How would you like a 143% increase in your marketing response rates? Those of you who say NO are excused from the room. The rest of us will examine this proposition over the next several weeks. We will focus on Cross Channel Marketing or what could be called Cross Channel Confusion, a subject we first mentioned on this blog on May 1.

Now, Cross Channel Marketing sounds so new, so cool, so edgy, but the concept has been around for a long time, just without the range of options available today. In the past, it might have consisted of mail, newspapers, magazines, radio, television, signs and even the telephone – you might remember the ad, “Reach Out and Touch Someone”.  I know that they are still trying to reach our household, usually when we are eating dinner. That is not what we would call “permission based marketing”, but that’s another story.

Today, of course, we have all of that plus Email, Facebook, Twitter, SMS Texts, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube etc. etc. So let’s discuss one very old and very effective marketing tool – Mail. Yes, that’s right – Mail. You remember Mail right? That physical stuff that shows up at your home or business. The stuff you usually didn’t ask for, like bills and flyers and stuff. Yes, we are talking about snail mail, junk mail, you know, the usual derogatory remarks we direct at good old mail.

Now ask yourself, when you get mail, do you handle it?  Do you look at it? If it has your name on it, do you open it up? If it’s a postcard with a great picture, do you look at that? Well, if you are like most of us the answer to the above is YES! According to the US Postal Service, 51% of all postcards are read by at least one member of a household. 66% open envelopes with their name on it. Remember how the 2012 ExactTarget study showed that 66%of respondents have made purchases as a result of email marketing messages? Well, the same study shows that 65% of consumers have made purchases as the result of direct mail. When it comes to motivating consumers into buying something, Email and Direct Mail are neck to neck in the race for results. So, who would have thought that? One of the oldest technologies and one of the newest technologies, both in a dead heat for first place.

But wait, there’s more.

Remember when we identified that email marketing must be “permission based” and how I reflected that telephone solicitation is anything but permission based? Well, direct mail is the only channel where permission is not required. The mail arrives and you either look at it or you throw it away and you do this on your own time. It is not intrusive. It’s not in your face or in your space. The ExactTarget survey results showed that consumers did not view unsolicited direct mail as inappropriate. Consumers went on to say that Direct Mail beats Email and all other channels for promotional messages from companies with whom they regularly conduct business but have not asked for ongoing information (permission) or with whom they have never interacted with before. THUS, DIRECT MAIL IS THE MOST ACCEPTABLE INITIAL CONTACT METHOD.

So what? You might say. Well, yes, snail mail is slow, but when it gets there, the probabilities are high that someone will look at it, unlike non permission based emails that arrive in a hurry but are deleted just as fast. The logical next step is to integrate the two channels and take the best of both in the campaign of Cross Channel Marketing.

Next week:  The Best of Both – Cross Channel Marketing.

 
Confusion Says……….

Email Marketing is all about Control, but Control for whom? Well, first and foremost,
control for ME, the recipient, the target, the client, the customer, the entire reason why we are sending
the email in the first place. ME can read and respond at leisure without interruption. Do you know what
ME does first thing in the morning? Well, according to ExactTarget 58% of them go to their email and
49% say they always open emails from their favorite companies. They could be going to you, the email
sender.

Speaking of the sender and Control, naturally, emails provide a vehicle for brands to send messages
according to their schedules and if ME likes it, then the majority will respond within 24 hours, according
to the LYRIS Marketing Guide. So, the sender gets control, fast deployment and fast reaction. It gets
Speed of Response. This is a sender’s dream. Some brands send emails in waves to different MEs within
a demographic, testing responses and adjusting accordingly. The campaign literally interacts with the
market and according to feedback, morphs into what is the best message for acceptance and response.

Oh Yes, One Last Thing. MarketingProfs talks about the power of post scripts. They are powerful in
direct mail marketing and they are powerful in email marketing as well. They list five things you can do
with your post script to generate more clicks in your emails:

1. Restate your key benefits and call for action.Click here to get……..
2. Make another promise or introduce a surprise benefit.Act now and you will also get….
3. Provide more credibility.Company X used this idea and got………
4. Communicate urgency.Use this when a REAL timeline or limitation exists. This offer expires…
5. Restate or expand on your guarantee. If not satisfied we will promptly reimburse you…

Here we are, using old methods for new technology. Is it, “the more things change, the more they stay
the same”, or are the changes we see only the tip of the iceberg? Let’s mix it up a bit more with some
other avenues of choice.

Next week: A look at Cross Channel Marketing. Are we confused yet?

Confusion Says……..

Okay, so last time we looked at some of the technical stuff. So what? I mean we can send out the
technically correct emails, but we’re still not getting the responses we want. How do we improve that?
Well, how about saying something of interest to ME, the recipient.

Studies by ExactTarget show that 67% will provide their email address for discounts and promotions.
55% will do so to get a “freebie”, 50% to get updates on upcoming sales and 45% to get updates on
future products. So, people consider emails as an accepted method to engage with brands.

To talk to ME you must have something compelling to tell. In other words, it’s the content. The subject
must be relevant and focused on what ME wants. It must per personalized to the degree that you
know not just ME’s name, but also who ME is and what ME wants. It should be centered on An Event
- 71% higher open-rates and five times higher ROI than a standard weekly newsletter according to
MarketingProfs. Next, you could try a Cross-channel strategy. These yield a 143% increase in response
rates.

So, the term, “Email Blast” is dead. Long live “Email Marketing”. Long live compelling, targeted
messages composed through data driven insights with relevant information.

Next week: Email Marketing: Control, Speed and Oh Yes, One Last Thing

 
So, why write about, “Becoming Better at Email Marketing”? Isn’t email marketing dying the proverbial slow death? Isn’t it falling under the wheels of those racing chariots called Facebook, Twitter, SMS Texts, LinkedIn, Pinterest or whatever other communications channel that will be launched next month and worth a billion dollars two years from now? Well not really.

Current surveys of consumers’ communications preferences by companies such as ExactTarget illustrate that every day

• 91% use email
• 57% use Facebook
• 57% use SMS Text

Since 2008, personal communications via email has declined from 66% to 45%. It has been moving to social media channels. However, permission based email marketing communications has increased from 72% to 77%. In other words, 77% of people prefer to receive product information via permission based email marketing instead of social media channels. This cuts across all age groups from 15 years to 65 years of age. The preference for permission based email marketing is so far ahead of other methods of marketing that it is almost a one horse race.

More good news – 66% of respondents have made purchases as a result of email marketing messages and 63% use email to share content with their friends and family. Sharing of content on Facebook was 33%. That’s 30% less than email marketing.

Here’s some suggestions from MarketingProfs, Silverpop and Target Marketing that will improve your email marketing:

1. Ask for permission to send information via emails (permission based email subscribers) and make it easy to opt out with one click.
2. Make the content relevant to the recipient. In 50 characters or less tell what’s in it for them and what they should do.
3. Deliver the emails to arrive at the times in my previous article.
4. Do not send email “blasts” or the internet service providers (ISPs) will start to block your messages. Narrow your focus to the right people.
5. Send a loyalty offer to subscribers who most often open your emails.
6. Avoid spam trigger words like “Free”, “risk-free”, “guaranteed” and “!!!”
7. Keep the offer text above the “fold” area (top 200 to 259 pixels). This is prime real estate area for the 3 to 5 seconds they focus on your message.
8. Use one-line pre-header text to outline the offer. These are ideal for mobile devices.
9. Use a clear call-to-action button and clickable URL link above the “fold”.
10. Aim for 450 to 500 pixel width for both desktop and mobile users.

Next week: More Email Marketing Tips

Every generation has been able to lay claim to having fallen under the old Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” The flux of social, political and economic changes over the ages have made life on this planet “interesting”. The wheel, the printing press, the combustion engine, the automobile, the airplane, the personal computer and the internet to name a few have all been disruptors, creators of “interesting times”.

Today, in the world of marketing and communications we live with more opportunities and yet more confusion than ever before. Opportunities because, as never before in the history of mankind, marketing can reach out to anyone anywhere and at any time. Confusion because no one single method of communication has proven to be the most effective and no one knows what method to use to obtain their objectives. So let’s explore the confusion…

Let’s pick one for today. How about Email Marketing? Email open rates are highest on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. They are typically opened during the morning between 7:00 and 10:00 AM. 75% of daily social media users said email is the best way for companies to communicate with them. Yet, in the last half of 2011, overall email delivery rates were down 4.5% while B2B email delivery rates were up 6%. In summary, B2C delivery rates are dropping. Why? Well, better blockers, marketers’ sender reputations are deteriorating and consumer email overload. The answer? Become better at email marketing.

Next week: Becoming Better at Email Marketing

Michael and Jeanne Grant will gladly accept the prize at the big award show on December 1st.