It has become hard to listen to and concentrate on a specific message which is buried in ever intensifying noise.
You as a marketer cannot blame people for being ignorant.
You only can blame yourself for being ignorant.
When was the last time you listened to the response you stimulated? Did you adjust your message, your timing, the channel, …?
It’s easy to be the pink elephant in the room — and I mean the opposite of a Purple Cow. If that’s what you wanna be, fine with me, but don’t drop your shit in front of my feet.
I just picked that up from the universe with my telepathic senses.
Something to think about.
LISTEN!
You probably don’t care about what I have to say. But don’t worry, I might give a damn about your message as well.
Do you have a clue what I am interested in right now?
Ingredients for Email Marketing Success (image credit)
A business owner who publishes a monthly email newsletter asked me for advice. The business in question is a European based specialist for color trends and consults with designers in the fashion and home design industries. In this particular case, Carol, wanted to know how to increase the open rate for her newsletter editions. Her company publishes the newsletter once a month.
The content and design of the newsletter I was giving the advice on is rather intriguing. However, it is a constant challenge to keep readers engaged and interested over a longer period of time. I gave Carol the following tips to think about.
5 Tips on how to engage your readers and increase your open rate
(1) Make it more personal!
Have an editor, a spokesperson write the newsletter in a colloquial tone. Introduce that character as a person with a back-story, and also address the reader on the personal level. An email is communication from one person to another. A newsletter should not be an exception.
I just have found this video, which demonstrates …
Well, just watch it. It's only 2 minutes or even shorter. (I didn't look at the timer.)
And then, please, leave a comment and let us know what you think.
That's what the description at YouTube reveals,
«While technology, communications channels and media usage habits change over time, the fundamentals of profitable business-to-business marketing, including the importance of building awareness, credibility and relationships, do not. In this excerpted video from a live staging of McGraw-Hill’s classic “Man in the Chair” ad at the Business Marketing Association’s 2009 national conference, BMA drives home the fundamental similarity between how buyers and sellers built business relationships 50 years ago and how they continue to do so today, albeit with many new and revolutionary tools and techniques at their disposal. For more information on BMA’s “UNlearn” conference, go to www.marketing.org/conference»
The Man In The Chair Ad — Then and Now
BMAintheUSA on YouTube
BMAintheUSA is based in Chicago. The Business Marketing Association is a leading marketing organization serving the professional development and networking needs and interests of some 2,500 senior business-to-business marketing professionals and 21 chapter organizations throughout the U.S.A.
Okay, here is the post I procrastinated for a long, l o o o … o o n g time.
Please, don’t ask me, why I finally got moving and finished it today. It’s certainly not the sunshine and beach weather that prevented me from doing this earlier. If it were, I wouldn’t get anything done at all. We have dream weather here a lot.
However, if you insist asking, I will respond,
“It was Frank Kern. He is guilty of having me finish that post.”
You might or might not know who Frank Kern is. He is one of the most successful email copywriters and business strategists in the Internet marketing community. Many call him a guru. Last week Frank launched his latest product, an interactive e-mail list building training program. The launch strategy was interesting to watch. It gives us a hint regarding the very old question:
“Single Opt-in or double opt-in?”
But first things first.
E-mail solution providers and to some extent law makers…
→ Continue reading:
• They don’t want what you sell.
• They don’t have the money.
• They don’t trust you.
Let’s focus on the first reason for a minute or two.
They don’t want what you sell.
In many instances this can easily be translated into “They don’t understand what you sell.”
Direct response copywriters and advertising experts taught us the importance of “getting into the head of our customer”.
A piece of marketing which generates a lot of response is not a monologue, it’s a dialog between the copywriter and the reader—the prospect. A writer needs to join that conversation in the head of the reader. Therefore, the writer needs to understand the market and the prospects she is writing for very well.
Derek Sivers gave a short 6 minute talk at a TED (↑) conference in India, in November last year. He reminds us of the many reasons why the person listening or reading might not understand what you are trying to communicate. His multicultural example makes it quite clear.
Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different?
Derek Sivers at TED Different Perspectives? (Pop Out)
That’s just the icing on the cake. Culture is not the only potential barrier that interferes with the meaning of your message and its perception.
“Despite the Internet being a global medium, your audience usually wears a very local head.”
~ John W. Furst
Enjoy the video and start becoming more aware of dangerous pitfalls in your communication and marketing.
