We're talking email lists before the mind starts to wander. More specifically the difference between purchased lists and lists grown organically from within the business, the list that comes from interactions with individuals who know your brand and know your product - the reason why nothing beats a bit of home grown.
A word of warning about purchased lists, more specifically purchased consumer lists. Don't expect to get much of a response. Why? Well if you've never heard of the company who drops the email into your inbox, and you didn't give the express permission to email you, would you visit their website and buy their product? No, me either.
Its not all doom and gloom though, acquisition marketing via email can be successful. It just works a lot better if you can build your own house list. It's slower, yes, but your response rate will be so much better. List co-registration with a relevant partner site is an option too. Just try where possible to avoid the purchased list if selling product directly from the email is your objective. There are plenty of other options available that deliver a better CPA for you to explore SEO and PPC for starters....
Posted by Jimmi P, Monday 18 May 2009 at 12:25
Brand & relationship building activity online. Not directly selling your product or service to your cutomers. No special offer, mega discount and no screaming call to action saying ‘Buy this right now!’ So what's the point?
Some marketers view brand building activity as a waste of time, money and resource. It's not trackable some say, you can't monitor the impact is has on your brand say others.
We'll why not try this next time you’ve got a sales promotion in the pipeline.
Split your database 50/50. Send half of the database some handy updates about your product or service. Perhaps a little while later send them some tips, videos or a feedback platform they can interactive with. Send the other half of the database nothing. Then when you email out that sales promotion see which half of the database is the most responsive. My guess is it will be the 50% that you spent time talking too and building up a relationship with.
It's important to win the permission to ask your audience the difficult questions. In our experience to get that permission requires a little brand & relationship building activity.
Some marketers view brand building activity as a waste of time, money and resource. It's not trackable some say, you can't monitor the impact is has on your brand say others.
We'll why not try this next time you’ve got a sales promotion in the pipeline.
Split your database 50/50. Send half of the database some handy updates about your product or service. Perhaps a little while later send them some tips, videos or a feedback platform they can interactive with. Send the other half of the database nothing. Then when you email out that sales promotion see which half of the database is the most responsive. My guess is it will be the 50% that you spent time talking too and building up a relationship with.
It's important to win the permission to ask your audience the difficult questions. In our experience to get that permission requires a little brand & relationship building activity.
I have found really informed article on folksonomies and taxonomies at FUMSI today here. The author comes down on the side of a blended approach as do we, and adds some useful insight into how this can fail.
I would also expand on the use of folksonomies for marketing insight, whether it is for SEO purposes, i.e. getting at the keywords/keyphrases that you haven't considered - or getting further into the personas of your visitors/customers.
This is also an important consideration for intranets and extranets, where the author knows their content as the say the "Maintenance Manual v01.02", and the users know it as "the blue book".
I think that this is also, in the context of the online world, an example of the top down or bottom up approach challenge.
Once again a mixture of both is what you should aim for - of course whoever commissions the site has expert (read taxonomy) knowledge, that can at its worst manifest itself as a case of "I know best, not my customers" and may make things hard to find for the non-expert visitor.
Conversely taking the opposite viewpoint that starts from the "I know little about the product/service" can end up talking down to the visitor and may end up failing to deliver the site's value.
The best sites cater for all visitors, understanding their differing personas and goals and delivering the best product/content for them.
I would also expand on the use of folksonomies for marketing insight, whether it is for SEO purposes, i.e. getting at the keywords/keyphrases that you haven't considered - or getting further into the personas of your visitors/customers.
This is also an important consideration for intranets and extranets, where the author knows their content as the say the "Maintenance Manual v01.02", and the users know it as "the blue book".
I think that this is also, in the context of the online world, an example of the top down or bottom up approach challenge.
Once again a mixture of both is what you should aim for - of course whoever commissions the site has expert (read taxonomy) knowledge, that can at its worst manifest itself as a case of "I know best, not my customers" and may make things hard to find for the non-expert visitor.
Conversely taking the opposite viewpoint that starts from the "I know little about the product/service" can end up talking down to the visitor and may end up failing to deliver the site's value.
The best sites cater for all visitors, understanding their differing personas and goals and delivering the best product/content for them.
I picked this up on Tech Republic and think it deserves a plug - Don't sweat the small stuff too early its a recognition that sometimes the details slow down decision making and how it is easy to get distracted from the bigger picture, and your goals, by trying to get all the details tied up at too early a stage.
That's not to say the details aren't important, it's just that there is a time and a place for everything.
A key skill for managers is to recognise when and where the details need to be addressed, and how to get the best out of a meeting. Setting a meeting's agenda helps, as does an indication at the beginning of the meeting what decisions/outcomes the meeting should address will go a long way to achieving this.
That's not to say the details aren't important, it's just that there is a time and a place for everything.
A key skill for managers is to recognise when and where the details need to be addressed, and how to get the best out of a meeting. Setting a meeting's agenda helps, as does an indication at the beginning of the meeting what decisions/outcomes the meeting should address will go a long way to achieving this.
Thought the nice spot we got in this weeks NMA for the redesign of the Crimewatch website warrants at least a small mention on our blog, for those who didn’t catch us in print.
Since getting on board with the BBC earlier this year, we’ve been involved in adding depth and richness to the soundscape of CBeebies favourite, Poetry Pie & were tasked with creating a more fun, interactive and engaging home page for CBBC’s young audience. Our latest project with the BBC- the redesign of the Crimewatch site will tie into the upcoming roadshow, which takes the ever-popular show on the road a month of live programmes filmed across the UK.
A snippet from the article says “The new format destination site intends to offer the public online access to authoritative, credible advice and information about crime and crime fighting and will lift the baseline of website traffic from the current core audience of TV viewers to anyone interest in crime prevention. Interactive agency Pancentric Digital is redesigning the site and will also work on search optimisation, in a bid to attract new users interested in local crime prevention.”
For those of you that missed us in the mag, click here to view the full article online.
Most Recent Posts
Nothing beats a bit of home grown
Marketing that doesn't sell your product. Essential.
Folksonomies and Taxonomies
Effective Meetings
Calling all crimefighters
Marketing that doesn't sell your product. Essential.
Folksonomies and Taxonomies
Effective Meetings
Calling all crimefighters
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