email

Oct 18 2011

If Email Is Dead Why Does Everyone Have An Inbox?

“Email Marketing Is Dead. Everyone’s Going Social.”

Not sure who to attribute that quote to. A few social media marketing gurus? Social Media Ninja Camp 2010? And not sure it really matters – email marketing isn’t going anywhere for quite a long time. Don’t agree? Here’s Rick Strater’s take on Email – it’s from one of the 12 Minute Marketing Lessons. Spend a couple minutes watching and we’ll see you after the jump.

We’d be crazy if we didn’t mention that the above video is part of the Sample Lessons you can check out over at the 12 Minute Marketing site. 12 Minute Marketing Sample Lessons include Push vs. Pull and Holistic Social Media. And a couple more.

Email is PART of an Integrated Marketing Strategy. It’s not all of it – this is why, for every marketer who says “there’s money in the list,” there’s another who completely abandons his list to sell something else. What’s an Integrated Marketer to do? 3 Tips:

1. Add Value or Get Out of the Way.

My own Gmail account has 50,000-plus unread messages in it. I’m not making this up:

I’m guilty of two things as an email recipient: I don’t read everything and I don’t aspire to “Inbox Zero.” (In fact, Inbox Zero is a total waste of time.)

I’ve gotten to the point where I sign up for lots of things to see a variety of email approaches – and I only unsubscribe when someone gets on my nerves. (Had a friend call someone the “Bally’s of Marketing,” in that this person was annoying and everywhere. I’ll go with it – and that’s when I unsubscribe. But not before.)

Your email newsletter, which I’m sure is awesome, by the way, has to cut through the 50,000-plus clutter, or it just ain’t gonna get read. Bringing us to Tip 2:

2. The Subject Line is Your Friend.

It is, really.

Even Uber-Marketers have to get their emails actually opened to make the magic happen. You have to strike a chord with the reader – even if the chord tells them that this particular offer is NOT for them.

I have an email waiting for me that says “50% off Veterinary Services.” I don’t have a pet, so I know I’m not going to open this one. Fine – we didn’t waste each other’s time.

You can personalize if you like – but you certainly don’t have to.

Subject lines are so under-utilized – cutting to the chase is absolutely vital, and if I don’t see a hook for me, I may not even open.

Underground Jedi Trick: Begin the Subject with “[Name of Business]”…On some mobile readers, Gmail included, the “[Name of Business]” gets shortened to “[Name…]” and then the reader dives into the rest of your subject line.

This segues nicely into Tip 3:

3. Have a Point.

Some people call this a “Call to Action” – but that may not be the reason for the email you’re sending.

Let’s say it’s the monthly newsletter from your company – you may not be selling something, you may not want people to pick up the phone and call you so they can buy from you. If you’re doing the newsletter as a branding exercise, then the “Point” of the email may well be that you’re sharing information that’s valuable to your reader.

But your monthly newsletter just for the sake of your monthly newsletter isn’t exactly accomplishing anything, is it?

Value the reader’s time, and they’ll in turn value reading your newsletter. Or whatever you’re emailing.

The Inbox isn’t going away. The Email will continue to be important. It’s part of your toolkit, but not the only thing in it.

One More Thing…

If you like what you saw from the above email and the 12 Minute Marketing Sample Lessons, consider beginning your 12 Minute Marketing journey. We’ve been told that $297 is a tremendous value for a course that delivers daily lessons on marketing strategy, new media, social media, traditional sales and marketing concepts and a heck of a lot more. (And you can get it for less than that if you choose the “one pay” option.) Learn more about 12 Minute Marketing on the Curriculum Page, or just Enroll Today on the Enroll Page.

Sep 20 2011

You Have Nothing To Lose and Numbers Don’t Lie

You DO Have Something To Lose

I’m getting them again. Emails that grab me with subject lines that are misleading as heck. As a marketer, you’re better than that.

Let’s dissect a couple of these.

“You Have Nothing To Lose.”

That was the subject line of a recent email that begged me to take advantage of a coaching program with a guru. It costs me absolutely nothing to do – it is, in the style of the Internet Marketer, “FR.EE.” The calculus behind this, and other emails like it, is that I’m going to take a flier on your event, course, value-added service – and that I won’t think of my time as something I have to spend.

This is a problem. This is not an Empathy Marketing tactic. This is just lame.

See, I don’t know about you, but I choose to invest my time wisely. The reason I have nothing to lose, in your opinion, is because you know what’s on the other side of this offer, and it’ll only take an hour for me to find out.

If I ever fail to take your time seriously as a marketer, you can ignore my message.

What’s sad about this particular message I received is that the guy behind the curtain is probably someone I could learn from. But, because I got flummoxed by the email arrogantly telling me I had nothing to lose, I put the message into the mental circular file.

Let’s take a look at another one:

“Numbers Don’t Lie.”

Oh, don’t they? Peeling back the onion in this particular email and it’s even scarier. “9000 people visit this site every month!” “50 people have qualified for the bonus already!” I’ll agree: Numbers Don’t Lie.

The 9000 people who visited your site every month: are they bots from another country?

The 50 people who qualified for the bonus: what did they do to qualify?

Let’s amend the statement: Numbers Don’t Lie, but you can sure as heck use whatever numbers you want.

How About This? Let’s Take Each Other Seriously

My time is something I take seriously. 3 minutes reading your email from top to bottom are three minutes I’m not there for my wife and my kids.

Truth is something I take seriously, too. Mislead me with numbers that I can EASILY CHECK on the Internet and I’m going to lose respect for you.

We’re all trying to make a living. We’ve all got lives to lead. Take me seriously and I’ll do the same to you.

Aug 16 2011

How to Survive a Painful Unsubscribe

It is bound to happen – someone you thought was your friend, someone who you’re related to, someone who you thought you had on the hook…they’ll unsubscribe. Or unfollow. Or – GASP – unfriend.

First, background: “unsubscribe” is what happens when you use an email service to send out messages (newsletters, autoresponders, whatever) and someone clicks on the link and says, basically, they’re not that into you. Or, more accurately, they’re not that into your message.

What’s a marketer to do?

What to do When Your Own Dad Unsubscribes.

This is a true story – my own Dad, who was busy with his real estate business, clicked on the link to unsubscribe from my startup’s monthly newsletter. ACK! Was it something I said?

Well, when you dig a little deeper, like I did, you can learn a lot. For instance, it is quite possible that Dad didn’t need to get monthly updates from the startup I was running (since it was aimed at college-bound students).

I got over it – partly because I knew how much my Dad hustled at real estate, and partly because I knew how much he was indeed interested in my business ventures.

I since have received countless unsubscribes, a few rude messages, a couple pleasant apologies for unsubscribing – and, over the years, built and rebuilt list after list.

Your family may not unsubscribe from your messages, or unfriend you on Facebook (shameless plug for 12 Minute Marketing on Facebook), or unfollow you on Twitter (follow Area 224 contributor and one-half of 12 Minute Marketing Rick Strater on Twitter) – but here are ways to soften the blow if they do.

Permission, Permission, Permission.

Dad was in Real Estate, where the three most important words are “Location, Location, Location.”

In email marketing, the three most important words are “Permission, Permission, Permission.”

Don’t just take our word for it – visit a site that is much better at this stuff than 99% of the population, that of Outspoken Media, and hear what they say about email permission.

I have scores of business cards from my U Sphere days – most of them don’t have any value now, but I actually have notes on the back that say things like “send the monthly email” or “follow up with a phone call.” A good chunk of them had notes that would fall into the “unsubscribe” category – thus saving pain in the process. (I remember vividly a guy saying to me something akin to “don’t bother me until May, then I’m happy to talk, and I’ll remember you.” I didn’t, he was, he did.

Your Message May Not Be Relevant (to the reader)

We all have a ton on our plates, so you can forgive the person who thought they were into wine a couple months ago if they aren’t into wine right now. Relevance is subjective. The greatest message (“save thousands of dollars”) sent to the greatest list (that you built over years) may not be the right thing at the right time, at least right now.

And you may actually know some of the people who unsubscribed from your list.

Tough to not take these things personally, right?

Think again. Open rates – the percentage of people who actually OPEN your email – can be as low as 10% for people with great lists of potential target customers. The fact that someone opens your email AND takes a couple seconds to unsubscribe…that’s a win, in that you now know not to keep talking AT them.

Your Message May Not Be Well-Written

“Monthly Musings from XYZ Co.”

Welcome to an email newsletter that has increased its chances of the dreaded unsub.

We get some great stuff here at HQ. We also get some very average stuff.

Styles are all over the map. One woman likes to tell us the semi-intimate details of her life, warts and all – but does it in such a way that we can’t help but think she’s human and someone we’d like to have a beer with.

There’s another guy running a little info empire whose newsletters are close to poetry – and he sends them sorta like a waiter at a fine restaurant…exactly when they are needed and not a second later.

Like relevance, it’s subjective. Like Edwin Meese describing pornography, sorta, you’ll know good writing when you see it.

Move On.

You should have enough on your plate as you build your business that one little unsubscribe, one less Facebook friend, and one fewer Twitter follower won’t have you weeping and gnashing teeth.

Get permission, strive for relevance, and sharpen your writing. Now go get ’em!

Feb 17 2011

Dear Marketer, Here’s Why I Unsubscribed

We're standing by
Dear Marketer,

I need to unsubscribe. From your email list. You know the one…

Don’t take it personally. Please. Pretty Please.

I’m not gonna see “Inbox Zero” maybe ever, so I need to make a few sacrifices.

In fact, Marketer, I can’t remember why I signed up in the first place.

You might have been the one who suggested I take a look at your video – but then asked me for my email address before I got full access.

Or maybe you were the one who wanted me to “Like” you on Facebook so I could get a special gift.

Sure, I might have been interested then. Or maybe just curious.

In any event, it’s time for us to part ways.

But first, some advice for you – take it for what it’s worth. I don’t want to be one of “those” people, you know the ones, they tell you all the bad things about you while they’re breaking up with you. That’s not my style. So, consider this constructive feedback. Please.

Marketer, I’m just not that into you.

I liked your one piece – maybe, it’s been so long I can’t remember. Or it could have been your “call to action” – how romantic that was. The value was almost priceless – or maybe it was valued at $495 but was mine free. I can’t recall.

See, when I need you, I need you now.

Whatever it is you provide, there’s not much value left if you provided it ages ago. I need you stopping by from time-to-time, saying hello, and seeing what I need. I need you to give me something I can use – not just tell me how great you are.

Or maybe I just forgot that you exist.

I don’t know.

Don’t take it personally. Our paths may cross again.

I won’t forget you.

Wait, maybe I already did.

Regards,

Dave

Oct 18 2010

5 Signs Your Current Newsletter Is Meh

We actually enjoy email newsletters. Good, bad, phenomenal and just “meh” – we sign up for quite a few of them. Here are 5 signs that yours may be, well, meh.

Meh. Average. Doesn’t make you turn cartwheels, doesn’t make you call the cops either. Let’s dissect some common newsletter problems – email newsletter or paper newsletters both apply here. For instance:

1. Jargonization. Webster’s Dictionary defines “meh” as…wait, there’s the first problem. I may not know what you’re talking about when you say meh. Just as your reader may not know what you’re talking about when you say…well, you get the picture. Remember that one person’s jargon is another person’s desire to go to the airport, book an airline ticket, get on a plane and use the barf bag. We’ve railed on this stuff in the past, and we’ll continue to do that. If you write decent copy, you can avoid jargon.

2. Lack of a Point. We got one today that said, well, about fifteen different things. “Come see our store, I’m new at this job, there’s a lot going on, wow it’s nice outside, look, a shiny object!”

Buried in there was an invite to introduce yourself to the new guy, whose job is to meet as many people as he can and make you feel as welcome as possible. There’s the point!

3. Lack of an Objective. Volume 1, Issue 1 always gets people excited. Usually the boss says “let’s do a newsletter.” Then there’s an editorial meeting, and maybe a design meeting, and a really good first issue.

Then, stay tuned for Volume 1, Issue 2. Wait for it…wait…oh, whose job is this? MINE? Oh crap, well, I’m really busy, and…

The lack of clear objectives behind any project is a recipe for disaster. So, too, can be:

4. Failure to Grab Attention. Hook us with a clever subject line or headline. Entice us with a deal of some sort. Mention something about unicorns. We don’t care what – just grab our attention.

And, email marketers, don’t do it with “Re: your message.”

5. Over-personalization. Email marketers blend 4 and 5 for so much eye-bleeding pain I need an antacid. “Re: Dave’s new software.” While brilliant 3 years ago to get an email from Barack Obama that says “I need 20 people like you, Dave,” this was also from ye olde tyme days when we actually thought there was a slight possibility that the person on the other end knew our name.

(I didn’t actually think that. Other people did.)

The personalization tags are out of control – they’re nice to have and can be attention-grabbing. But still…use with caution.

Now, before y’all comment, here are a couple things to share from Area 224 HQ:

A. We do send out an email newsletter from time-to-time. BUT we don’t overdo it; and partly because we would rather focus on our blogging efforts.

B. And we do have an objective behind our blog. It’s sharing BS-free knowledge, insights, and commentary on marketing, marketing communications and startups as they pertain to emerging businesses and emerging communications trends.

We do both and avoid the meh. Here’s hoping you do the same.