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Actual for You - Direct Email--Good or Evil?
Several years ago I was invited to participate in a mastermind group. I had never been involved in a mastermind group before, but I had read about them in Napoleon Hill's book, "Think and Grow Rich." So, I was eager to try the concept out.This particular group was comprised of five women and the focus was real estate investing. I met Kim, the woman who invited me to join the group, at a real estate investing seminar. I was a relatively new investor at the time and thought this was an opportunity to learn more about real estate investing, team up with other women who were investing, and jumpstart my real estate investing business, which is a business I run with my husband, in addition to my marketing consulting and coaching business.In theory the group should have helped jumpstart my fledgling real estate investing business. In reality it did not. We met weekly but we quickly realized that some of us were more serious than others. Some of the members did not show up on a regular basis. Others seemed more interested in spending our time together socializing instead of focusing on th
The beauty of direct marketing is that you can OBJECTIVELY test until you come up with the “right” price. Divide the list up into modules, keep all other elements of the offer static, and use a different price for each module. If you use statistically significant samples, YOU WILL converge on the price that yields the greatest profit. That’s a rare and valuable thing to a marketer in high tech, where things change so fast, and are often so squishy, that it’s sometimes hard to tell which end is up. And you can do this with any elements of your offer, simply by keeping everything but your test element static, and using the “module” approach to test different “sizes” of that element.
Of course you can do this with any direct form of marketing, but direct email adds the important ability to do your t
Setting goals sometimes seems like a useless task. It would seem if you want to do something, you just get to it and finish. Though that sounds easy enough, I think there is more to it than that.Having something to work towards is important. If everyone’s business plan, or goal, were simply, “Make More Money” most businesses would not succeed. Though you can’t practically say, “My eBay business is just like Microsoft”, I believe it is a mentality that gets us where we want to be.Success is measured subjectively, relative to each person. For some, hitting the million dollar mark is success, while for others it is the simple fact of being able to quit their job to stay at home and have that freedom. It’s important to establish what it means to be successful for you. Don’t just think about it, write it down. Know what you want, and don’t forget it. Ideas in our head almost always seem to drift away if we don’t manifest them somehow and sometimes immediate action isn’t possible… so simply write it down.The practical thing to do, however, when it comes to eBay, is to measure your current business
The end result of this universal distaste of SPAM is a belief, held by many, that sending emails to prospects or customers “just isn’t a good thing to do”. Lot’s of potential issues—from alienating your customers and potential users, to having some wacko attack and bring down your website, just because he doesn’t like the message sent to his in-box. So should we just forget about direct email as a legitimate marketing tactic, and spent our time and money focused on other aspects of the marketing mix?
I suggest not.
NOT ALL EMAIL IS CREATED EQUAL
Let’s step back and be rational here. First of all, not all direct email is the same. Let’s start with the “worst of” direct email campaigns:
Scenario #1 Bob’s Computer Stuff, Inc., buys “20 million email addresses for $99” from a SPAM email that they randomly received. Bob’s then fires off an email to the entire list with an offer for its extremely niche-y computer accessory, the “Swiss Army Computer Widget”. This is bad. Bob will be punished in quite a few ways, and probably deserves it.
Now let’s look at the “best of” direct email:
Scenario #2 Distinct Software Corp. has been methodically building a list of customers and prospects obtained using a variety of online and offline marketing methods, not the least of which is visits to the company’s website. The list has been carefully compiled, and in each case the client is either doing business with Distinct or has expressly given permission to receive email. Distinct has decided it would like to launch its new IT software product, with a special offer to targeted prospects. The company mines it’s database for prospects that meet the targeted customer profile for the new product. It supplements it’s own list by renting an opt-in email list from a broker, that was compiled from subscribers to a magazine that covers issues related to the new product. Distinct then puts together a classic direct response offer (discounted product, money-back guarantee, free gift, time-limited). The company crafts a short email message describing the special offer, careful to adhere to the rules of the CAN-SPAM Act, and other applicable state or international laws. The company sends it out its offer to the target list it has compiled, as one component of the marketing mix for its new product launch.
IS IT SPAM? Do you really think that these two scenarios have anything in common? In actuality, the only thing they have in common is the delivery mechanism—email. Yet it’s very common for these two very different activities to be lumped together in one basket. It’s all SPAM, many people will say.
I beg to differ. One is terrible marketing, the other is classic marketing. BAD, scattershot marketing is almost always poorly received, and GOOD, targeted marketing will only offend the zealots out there who are offended by ALL forms of marketing. This is true regardless of the delivery mechanism. There are people who hate traditional direct mail, unsolicited phone calls, advertising on TV, people with flyers at the shopping mall, even print ads that take up 2/3 of their favorite magazine. There’s nothing you can do about them. The only way to please these folks is to go out of business, so we don’t worry about them. Don’t let the crazy few stop your business from being successful.
GREAT FOR “OBJECTIVE” MARKETING DECISIONS There are many reasons NOT to do direct email. One of the most important is that it's easy to do, so it is a very crowded medium (thus "SPAM). But there's a lot of great reasons to try it, as well.
One of the best is its ability to add “objectivity” to the marketing process. Marketing, especially to a high tech audience, is both art and science. It’s best when you can tilt toward more science than art, but with new products and offers, it often tends to be primarily art. How are new product prices usually set, for example? Well, a few objective things are usually done, like a quick look at competitors price, but mostly, somebody with decision making power just picks a price out of the air that looks good to them. It may be a good price, it may not be, but there it is.
The beauty of direct marketing is that you can OBJECTIVELY test until you come up with the “right” price. Divide the list up into modules, keep all other elements of the offer static, and use a different price for each module. If you use statistically significant samples, YOU WILL converge on the price that yields the greatest profit. That’s a rare and valuable thing to a marketer in high tech, where things change so fast, and are often so squishy, that it’s sometimes hard to tell which end is up. And you can do this with any elements of your offer, simply by keeping everything but your test element static, and using the “module” approach to test different “sizes” of that element.
Of course you can do this with any direct form of marketing, but direct email adds the important ability to do your te
Is your business publishing a print or e-newsletter? An informative publication is a great way to stay in touch with your customers and leads. It also reinforces your expertise in your industry. You can give your readers tips and advice. You can also give them updates about company news and information about your products or services. Both can help drive repeat business to your website. It also reminds people that you are still available the next times they need your services or products.To generate your mailing list, start with your current customers, friends, associates, and vendors. Include a sign-up form on your website for print and/or electronic versions. Ask new customers if they would like to receive your newsletter. Organize your contacts using some kind of database software. Make sure you keep your list up to date.Over time, a newsletter establishes trust with your readers. You begin to form a relationship, even if you’ve never met face to face. Be there for your readers if they have questions, need advice, or want support. E-mail or call them back promptly. Ultimately, your publication w
Now let’s look at the “best of” direct email:
Scenario #2 Distinct Software Corp. has been methodically building a list of customers and prospects obtained using a variety of online and offline marketing methods, not the least of which is visits to the company’s website. The list has been carefully compiled, and in each case the client is either doing business with Distinct or has expressly given permission to receive email. Distinct has decided it would like to launch its new IT software product, with a special offer to targeted prospects. The company mines it’s database for prospects that meet the targeted customer profile for the new product. It supplements it’s own list by renting an opt-in email list from a broker, that was compiled from subscribers to a magazine that covers issues related to the new product. Distinct then puts together a classic direct response offer (discounted product, money-back guarantee, free gift, time-limited). The company crafts a short email message describing the special offer, careful to adhere to the rules of the CAN-SPAM Act, and other applicable state or international laws. The company sends it out its offer to the target list it has compiled, as one component of the marketing mix for its new product launch.
IS IT SPAM? Do you really think that these two scenarios have anything in common? In actuality, the only thing they have in common is the delivery mechanism—email. Yet it’s very common for these two very different activities to be lumped together in one basket. It’s all SPAM, many people will say.
I beg to differ. One is terrible marketing, the other is classic marketing. BAD, scattershot marketing is almost always poorly received, and GOOD, targeted marketing will only offend the zealots out there who are offended by ALL forms of marketing. This is true regardless of the delivery mechanism. There are people who hate traditional direct mail, unsolicited phone calls, advertising on TV, people with flyers at the shopping mall, even print ads that take up 2/3 of their favorite magazine. There’s nothing you can do about them. The only way to please these folks is to go out of business, so we don’t worry about them. Don’t let the crazy few stop your business from being successful.
GREAT FOR “OBJECTIVE” MARKETING DECISIONS There are many reasons NOT to do direct email. One of the most important is that it's easy to do, so it is a very crowded medium (thus "SPAM). But there's a lot of great reasons to try it, as well.
One of the best is its ability to add “objectivity” to the marketing process. Marketing, especially to a high tech audience, is both art and science. It’s best when you can tilt toward more science than art, but with new products and offers, it often tends to be primarily art. How are new product prices usually set, for example? Well, a few objective things are usually done, like a quick look at competitors price, but mostly, somebody with decision making power just picks a price out of the air that looks good to them. It may be a good price, it may not be, but there it is.
The beauty of direct marketing is that you can OBJECTIVELY test until you come up with the “right” price. Divide the list up into modules, keep all other elements of the offer static, and use a different price for each module. If you use statistically significant samples, YOU WILL converge on the price that yields the greatest profit. That’s a rare and valuable thing to a marketer in high tech, where things change so fast, and are often so squishy, that it’s sometimes hard to tell which end is up. And you can do this with any elements of your offer, simply by keeping everything but your test element static, and using the “module” approach to test different “sizes” of that element.
Of course you can do this with any direct form of marketing, but direct email adds the important ability to do your t
Ever since the invention of the internet, people have used it to share files. Be it music, movies, video games, and other copyrighted and non-copyrighted electronic material. This has raised some interesting ethical issues. The debate over whether file sharing is legal and right is one of the most important issues dealing with the internet right now, and has sparked many lawsuits. Some of these lawsuits have even reached the United States Supreme Court. Today we’re going to be looking at both sides of the coin, the case for file sharing and the case against file sharing. You may decide yourself which argument you’re going to side with. And hopefully after reading this article you’ll be informed enough to make a decision.The Case For Many people that do share files over the internet believe that it does not cause anyone any harm, and in fact helps the industry who’s files are being shared. They believe that it allows the consumer to sample the product before purchasing the product, thus gaining the artist exposure that they wouldn’t normally have access to. There’s also the issue of file quality, a
IS IT SPAM? Do you really think that these two scenarios have anything in common? In actuality, the only thing they have in common is the delivery mechanism—email. Yet it’s very common for these two very different activities to be lumped together in one basket. It’s all SPAM, many people will say.
I beg to differ. One is terrible marketing, the other is classic marketing. BAD, scattershot marketing is almost always poorly received, and GOOD, targeted marketing will only offend the zealots out there who are offended by ALL forms of marketing. This is true regardless of the delivery mechanism. There are people who hate traditional direct mail, unsolicited phone calls, advertising on TV, people with flyers at the shopping mall, even print ads that take up 2/3 of their favorite magazine. There’s nothing you can do about them. The only way to please these folks is to go out of business, so we don’t worry about them. Don’t let the crazy few stop your business from being successful.
GREAT FOR “OBJECTIVE” MARKETING DECISIONS There are many reasons NOT to do direct email. One of the most important is that it's easy to do, so it is a very crowded medium (thus "SPAM). But there's a lot of great reasons to try it, as well.
One of the best is its ability to add “objectivity” to the marketing process. Marketing, especially to a high tech audience, is both art and science. It’s best when you can tilt toward more science than art, but with new products and offers, it often tends to be primarily art. How are new product prices usually set, for example? Well, a few objective things are usually done, like a quick look at competitors price, but mostly, somebody with decision making power just picks a price out of the air that looks good to them. It may be a good price, it may not be, but there it is.
The beauty of direct marketing is that you can OBJECTIVELY test until you come up with the “right” price. Divide the list up into modules, keep all other elements of the offer static, and use a different price for each module. If you use statistically significant samples, YOU WILL converge on the price that yields the greatest profit. That’s a rare and valuable thing to a marketer in high tech, where things change so fast, and are often so squishy, that it’s sometimes hard to tell which end is up. And you can do this with any elements of your offer, simply by keeping everything but your test element static, and using the “module” approach to test different “sizes” of that element.
Of course you can do this with any direct form of marketing, but direct email adds the important ability to do your t
I asked a colleague from work today if he had any news about new Internet phenomena that would be cool to check out. He told me about the concept of social software. Social software is where someone takes an existing computer program and combines it with another idea to make it more personalized for people. A perfect example of this comes in the form of a new craze taking over the world: Google Map mash-ups.http://maps.google.com/ is already a cool site that has taken a personalized approach to many different ways of helping people. For example, I typed in ‘Pizza restaurants’ into the finder with the name of the town my father lives in near Atlanta, Georgia, USA and it showed me exactly where all the pizzas were, the names of the restaurants, and contact details (if I wished to place an order over the phone). Pretty cool. This is only the tip of the iceberg. Other people around the world have taken the Google Map software and combined it with their personal interests to create a whole array of exciting maps filled with photos and information. The ultimate site to check some out is http://googlemapsmania.b
GREAT FOR “OBJECTIVE” MARKETING DECISIONS There are many reasons NOT to do direct email. One of the most important is that it's easy to do, so it is a very crowded medium (thus "SPAM). But there's a lot of great reasons to try it, as well.
One of the best is its ability to add “objectivity” to the marketing process. Marketing, especially to a high tech audience, is both art and science. It’s best when you can tilt toward more science than art, but with new products and offers, it often tends to be primarily art. How are new product prices usually set, for example? Well, a few objective things are usually done, like a quick look at competitors price, but mostly, somebody with decision making power just picks a price out of the air that looks good to them. It may be a good price, it may not be, but there it is.
The beauty of direct marketing is that you can OBJECTIVELY test until you come up with the “right” price. Divide the list up into modules, keep all other elements of the offer static, and use a different price for each module. If you use statistically significant samples, YOU WILL converge on the price that yields the greatest profit. That’s a rare and valuable thing to a marketer in high tech, where things change so fast, and are often so squishy, that it’s sometimes hard to tell which end is up. And you can do this with any elements of your offer, simply by keeping everything but your test element static, and using the “module” approach to test different “sizes” of that element.
Of course you can do this with any direct form of marketing, but direct email adds the important ability to do your t
The Delaware Division of Corporations is the state government arm that takes care of matters pertaining to the incorporation of businesses in the state of Delaware. The Division of Corporations also assists in filing corporate, Delaware uniform commercial code, and tax documents. The Division has a list of prominent government officials, starting with the Secretary of State, who are available to answer questions and hear comments.The Division of Corporations serves as the first stop for businesses intending to do business in Delaware. The Division has a well-functioning website which details the information, forms, and links needed for corporations to learn more about the regulatory practices and business culture in Delaware. The Delaware General Corporation Law is supposed to be the most advanced and flexible business statute in the U.S. An important institution emphasized by the Division of Corporations is the Delaware Court of Chancery, which is a court that is more than two centuries old and handles corporate cases. The court has been credited with writing important modern U.S. corporate case laws. Well, a few objective things are usually done, like a quick look at competitors price, but mostly, somebody with decision making power just picks a price out of the air that looks good to them. It may be a good price, it may not be, but there it is.
The beauty of direct marketing is that you can OBJECTIVELY test until you come up with the “right” price. Divide the list up into modules, keep all other elements of the offer static, and use a different price for each module. If you use statistically significant samples, YOU WILL converge on the price that yields the greatest profit. That’s a rare and valuable thing to a marketer in high tech, where things change so fast, and are often so squishy, that it’s sometimes hard to tell which end is up. And you can do this with any elements of your offer, simply by keeping everything but your test element static, and using the “module” approach to test different “sizes” of that element.
Of course you can do this with any direct form of marketing, but direct email adds the important ability to do your testing faster. You can test and revise, test and revise, almost in real time, quickly converging on your optimal offer for the market. This is very powerful, and the results can then used to optimize other marketing activities in the mix. It really enables you to switch from subjective guessing to objective decision-making, which could well mean the difference between success and failure in a competitive market.
IT’S ONLY SPAM IF YOUR AUDIENCE ISN'T INTERESTED
If your offer is targeted at the appropriate people, it provides benefits for them, and you deliver your message in a legal manner, you will have very few problems. The closer it comes to a “one to one” message, and the farther from a mass message, the fewer problems you will have.
IF DONE RIGHT, VERY FEW COMPLAINTS
I have conducted many direct marketing campaigns over the years, including quite a few direct email campaigns. The most telling is a most personal campaign I have used over the years. Prior to starting my consulting practice, I used this technique in job searches, as well as to reach out to potential customers when I worked as an employee. Since I have started my consulting practice, I have used it with great success as well. I send email messages directly to CEOs of target companies. The messages are extremely “one to one”, tailored to the company and person I am sending it to, and the target is always chosen to be a close fit with whatever I my “offer” has been at the time (A potential senior executive, a product that I knew the potential client could use, my consulting services).
I have been using this technique literally since the beginning of commercial use of the Internet. I have had exactly ONE complaint since I started using this approach. The gentleman who complained—I actually knew. I had previously had a personal meeting with him, and he handed me his business card himself! Needless to say, most people thought this guy was a real jerk! A few people over the years have asked that I “take their name off of my list”. I always do—anyone that requests it, never hears from me again. But not many have made this request. A lot of non-responses, a lot of polite no thanks, and many, many requests for meeting that have led to a successful outcome for both the addressee and myself. But literally no complaints save the one “exception that proves the rule.”
THE BOTTOM LINE
My basic message is don’t let fear stop you from using Direct Email effectively as part of your marketing mix. Maybe it makes sense for your particular situation, maybe it doesn’t. But don’t let fear of persecution and alienation rule it out. If done properly, it is often a profitable, efficient, and very effective method of reaching your target audience. Just remember to live by the rules:
DIRECT EMAIL RULES
Only email to a targeted audience
Craft an offer that is very appealing to your target list
Do extensive testing, for objective analysis of each element of your offer
Always be honest, never deceitful
Use an opt-in or in-house list only
Always make it easy for addresses to opt out
Never send additional messages to those that opt out
Include your physical address and phone number in all messages
Don’t overdue it—send messages sparingly, only when you have something important to offer or communicate
No more than monthly messages in most cases, less frequently is usually better
So that’s it! Email is a controversial and often emotional issue for many people. I look forward to hear what you all have to say.
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