The Winnie the Pooh Effect

"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear."
Winnie the Pooh
Eeyore, Pooh's Little Instruction Book

I am not suggesting that your customers and prospects have fluff in their ear, but whilst recently reading this lovely story to my son, I began thinking about the importance of ongoing communication and how (sometimes) we all have a little fluff in our ear.

We are busy people. We are flooded with information which we try to consume on a variety of devices and I, for one, appreciate a gentle reminder about things that are of interest to me. It would appear that the same is true of others. I'm always pleased to see this theory proven by increased response rates to emails which are re-sent, 2-3 days after the original, to people who opened the first message but didn't take the expected action (registration, survey completion, contact etc.).

An excellent way to avoid "Ear Fluff Syndrome" in email marketing is with a well planned e-communication programme that includes creating a relevant reaction for every action. Examples include: an automated response to anyone who downloads information, a follow up email to people who open your message, a phone call to anyone who lands on the contact page, a survey that ascertains satisfaction levels, a different message to people who don't open three emails in a row, an incentive for those who do - and so on.

Reader beware: Be responsible with your communication techniques, your customers need to be treated differently to your prospects, you need to be consistent, you need to be concise, you need to be mindful of the basics of emarketing communication. Regular communication is key to customer retention, development and growth.

I shall finish this post as I started, with a quote from a very wise old bear:

"You can't stay in your corner of the forest, waiting for others to come to you; you have to go to them sometimes."
Winnie the Pooh
Piglet, Pooh's Little Instruction Book

Posted in: email marketing,email marketing mistakes