You should make sure that Customer Service knows why a consumer should provide an email address, both for the consumer’s benefit and for the benefit of the company.

If you're not already giving customers the value reasons why they should sign up, what can you do? Write down ten good reasons why people should subscribe to your newsletter; then post it on your website, list it for your front line staff and share it with your co-workers.

Try to give your consumers something of true value in exchange for their email address. Maybe provide a sneak preview of a new product, a member’s only sale, valuable information, or a discount coupon that can be used immediately. Convince your co-workers and front line staff of the importance of e-mail address collection, perhaps even creating an incentive for the employee collecting the most addresses in a month.

If you can show your customers the value they gain from signing up for your email, and then deliver that value, you'll find those objections of giving up the email address easily handled.

Oh, and if you haven’t started posting testimonials about your program on your social media site you may be passing up on a good opportunity.

Upping Your Social Media Following Via Email

2015-11-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

Contrary to what many pundits espouse, email is far from dead. It is a very personal channel that is effective in raising the level of engagement with consumers. Here are some tips on getting consumers to "like" or follow your brand on social media channels even more.

Start with the signup page. Tell them who you are on your signup page(s). Make it easy to find your social media links by putting them on your email subscription page. If you can, and if your consumer is willing, facilitate the email signup via social media. The Wall Street Journal does a nice job in this respect. Privacy issues may stop you from using the Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter sign-in to create an email account, and a few financial institutions have learned this the hard way.

Don't ask them to become a friend. Instead, make it a value exchange by featuring a discussion, asking a question, or even offering resources (this could be access to a sales page, white papers, or webinars). Using a certain level of intrigue and reciprocation is much more effective in obtaining new signups. Now, when consumers show up at your social site, be tactful and nurture them just like you would with your email marketing program.

Make it mobile friendly. With more than 40 percent of consumers checking their email on mobile devices, make the mobile connection easy. You can do this by optimizing your content for mobile, reducing the content, and by having an interactive exchange with your consumer. Ask for feedback on merchandise, solicit opinions on a column, and add mobile surveys. The key is to give people the ability to interact via mobile devices.

Send a socially focused email message. Run a campaign each month where your primary call to action is to invite your consumer to join your social media following. When you do this, don't take them to an empty discussion board. Instead think about getting your consumer into a discussion that is already well underway. Hold back on the offer to sell to the consumer within the email or even on your social media site as soon as they get there. Instead, use a content engagement strategy to get them there, get a dialogue going, and then make the offer. This step-by-step approach works very well.

Reward via exclusivity. Create special emails for your social media club by making exclusive offers to your insiders first. In fact, consider making the offer to your insider group and then seek their help in getting the word out to their group of friends. Prior to sending the email message, let people know that it is coming via social media. It is very easy to segment your email list, so why not share your message with your social club first?

Five Things You Should NOT Do With Your Email Marketing

2015-11-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

Here are five things you should not do when it comes to your e-mail marketing campaigns:

1. Procrastinate – Don’t wait to send out your e-mail communiqués. Bundling them with timeliness and urgency increases the value of what the recipient thinks of them. Have a sense of panic to ‘greet the guest’ as though they have just walked into your front door. If you keep them waiting, they will wander around, and eventually drift away.

2. Serve up a “big” preference page – Do not have one big page and expect to have them tell you all. Structure the questions is a flirtatious conversation. Ask them a little bit at a time and keep your questions open – that way you are not leaving out any important information. Your relationship with the consumer has just begun. Keep asking, keep observing, and try to imply.

3. Send them paper – If they haven’t asked for it, don’t send it to them. Many companies still force you to sign up to receive direct marketing messages for them. A few will send you paper, and many others will leave you scratching your head as to why you gave them your mailing address.

4. Put the ‘entire’ offer in the Subject Line – People like intrigue. A short subject line can offer a certain amount of enticement to bring people into your web site. Yet, you have some very high brand name retailers who will put the entire offer of the e-mail within the subject line. Yes subject lines as long as 35 words!

5. Listen to “Experts” – The experts or analysts believe in numbers and gut feel based on a cumulative opinion. What is cumulative opinion? This is opinion that is based on what everyone is doing. This in my opinion is precisely the time to stop doing what others are doing and focus on something unique. Most of the e-mail analysts publish reports based on case studies, case studies are the results of vendors publishing success stories, these success stories are usually exaggerated and unfortunately very delayed. This is not going to make your program unique, it is simply going to ensure that you don’t fail. Your program becomes average!

So to rise above all – learn to create dialogues with your clients and prospects. Your employees, your customers, your prospects, and your opinion is what matters most. By you creating interactive conversations – you can leverage first hand research into actionable strategies and tactics to create a great email marketing program.

11 Practical Tips to Enhance Your Website

2015-11-13T00:00:00.000-05:00

1 - Choose an effective color that matches your brand. Have less contrast and use no more than three colors.

2 - Give people a place to go next. Make it easy for them to find things. Keep the confusion out and give people simple options.

3 - Focus on site navigation and the search box is king. People know how to 'google' stuff.

4 - Be consistent with font face and size.

5 - List your content in short paragraphs that are broken up, if you want to offer more in the text, let them click through or offer a download.

6 - Make it easy for people to get in touch with you. List the contact information clearly.

7 - Make your load times faster. Don't give the user an opportunity to tab away while your page loads.

8 - Make your site search friendly with meta - tags - you need to identify the information. Search engines will find it faster.

9 - Be careful about using frames / cascading style sheets - you loose impact. Many search engines don't list pages with frames

10 - Does your mobile site work, it is the least you can do. Be sure to test your site from mobile devices. Just because HTML 5.0 renders okay, it doesn't mean that you want to push excessive content on the consumer.

11 - Keep your content refreshed as you tie in social media into your site. Let your 'social feedback' update your site. Give people reason to visit your site often to see the changes.

5 Proven Ways to Improve Email With Social

2015-11-11T00:00:00.000-05:00

Email marketing managers are looking for ways to increase their reach and enhance their engagement. If done correctly, social media offers an antidote to fix waning engagement. Here are five specific things you should be doing with social media to improve your email marketing.

1. Use it to find the right people. List growth is important, but finding compatible consumers will bring more value to your list. Use your social media sites to feature discussions that will draw consumers back to a preference page. Your articles and discussions on social media should feature information about your brand. In doing so, you tend to attract those who are interested in your brand versus those who have just signed up to receive a free gift.

2. Assurance goes a long way. Your consumer would love to get a testimonial from someone that they know concerning the transaction that they are about to complete. This is the one thing that holds a consumer back from taking the final step. Wouldn't it be more powerful if the consumer comes to a sign-up page and sees that some of their friends or followers are also subscribed to your email marketing program? The same holds true for landing pages - again, show your consumers that their friends have endorsed your products or services.

3. Strip out the rhetoric. Many brands are using social feedback as part of their marketing campaigns. Make feedback more effective by removing brand tag lines and focus on specific feedback from consumers. Many brands tend to build up their feedback by asking consumers to rank their product or service, and then provide a text box for additional comments. You can do a much better job by asking people very specific questions about your product or service, and then guide them to the text box. This is the kind of information that helps consumers make a decision before completing a transaction.

4. Track opens, views, and the dialogue. If you are encouraging your consumers to share or discuss your brand along social media channels, you will also need to track their discussions on social media channels. Think about opening up your social media tracking to your customer service team so they can listen and respond to what is being discussed. I have been able to watch discussions on social media even when the consumer hasn't opened the email that I sent. So when I look at my results, I am measuring "opens" across multiple channels - both email and my social media channels.

5. Leverage your brand ambassadors. The forward-to-a-friend link in emails offers one of the worst returns on investments (ROI) on campaigns. Think about removing this link and trying a different approach instead. Start by segmenting your list into those who have Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn versus those who do not. Now segment this list further by prioritizing those that have shared your content along social media channels. I recommend targeting these brand ambassadors with the content you need to go viral. If they like what I am sending them and they feel that I have treated them with exclusivity, they will share my offer with their network of friends.

The Best Way to Communicate With Your Customers

2015-11-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

When your customer or member signs up to receive messages from your brand you have been given an opportunity to communicate. If you communicate with relevance, your messaging will be productive.

Email, mobile, or social media - you need to think past the first message so you can begin the dialogue. Here are few tips.

You need to think about an efficient on-boarding process for new members and customers. The on-boarding process could include a welcome stream of messages that make the consumer aware of what your organization brings to the table. You also need to think about “what next” scenarios for existing consumers as they complete transactions or update their preferences.

Many organizations feel that they can know their consumer better by assimilating data into their CRM. Realistically you should be running an “Operational CRM” at the speed of light by pulling data into the CRM through your touch-points in real time, and quickly messaging the consumer with relevant messages across channels.

The key here is two things – first pull data together from your touch-points in real time, and second – message your consumer with relevance.

To do this effectively organizations should assimilate data across channels with special emphasis on recency. Consumers want you to acknowledge their most recent transactions.

Social media, direct mail, self service, email, mobile, your physical locations – they need to work together to engage the consumer. The key is about recognizing people across channels, and carrying out conversations with relevance.

You can only do this if you know the consumer. You can know the customer by creating a preference page that can be updated across channels.

How to Create the Perfect Preference Center

2015-10-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

When you create a consumer preference center your goal is not just to collect data, you should collect data to build up a repository of actionable information.

Here are some key things you should do:

1. Have one preference page for the consumer versus having one for each one of your channels. The consumer should be able to update their preferences across channel. Keep this preference page accessible across the web, or mobile – it is convenient for the consumer to share the information.

2. Have three parts to this preference page – one that is updated by the consumer, the second updated by your organization, and the third updated by consumer behavior. Don’t forget behavior is not just consumer action but also consumer inaction.

3. Collect the data in real time. Disseminate transaction information quickly to all your channels. Let your channels be aware so they can serve the empowered consumer better.

4. Get your consumer to update their preferences a little bit at a time, tie your surveys back into the preferences. And do this correctly by having a back and forth dialogue.

5. Provide the purpose of each channel to the consumer. Don’t forget to train your employees about the value of each of your channels.

6. Engage the consumer on “their” social media channels by listing all your social media channels including the purpose of each of these channels. Don’t forget to entice the consumer to check out your social media channels – a mere follow us or share this is not effective.

7. Be prepared to greet the consumer on any one of your channels by having their message ready to be displayed. However, adjust your messaging based on the channel that they come to - an email can be long, a text message succint, and a message at an ATM has to be extremely interesting.

The important thing for you to do is to keep the consumer engaged on their terms and keep the information flowing both ways.

How to Disengage Consumers Through Poor Surveys

2015-10-28T00:00:00.000-04:00

Businesses are committed to knowing you better. They want you to provide preferences at every channel; they even attempt to assimilate your transactions across channels.

They include post transaction product or service surveys. You get this from in person experiences, over the web or phone, at self-service terminals, and even on social media channels. They want to know about your transaction experience. They even want your feedback when you do not transact. They want to know you better.

But stop and think about the approach and the questions. The survey is typically included because the organization “has to” do it, and in most instances the survey seems to do very little to actually engage the consumer. The survey serves the business!

What is worse with surveys is that most organizations are happy with a less than 0.5% response rate. While there is almost always a survey included at the end of every transaction, there is very little commitment from the organization towards getting the survey completed.

The reason we seem to have this issue is because most organizations are focused on the target, the channel, and instant success. Remember the goal of a good survey is to make sure that you are collecting useful consumer feedback – all towards building up that preference center, so you can serve your consumer better.

Five Key Considerations to Enhance Your Email Marketing

2015-10-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

1. Capture consumer preferences. Do you know your consumers' interests - both stated and implied - so you can serve them better? Do you know their ideal frequency for opening your campaigns? Leverage past transactions and interactions to recognize them so you can serve them better.

2. Monitor your deliverability. Check the reputation of your IP’s to make sure that you're in an acceptable sending area. There are times when you may have to scale up on the frequency of your campaigns. Have a backup plan in place - I hope you have been nurturing a backup IP address.

3. Plan your messaging streams. Many businesses have planned a series of campaigns to engage with their consumers. Some have planned multiple campaigns sent daily across different channels to target consumers. Be wary about overdoing it and make sure that you're not badgering the consumer with the same message across channels.

4. Offer digital receipts. Train your channels to sell the value of digital messaging to your consumers. This means people channels and all other channels. Highlight the benefits to both the consumer and to you (remember a reduction in costs will ultimately translate to consumer savings and the more you know about a consumer

5. Invite your consumers to join your party. Host special events on your social media site - games, trivia, holiday activities, or simple conversations will go a long way to drive engagement.

12 Proven Tips for B2B Marketing - Email, Mobile, Social

2015-10-23T00:00:00.000-04:00

Ask any B2B marketer and they’ll tell you that their communiqués aren’t the same as B2C – in my experience, they’re partly right…

Regardless of the offer or message the rules are mostly the same – you still have to grab the attention of the reader, it just may need to be done in a different manner. As a B2B marketer you have to convey a different sense of value while still intriguing the user into open, read and click through your email. Here are 12 ideas on building an effective digital engagement program:

1) Online Business Cards – insert a picture of the rep into the email campaign, this helps in three ways, it keeps the rep in front of the customer, it offers consistency (as the company sending the email controls the message) and it looks good. This works nicely in sales environments where the rep is making calls on customers or prospects.

2) Create Personal Reminders – This is the equivalent of a F2F and allows the rep to send out different types of emails. Don't forget tomorrow's call or Thank you for your time – each of these can be packaged into personal reminders that the rep now has at their disposal to send to customers and prospects.

3) Super-Duper Deals – If there is a special rate or promotion, send it out from the rep instead of the company, this creates goodwill and gives the rep talking points when they call on the customer or prospect. Personal coupon codes and private events are ways to execute this.

4) Use a Secret Code – Use a little personalization to drive customers to an event; again this creates talking points, promotes the program and seems to unite the team. Have the prospect use the secret code to get in.

5) What’s Up – Be sure your reps know about the communiqués being sent. I’ve received some great B2B emails, and in three instances I decided to call them back – I struck out every time. Not one of the three people who were listed on these campaigns had any clue about the offer or the email program. I sheepishly crawled away, quickly unsubscribing from their list.

6) Return phone Calls – In other instances I’ve left messages based on email campaigns received, I’m still waiting for my phone to ring. This is across industries; I have multiple messages out there at a resort property, a printer (new brochures) and a software company (looking to introduce a colleague). Common courtesy demands that we pay attention to returning phone calls – especially when it’s being requested. The purpose of email from these companies was to create interest and induce a response… they were half successful.

7) Superior Service – When people request information from you make sure you take very good care of them. Remember, these people have taken extra effort to respond to your email - notice what they clicked on and use that to initiate a dialogue with them. Respond quickly but not in real time else they will feel that they are being tracked.

8) Surveys and Preferences – Surveys work very well in the B2B environment, as recipients are more inclined to answer something that’s not exactly about them. Three very good twists to incorporate include the offer (i.e. copy of a published report), something with mystery(intriguing questions that are slightly off target work well) and the recurring approach – shorter surveys that are quarterly compounded (requiring less commitment from the recipient) are great and can be built upon by saying “this is what you have been saying.” The final example is a great way to leverage interaction using preferences and creating more conversations.

9) Micro-Segmentation Works – You don’t need a big list to get a lot of responses, take the time to target small groups of people with personalized notes – include their rep. Each rep can be provided the reporting of their campaigns and encouraged to contact the customer or prospect based on response. For unsubscribes, the rep should call them up, thank them and try to garner why they unsubscribed. The rep may end up with a new contact, renew the relationship or simply get the real reason. As an email marketer you should always pay attention to this rep feedback and encourage them to keep sharing this information with you.

10) NEVER Rent Lists – The recipient is a consumer who understands CAN-SPAM. While they realize that it doesn't really apply to B2B – imagine the aggravation of getting a campaign that you did not want. This is one of my biggest peeves; as an alternative, challenge people to use other channels – keep emails handy after phone calls, use contests, news articles, product information, etc. Sending an email to someone is the easiest way to alienate them.

11) Copy Rules! – Unless you have an engaging game to share with your readers, focus on text and your copy. It will help you with deliverability and give the reader your message without much static. Keep it short and to the point, longer articles/ details should lead to subsequent pages giving the recipient the opportunity to click through.

12) Non-Perishable – As a marketer, your goal is to educate, interact and engage; creating a relationship with a long shelf life. Mixing useful information with offers encourages the reader to file your emails or print for future reference; B2B emails have a long shelf life so keep the utility principal in mind.

How to Conduct a Quarterly Checkup

2015-10-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

Each quarter you should conduct a deep-dive introspection on your email program – a hard look at what is working, what needs to be improved and then focus on next steps to strengthen your program going forward.

This is a review that should take place among the email marketing team, then presented to your management and (if applicable) incorporate a review with your direct marketing team.

The goal of this exercise is to seek continuous improvement and look to extend the support that email marketing can provide to the rest of your organization. A typical agenda should include:

1) Review of campaigns and statistics - Start by highlighting your numbers for the quarter. Look at opens, clicks and conversions for current quarter (how do they compare to the previous quarter, for the same quarter prior year)

2) Net subscribes - List the number of new consumers that have opted-in, and remove the number of people that have un-subscribed.

3) Deliverability statistics - Check the bounce rate, your in-box rate, and the reputation of your IP's. Make sure that your numbers add up.

4) Un-subscribe audit results - Un-subscribe from your email program through the multiple touch-points that you have and monitor how long it takes you to get off the list.

5) Email ROI - You should have quantitative measures of success for your program where you can actually put a value on your email messages.

6) Quarterly email champion - Highlight people and campaigns within your organization that have done a good job. Reward people for creativity on subject line suggestions or email capture. Highlight campaigns that have been top performers.

7) Observations, ideas, suggestions and challenges - Highlight key observations for your quarter, and list opportunities for improvement. I normally highlight the challenges that I am facing and I try to seek help from other groups.

Finally, always gather ideas from your team – present your challenges and seek their help, debut draft communiqués and or upcoming streams to them to get them onboard along with their feedback.

Finding New Consumers and Keeping Them Engaged

2015-09-28T00:00:00.000-04:00

You are going to continue to churn – you will add new consumers and keep losing a few. To have positive growth you need to take good care of your existing consumers and constantly have programs that will continue to find new consumers.

Here are three proven case studies that continue to drive success.

I – Vacation Homework

A credit union I work with came up with a unique way to engage local youth during the summer, they told their members (in credit union lingo customers = members) to give their kids a special summer writing project. To participate, they had to submit an essay describing what they would do with $250K as the mayor of the city, charged with creating summer youth programs.

Parents submitted the essays and included the child’s age, education goals, etc. as part of the entry form. Those that were too young to write turned in artwork. Lots of submissions from many members – it was a good summer project with the ability to even earn school supplies.

All this information was maintained in a database that allowed the CU to market education, insurance and car loan products to the member’s for their kids. All members were asked to judge – so everyone was involved. A creative way to use social media to engage!

II – Dream Big

Another financial institution I work with launched a digital marketing campaign across email, social media, and even print with the following theme – What if you won a Million Bucks? The campaign was used to launch a dream giveaway – recipients were asked to tell what they would do with the winnings.

Obviously the messages got attention; people wanted to know more as they visited personalized landing pages designed to capture the responder’s lifestyle choices/ products – things they could buy or do if they had a million dollars. The landing page also included a calculator, to help the customer learn how much they would have to save to reach their financial goal(s.)

They tried to make the interactivity as real as possible – asking for more and more detail from the consumer and showing them the steps to attain their financial goals. All information fed the financial institution’s marketing database and used today to create personalized marketing programs for each consumer.

III - The Registry

Many big department stores have bridal registries, it is a very simple concept – couples come in, register and select items they would like to receive as gifts. This one department store even allowed couples to announce their wedding via personalized email, including offering simple digital links to congratulate the couple.

After the wedding, the newly married couple received an email offering an exclusive three-day sale. Simply bring in your list – items you didn't receive from your registry may qualify for their discount (couples often receive cash.) All purchase information was recorded for future marketing – maybe their fine china is being discontinued, a lamp they liked is now on sale, etc.

Their marketing possibilities were endless and all offers were completed targeted. You can use this to build a lifetime of preferences.

Listen, Personalize, Serve
Brands need to continuously strive to stay in touch with the consumers you serve and keep seeking new consumers. Create conversations, observe preferences, and personalize your offers to drive success. The world of digital offers us an infinite opportunity to engage and fuel your marketing efforts for years to come.

Seven Ideas to Help You Improve Your Real Time Messaging

2015-09-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

In our right now world you have to put together a program that is real time. And real time doesn’t just mean doing things faster. Here are seven things you should do to create a real 'real time' plan.

1 - Make sure your channels are connected. Make sure that you are collecting information across multiple channels, storing the information into a common data repository, and most importantly – giving all your channels easy access to this information.

2 - Put together “steps of relevance.” Put together use cases on how you may interact with the consumer now that you have all this information about them. So if a consumer has just completed a transaction, your next step might be to inquire about their experience, and follow that up with an offer. (Some of us call these step-by-step campaigns, some call it waterfall series).

3 - Plan your responses on each channel. If people interact with you on each channel, make sure you have a set of desired responses that you can execute on.

4 - Respond in as real time as possible. The sooner you respond to your consumer the better it is for your business. Why don’t you open up the web to your customer service team so they can respond effectively?

5 - Don't limit yourself to one channel. Use the profile and contact information to mix up your messages across channel. It shows your consumers that your channels are connected and helps improve engagement.

6 - Invite the consumer into your home. Encourage them to browse your site, look at your magazine or catalog, subscribe to your email, and lure them into your “living room.” Your living room is your social media channel.

7 – Do not forget to follow up. Many times the consumer is seeking information directly or indirectly from you. If they ask for information, it is easy to recognize their need and follow up.

You should try a two-step follow up - send them information electronically (or by direct mail) and then follow up with a phone call. If they don't ask for information, track their clicks or behavior and use that to build up your response so you can follow up effectively.

Following up effectively is all about being relevant. Being relevant right now is all about achieving real 'real time.' If I respond in real time (less than three minutes) my open rate is above 98% and if I wait a whole day, my open rate drops to 44%!

Effective Segmentation: Practical Tips to Rank Your Customers

2015-09-23T00:00:00.000-04:00

As digital marketers we look for ways to segment our customers into "micro-segments." It is a very effective strategy to help personalize messages to those we serve. Here are five proven tips that work in retail and can also be applied to your industry.

1) Recency

Check the time associated with the last order and when the recipient became a customer. Flag the most recent transactions and use those to personalize your messaging.

2) Frequency

Recipients who buy once should be encouraged to quickly buy (or interact) again; two-time buyers should be pushed to three, etc. Once the customer is over the five-time buyer mark you should consider putting them into a special category where the goal becomes creating a dialogue with this customer.

3) Average Order Value

Look at the total revenue and margin from the customer, the higher the values the higher you rate your customer. Higher margin customers get five stars, and your goal should be to move your customers further up.

4) Geography

Some of your products may not sell in certain climates or zones so timing and geography become key factors. An offer by a restaurant at 11.00 am or 5.00 pm (their time) is much more impactful to someone thinking about their lunch. Similarly, if you are selling apparel, or gardening merchandise, timing is key based on geography.

5) Payment Method – One of my catalog customers treats their customers differently - depending on how these customers pay. Customers purchasing by check or PayPal are put in a different category than those who pay by credit card (and not all credit cards are created equally.)

Just a few items to think about while developing the right mix for you to create interactive conversations with your customers. Remember, segmentation works well - look for ways to keep improving your segmentation.

Consumer Recognition, Cross Channel, & Educating Your Frontline

2015-09-21T00:00:00.000-04:00

We often talk about various channels available to the consumer, your physical location, self service device (ATM or Kiosk), email, call center, printed catalogs or statements, mobile devices and all things internet.

Each of these channels offer multiple opportunities for the consumer to touch you, but as a company it’s not as easy to connect with them – you need their information, their habits and preferences to quickly leverage into a targeted message.

This empowerment shift means that a simple email offer isn’t going to cut it any more, to compete, Marketers need to concentrate on three areas:

1) Consumer Engagement

Social networks, mobile technology, and the emerging confluence of these channels is putting the consumer in charge. Customers now have the ability to quickly find offers, eliminate vendors and learn more than some of your reps before even venturing out of their homes. Make your social media outlets prominent and encourage the consumer to interact with your brand as this will help you build up useful user generated content.

2) Cross-Channel Offer Optimization

The consumer is expecting to be recognized, not only for who they are but as an interested party who wants you to guide them through their interactions. Engage them in a dialogue so they can continue to collect their preferences; optimize the time and offer by creating a conversation – don’t throw everything over to them, send three to five distinct offer components to test responses and facilitate conversation.

3) Educate the Frontline

Customer Service Representatives, Sales Reps etc. are often THE impression for your company; keeping your team informed is the best chance you have to be prepared for the inquiries from customers or prospects. Send your team the offers, emails and associated details to make sure your employee is the expert in the conversation.

The marketing game is changing; by staying current on the evolutions you’ll garner customer respect and hopefully their market share.

Real World Tales of Multi-Channel Mayhem

2015-09-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

We ran into an interesting predicament as we ordered a TV stand online from a “significant” retailer. We purchased it because of the “big brand,” the “perceived convenience of multi-channel,” and a very timely email. Our TV stand arrived on time but was missing a couple of minor parts. Unperturbed, we drove over to their local store to see if we could get the parts or perhaps even exchange it at the store.

No such luck! We were told to call their toll free number and schedule a pick up with a package company. After a lot of needless banter, we chose to return it to the online division of the “significant” retailer and decided to pick up a similar stand from a competitor. Of course, the “significant” retailer continued with their barrage of emails – first thanking us for the purchase, then asking us about our experience, then apologizing for the inconvenience, followed by numerous other offers. We were even engaged on Facebook for our opinion.

Not to be outdone, a major online supplier of college textbooks got my son to purchase his books for college. They got him to notice them by advertising their ‘convenience’ on Facebook. The books arrived on time, but three out of seven were significantly damaged during shipping! We called (and called), we emailed (at least five times), we even poked them on Facebook - we finally called the credit card company to get their attention. Only then did this book merchant respond. They apologized and offered to exchange the books but with a small condition. They had to receive the books before they could ship us a new set! With college starting within days, the exchange seemed difficult, so we decided to return the books and pay a premium at the college bookstore.

I visited my ‘favorite’ financial institution thrice in a week – they were busy because of the “holiday” crowd. They were short staffed (for the foot traffic) and I waited for a long time like everyone else. It was humorous to watch their reps pitch online banking – they seemed to read a script to a consumer that was already irritated by the long wait.

Today consumers have many choices to purchase what they want. They can order online, order from a catalog, or simply go to the store. Whether you are using social media, the web, or simply going to the store, companies have made it easier for the consumer to find the items they are looking for. They need to strive to make it just as easy to return things as well. If a consumer purchases something online, and they don’t like it when they receive it, they will most likely go to the local store to try and return it. As easy as that sounds a lot of companies do not operate like that.

All companies have the challenge of connecting with consumers; turning someone away does more to hurt the relationship you’re attempting to build. The consumer, whether they are window shopping or purchasing doesn't care about the channel that they bought from – if the labels are the same, why does the channel matter?

Allow your channels work in harmony, focus on the consumer and close your loopholes. As far as the consumer is concerned your different channels should work as one unit. A satisfied consumer will feel respected, and will come back. Try and make them become a future customer.

Why Your Email Reports Matter to Every Department

2015-09-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Email’s ROI is leading to more extensive use by organizations – for the standard reasons, ability to track and personalize, speed of communication, dynamic content and lower costs. This increased focus is also getting the attention of other groups within your company.

Your added popularity is an excellent setting to incorporate a cross-functional element into your email reporting. Regardless of industry, invite members of your call center, merchandising, creative, circulation, human resources, public relations and finance; recap your quarterly numbers and offer them the ability to use the medium. Here are a few possible applications:

Confusion in messaging often increases calls to the call center; include them as part of your email approval team. Let them help you proof your campaign.

Merchandising can track the performance of products; a simple survey on their behalf regarding what items to purchase for your catalog or store will help them qualify buying decisions.

Creative should get involved to provide input on the look and feel – they will get instant feedback based on the campaign performance and will have the opportunity to test print campaigns online.

Likewise, Circulation can test various markets and offers by email before going to print or alternate mediums.

Human Resources could solicit feedback through surveys or send internal notices about company-related events (i.e. annual healthcare information) therefore saving time and money.

The PR team could leverage consumer feedback as they approach the market with various announcements.

The Finance guys will always look at numbers. Having them there will help you show them the results that you are driving and will hopefully get them to invest a little more in your digital magic.

If done correctly, this group involvement should increase awareness, strengthen your campaigns and help cut costs in quite a few areas.

Five Messages That Most Consumers Pay Attention To

2015-09-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

Transactional emails work; I’ve seen open rates averaging over 65%! So why not leverage them to create a more effective engagement strategy?

Here are five reasons to go back to the recipient:

1) When they sign up – Don't forget to welcome them into your fold; thank them, talk briefly about the virtues of your email program and be sure to insert an offer with an expiration date. People didn't just sign up to read your campaigns; they’re usually interested in purchasing something so make it easier for them.

2) Say thanks – Follow up the purchase with a reminder of why they’ve chosen your company. Send a thank you email with an interesting offer to apply toward their next purchase, a neat idea is to offer them a sample of one of three items – this creates interaction.

3) You want their feedback – A few days after shipment, ask them for feedback on the products purchased or the service provided. Make it easier for them by making the survey top heavy – solicit open-ended feedback first then progress to the multiple choice items. Be sure to include at least one question to get you feedback on other products (maybe by ranking other products.)

4) When they abandon their transaction – Be it an incomplete transaction or an abandoned shopping cart, you have to go back to them to ask them if there is anything you can do to help them complete their transaction. It doesn't have to be a discount, a simple reminder works wonders. If they still don't purchase, wait and send them a reminder in the future.

5) When they unsubscribe – Mail them after they click on unsubscribe, tell them you’re sorry to see them go. Include a banner to your sales outlet or a special discount at the bottom. You’ll be surprised at the unsubscribed recipient actually makes a purchase.

Transactional emails are tremendous revenue generators; you have to leverage these opportunities to drive engagement.

Proven Consumer Acquisition Strategies for Banks and Credit Unions

2015-09-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

Here are practical tips that I have successfully applied at both credit unions and banks to grow their consumer database.

Creative Credit Union Contest

Parents submitted the essays and included the child’s age, education goals, etc. as part of the entry form. All this information was maintained in a database that allowed the CU to market education, insurance and car loan products to the member’s for their kids. All members were asked to judge – so everyone was involved.

How well does your bank really know you?

Another financial institution I work with sent an email campaign with the subject lines (split testing) What if you won the Lottery? and What if you won a Million Bucks? The campaign was used to launch a dream giveaway – recipients were asked to tell what they would do with the winnings.

Obviously the email got attention; there were many clicks to the landing page designed to capture the responder’s lifestyle choices or products – things they could buy or do if they had a million dollars.

The landing page also included a calculator, to help the customer learn how much they would have to save to reach their financial goal(s.) They tried to make the interactivity as real as possible – asking for more and more detail from the customer and showing them the steps to attain their financial goals. All information fed the bank’s marketing database and used today to create personalized marketing programs for each customer.

In both of these examples, the CU and Bank made connections with their customers – they created conversations and fueled their marketing efforts for years to come.

How Credit Unions Should Leverage Social Media for Effective Member Engagement

2015-09-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

Most organizations go through a great deal of effort to convert prospects into “customers.” For Credit Unions (CU’s), the challenge is even greater as CU’s strive to get consumers to become members.

The overall cost of conversion can be quite high – TV, radio, bill-boards, print, direct marketing, online – it all adds up. The prospect finally walks into your branch (or store), or calls your call center, or even fills out a form online. You have done a great job bringing them in, and you did convert them. Congratulations! What next?

Your challenge now is to stay connected and engaged with the new member. Social media can help, and here are a few suggestions on best to do it.

For starters, engage the member in a welcome stream of messages, an interactive dialogue that is best delivered across channels, specially your social media channels. When we say social media channels, we’re talking about everything from Facebook, Twitter, a blog, YouTube, and even LinkedIn. It helps if someone at your credit union is specifically tasked with managing this process and these channels.

Give them valuable information, insight, and tips. The most important thing to remember is to “EXCHANGE INFORMATION.” Have them start filling out a personal profile form (Facebook style with likes and dislikes).

While they are doing this, ask them if they have any questions. Keep in mind that you don’t want to make the process cumbersome by asking them all questions up front. Instead, you should be engaging them in three to five conversations. Ideally, you should be engaging them on the same “profile form” across channel.

As you learn more about your member and your member learns about the value your credit union brings to them, remind the member about where they can find useful information from your organization.

They already have your web site and phone number, they may even know about all your physical locations. Now make sure you clearly spell out your social media channels. List your social media channels and the purpose of each of these channels. Remind them that it could be another branch in terms of gathering information and learning. Make it easy for your member to be aware of all your member services.

Offer your members clarity as to why they should follow you on Twitter. Encourage your members to find “important and useful” information on your blog. Enthuse your members by making them show your stuff off on Facebook.

Now do three things on these social media channels – listen, respond and learn.

1 - Keep your eyes open for trends, member questions, and member suggestions.

2 - Respond to these in the best possible manner - respond on the phone if you have to.

3 - Most importantly do one more thing – you have to keep adapting to what the member needs from you – you are trying to learn from them so you can adapt your program to meet their needs. Always keep learning.

Your social media channels can be used to grow your sphere of influence with your members. Not only are you going to be able to engage your existing members, you are hoping that your members do their bit to carry your brand out to their contacts.

Proven tips to improve on your Twitter tactics

2015-09-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

Twitter is turning into a launch pad of how a lot of people are planting tweets, re-tweeting, but rarely listening.

Here is some useful information from a survey of brands that Tweet. I asked my colleagues at these brands to share feedback on how they are using Twitter, and what their results from Twitter really are.

These brands have been fortunate to get a fair amount of re-tweets. Unfortunately, the re-tweet is simply a blind re-tweet without much else. Translated, this means that fewer people are listening.

There are more applications that are being launched that allow people to reuse tweets, this allows business and individuals to reuse Tweets and repackage old information as they reach out to people.

You need to go back to the basics and remember that Twitter brings together the power of now, merging both your computer and mobile. You have to go back to the fundamentals and create interactive conversations.

To do a good job with Twitter you have to focus on three things –

1 - you have to learn to listen so you can participate in conversations,

2 - you have to build trust so your followers will click through on what you provide them,

3 - you need to communicate relevance.

Think about assigning Twitter to your customer care center. They can start the dialogue, and keep the consumer engaged.