A Dirty Little Secret

You know how important your mailing list is. You’re (hopefully) adding leads to it on a regular basis, and wow, you never thought you’d have so many prospects! The reports look good, and it’s pretty exciting seeing the list continue to grow. And it’s testament to how good you are at generating leads.

But there’s a dirty little secret about lists that’s generally ignored. It’s the dreaded Non-Responder! Everyone keeps track of Unsubscribes (at least they should since it’s mandated by the CAN-SPAM Act). That’s usually pretty easy, and they should be a small percentage of your list.

However, you need to look at your Non-Responders as well. I define these as people who never really do anything with your email. They don’t click, they don’t respond, but they don’t unsubscribe either. Maybe they open the first message, and never open one again. They’re sort of a black hole.

So what’s the deal? They signed up to get emails from you, right? Why would they suddenly decide to ignore you? It’s enough to hurt a marketer’s feelings, I tell ya!

Often, it’s easier to focus on how many new leads are coming in instead of learning from this segment of your list. And almost all emarketing statistics are about what prospects DO, not what they DON'T.

There are several things you need to consider, but the number one question to ask is "How valuable is my email marketing message?" You might think it’s great, but obviously these people don’t.

I suggest you contact these prospects and find out how you can serve them better. You’ll be amazed at what people will tell you when you just ask. By reaching out to your Non-Responders, you’ll learn how to improve your value, and get the added bonus of re-engaging these prospects with your company.

Leave me alone!

The other day, I got four emails from the same company within eight hours. One was a generic message from the local sales person (Hi, I'm following up...), one was promoting a local sale (Visit today for 50% off!), and the other two were promoting new product lines the company introduced on a national level.

At this point, do you think I was interested in what this company had to say? Not by a long shot. I was annoyed, and they lost a certain level of my respect because their right hand clearly didn't know what their left hand was doing. How would that translate to customer service down the road, or warranty work if needed? I went from a strong prospect (after all, I'd provided contact information) to a disgusted potential customer who felt slightly abused.

So, are your customer contact channels coordinated? There are so many ways to send messages to customers these days, you need to make sure everyone in the company is on the same page. I'm not talking about the personal correspondence that occurs between a sales person and a prospect during, or even after the sales process. I'm talking about email marketing messages.

Often, email marketing messages are not coordinated within a company. Marketing is sending one thing, and sales staff is sending another. (See the first paragraph). This can be especially true in a large organization that has both a corporate and a local marketing department who share a database.

The result is prospects being bombarded with messages that are inconsistent, may or may not adhere to brand standards, and are generally way too frequent. Email marketing should be coordinated with all other customer contact channels to ensure this doesn’t occur. This means marketing must communicate with sales to plan message content and frequency.

An integrated marketing program is essential. Email marketing must be included in the big picture and not left up to chance. If it is, there will be a lot more annoyed prospects out there.

Two Simple Steps Make All The Difference

What happens when a customer submits a request for a brochure, or something tangible that is sent via regular mail? If they do it via your website, generally they receive a canned auto response indicating their request has been received.

That’s certainly better than nothing, but really savvy marketers will make sure they add the step of sending an email confirmation once the information has been sent. Let the customers know that you’ve fulfilled their request and they can expect the information soon.

Now they will anticipate getting the information, and can contact you if it doesn’t get there in a timely manner. All of this keeps an open line of communication with a prospective customer, and keeps you top of mind. This also makes them more receptive to further emails from the company.

If you really want to impress, once their request has been fulfilled, the second step is to follow up with an email to make sure they have received it, and ask if they have any additional questions. Make sure your message is appropriately timed and this will be a great opportunity for continued contact. It also demonstrates a level of respect and customer care that is memorable and sets you apart from your competition.

Targeted Email Messages Equal Success

Email marketing is one of the most powerful marketing tools available today, and because it’s incredibly cost effective, it has one of the highest returns on investment. But the key to successful email marketing is making sure each message you send is personal and relevant. Do you use your prospect’s behavior to target your messages to them? If not, you're missing a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

Your sales staff doesn’t talk to each prospect in exactly the same way. They assess a potential customer, based on a number of factors, and then tailor their presentation accordingly. They also generally use a prospect ranking system to determine their purchase “readiness.” Your email marketing program should do the same thing.

The key to creating a behaviorally based email program is segmentation. Segmented email marketing messages are proven to have a higher conversion rate, and focus on quality versus quantity.

Successful segmenting means understanding the different types of customers you attract, and why. If you don’t have this information, start finding out, so the email marketing messages you send will help your customers achieve their goals. It may take time to pull all this information together, but it will be worth it.

Here are some key questions to get you started:

1. Do you have a segmentation strategy at a top level to find the areas of greatest opportunity? Are you sending the same message to someone who only gave you an email address as opposed to a prospect that asked specific questions, and filled out your entire contact form, including their phone number?

2. Do you segment your prospect list by potential value? Are you paying attention to when their purchase time frame? Have they expressed interest in a specific item? Do they need financial information?

3. Do you know what content motivated your recipients to click through? In order to gather information on your prospect’s behavior, you have to have link tracking in each of your email messages. Then you can refine future messages, providing content that is most relevant to each of your prospects.

4. Do you allow recipients options for frequency and targeting? Internet customers are increasingly selective about what they choose to receive in their Inbox. Let them tell you how often they want to hear from you, and what interests them. This provides essential information for targeting future email marketing messages.

A behaviorally targeted email marketing program is sophisticated, but remember, so are your customers. Stand out from your competition by sending prospects the information that means the most to them. They’ll love you for it in the end

Welcome!

Welcome to LM Marketing Online. The world of online marketing can be pretty overwhelming, but it's a critical part of our world. My goal is to provide commentary, ideas and resources to help you do your job better, save money, and generally make your life easier. I hope you'll share your thoughts and ideas as well. Thanks for reading!