Dark Side of the Moon

Marketing automation is all the rage...  Big data is the way...  Fill your pipeline with hundreds of qualified leads...


This too will change.

I have answered your call.  "Three Tips to Increase Your PPC ROI by 1500% in Three Minutes!"  Click here to download now....  

I know what is coming.  "First we are going to need your name.  And email address.  Company name.  Number of employees.  Title.    Marketing budget."

"Now please select the reason you are downloading this article."  

• Immediate Action!
• Acting in the Next 3 Months.
• 3 to 6 months.
• Planning for next year.

What is frequently missing is "I just wanted to read the article."

Now I am in your Marketing Automation System and the cogs start turning.

Don't get me wrong I am a big proponent of marketing automation (MA) when done right.  There is nothing wrong with automating monotonous, repetitive tasks.

But I am concerned about the sophistication (or lack of...) of some systems.  I am starting to think that MA systems are becoming a crutch, rather than a tool.  Are we (sales people) becoming lazy and a little too dependent on these systems?  

There is software to monitor everything we do today.  And somewhere along the line we have decided that simply being active is a good thing.  If you have enough in "your pipeline", sales will follow.

But what if the "leads" in your pipeline aren't really leads?  

I am inquisitive.  I enjoy reading about the latest trends in digital marketing, so when I see an article about the latest in PPC, I will take the time to "download the white paper".  (And as many of you know, if I do have an interest, I will hunt you down...)

But now I am in their MA system and I realize that I will receive their automated messages for the foreseeable future.  Today I received one of my favorites...

I saw you downloaded a whitepaper titled, "Performance Marketing 2.0", awhile ago. Awesome! I'm sure it's been valuable to you.

Actually it was not valuable to me.  I haven't even had time to read it. 

Followed by "Are you the person responsible for...."

Sorry.  I rarely "self prospect" by answering these automated emails (especially if I have no interest).  

If their marketing automation system offered the "No Thank You, Just Reading" option, my inbox would not be filling up with their messages that have zero chance of being read.  Hang on, my phone is ringing...  "Jeff - it's Justin from ABC Amazing Marketing and I noticed you downloaded our paper...."

Perhaps I would have received a single email.  "Jeff, I hope you enjoyed the article.  I see that you have no immediate needs, you are simply inquisitive.  If you ever have any questions about ABC Amazing Marketing, please don't hesitate to contact me.  In the meantime I will send you a Linked In invitation.  If you would like to stay in touch, please accept it..."

I have always believed that "people do business with people, not businesses".   

When you are online hunting for prospects and designing your questions for white papers - remember some of us are simply curious.  Allow us an out so you don't waste resources tracking a "prospect" that never existed.

I thank you.

The Steady Drip, Drip, Drip of...

You have to be of a certain age to recognize the Cheech and Chong reference.

But it describes the power of digital marketing to sales prospects.  

You build a killer web site and throw everything you can think of to drive prospects to it. 

• You add the URL to business cards, stationary, your email signature
• You launch a Pay Per Click Campaign
• You add targeted display, targeted video and targeted display

But, unless you are an online retailer that sells "stuff", chances are the first visit will not generate sales.  KissMetrics reports, "Approximately 96% of visitors that come to your website are not ready to buy."

This gem of wisdom gives the prepared an advantage. Understand that the majority of businesses do not operate an eCommerce site.  Their sites are much more educational and designed to be a source of lead generation.  So how do we convert this traffic from lead to prospect to client?

At Thrive one of the ways we do this is by using specific landing pages for specific solutions.  For example for our friends in the YMCA , they are driven to landing pages that show them how we can help with specific problems - "Is Your Website Mobile Friendly?"  "YMCA Brand Compliant Website in 1-6 Weeks!"  "Are You Being Found on Google When People Search For..."  

While we welcome prospects picking up the phone and engaging our services immediately, we realize that during the first visit this probably isn't going to happen.  (See The Law of Familiarity  People do business with businesses that are familiar to them.)

So our primary goal for the first visit to our landing page is to convince them to give us some contact information, which enters our proprietary CRM program. Now - drip, drip, drip.

For ten consecutive weeks we automatically send them communications.  During the first week they will receive an email.  Week two they receive a postcard.  Week three an email.  Week four a postcard.  Ten continuous touch points.  We want to be familiar to them when we follow up with a phone call or Linked In request...

Every communication is different, but they are developed around the clients's business, their problems and how Thrive can help solve these problems.

What problem is keeping you up at night?

The Law of Familiarity

What makes marketing work? Invoking the Law of Familiarity.

Marketing is the process of getting your message in front of a qualified sales prospect multiple times

(Marketing automation is the process of getting your message in front of a qualified sales prospect multiple times with little or no work on your part.)

Multiple touch points builds Familiarity.

The Law of Familiarity
The Law of Familiarity shows us that the first step in securing a new customer is that your brand must be familiar to them.  The  more familiar you are, the more likely they will give you a chance to do business with them.



Familiar Means Safe

Who makes the best hamburger in your town?

McDonald’s?  Not a chance.

In Toledo it is Burger Bar.  Or Bar 145.

No one would select McDonald’s.

Now imagine you are on vacation and driving the family to the beach.

You pull off the interstate for lunch.  On the left is a local restaurant - Burger Bar.

On the right is a McDonald’s.  

Which do you pick?

McDonald’s.

Why? Because it is safe.  You know it is not the best, but you know what to expect.

This is The Law of Familiarity.

Familiarity Takes Time

Have you ever heard a song that you liked enough to buy the CD?

And you took it home (or downloaded it) and listened to it?

Only to think the rest of the CD “sucks”?

But you continued to listen it?

Soon you knew the words to the third track.

Then the seventh track started sounding pretty good.

Before you know it, “This is a great CD!”

This is The Law of Familiarity.

Familiar Means Taking Action

Ever wonder why politicians spend so much just advertising their name?  

What other "business" do you know that would use thousands of yard signs?

Do you really know anything about the person running for the Clerk of Courts?  Appellate Judge?  City Clerk?

Politicians know that when a voter goes into the booth,  they will pull the lever for the name they recognize, regardless of whether or not they know anything about the candidate.  Advertising works.  

And at Decision Time, Familiarity Wins.

This is The Law of Familiarity.

In today's fast paced, results oriented environment, it is easy to over look this important marketing truth, but your sales results will be greatly enhanced if you adhere to this proven technique.

Video Killed The Radio Star

This is scary....  

A study released this week by video library management company Levels Beyond...

• 59% of consumers are likely to watch branded video on a company website. 
• Similarly, 71% of marketers agree that brands should be video content producers. 
• However, 75% of marketers say that producing video is not a priority for their company, with 40% claiming their brand rarely uses video.

"The very best marketing comes from observing consumer behavior and inserting your message into their behavior."

• Americans watched 52.4 billion online content videos in December.
• In total, 188.2 million Americans—86.9% of the US Internet audience—watched online videos during the month.
• More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month
• Over 6 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube—that's almost an hour for every person on Earth
• 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute
• According to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults aged 18-34 than any cable network

For some reason, all I can picture is "This is your brain.  This is your brain on drugs.."

"Wake Up America."  - Billy Cunningham

"Shoot When The Ducks Are Flying" - Email Basics

In a February post we looked at basic rules for how to improve the performance of email campaigns.  This week eMarketer.com has posted  a great article - Avoid the Trash Can: When to Send Emails. 

As marketers move away from "spray and pray" tactics, click through rates are showing improvements.  On a side note, recently a colleague shared with me that 90% of the emails sent today are spam.  It is my intention to focus on tactics for improving the remaining 10% of emails.

And the first rule of email marketing remains - only send emails to individuals who have given you permission to do so.

Some of the highlights from eMarketer:

• The majority of marketers opt to send emails during the week, but marketers switching their send day to Saturday could see higher open rates and average order sizes.
• Thursdays saw the highest volume of US email sends in January 2014...
• But Q4 2013 data from Experian Marketing Services found Saturday had the highest open rates and average order sizes compared with all other days. 

The more telling data however is consumer behavior.  When do consumers react to emails?

• Analysis of emails sent during Q4 2013 by Experian Marketing Services showed emails sent during the nighttime hours of 8pm to 12am saw the highest unique open rates, click rates, transaction rates and revenue per email. However, buyers interacting with email sent during this window were less likely to spend...
• The average order size was $162, vs. $180-plus for emails sent between the hours of 8am and 8pm. 
• Emails sent during that 12-hour block saw lower unique open rates, unique click rates and transaction rates, suggesting marketers might have to consider a tradeoff between these measures and average order size.

"The very best marketing comes from observing consumer behavior and inserting your message into their behavior."  If I am running an eccomerce site, I am going to observe consumer behavior and be inclined to send emails when they are more receptive to buying.