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

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Posted in: email marketing,email marketing mistakes

Email Marketing 101

When done well, email marketing is the PERFECT low cost way to regularly communicate with customers and uncover new prospects.

An effective email isn't just about getting the message right, or ensuring the formatting is legible on any device, or that the links all work (see our confessions of an emarketer post!), nor is it about delivering the message at "the right time", or having the best subject title in the world, and it certainly isn't just about ensuring timely follow ups to people who click . . . An EFFECTIVE email is about ALL of these things.

Our latest Marketing in a Minute fact sheet is crammed full of handy hints and tips and things to remember when you create your next marketing email.

We have a number of these bite sized overviews on key areas you'd like to know more about but simply don't have the time to research, they are free to download and only take a few minutes to read - perfect for today's busy professionals!

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Posted in: email marketing,generating leads

Confessions of an emarketer

The most nervewracking moment of any emarketing campaign is when you click "send". You know you've checked all the links, you've read and re-read the message to ensure there are no spelling mistakes, you've ensured the 'from' address, subject line and headers are all correct. So you dispatch your message, sit back, and wait to see the response...

Then, horror upon horror, you get a "I couldn't download the information" email from one of the recipients. You check your message and discover an error on one of the links.

It's almost a fait accompli that at SOME point, SOME time, SOME way, a mistake is going to happen. What sets you apart from other emarketeer's is what you do next. DO YOU:

A) ignore the issue and "hope" no-one else notices.
B) put your head in your hands, feel a bit sick and "hope" no-one else notices.
C) be proactive and face the problem head on.

For many people option C would involve sending (another) email out to everyone (which brings attention to the mistake) and append the correct link. For us it is simply a case of setting an automation so when anyone clicks on the broken link, they receive a personal email apologising for the error and directing them to the correct information.

Obviously in a perfect world mistakes wouldn't happen in the first instance, but if we lived in a perfect world there would be a never ending supply of taxis on a rainy day and guaranteed good weather during the Summer holidays.

We've produced an overview of Effective Email Marketing, we're going to start working on a "Email Marketing - What to do when it goes wrong" overview too as we think that will probably be one that people REALLY need.

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Posted in: email marketing,email marketing mistakes