Remark-able Stuff Spreads (Seth Godin)

In a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out – why, when it comes getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones. And “early adopters”, not the mainstream’s bell curve, are the new sweet spot of the market.  (View Video below to learn more)

15 Steps to Marketing Your Business

Below are 15 steps to creating a marketing plan around your business.  These are a few basics to get you started. 

Step 1: Target Market – Determine who your ideal target client (market segment) truly is.

Step 2: The Product Service Package – Develope your full suite of products and services that align with market demands from product, pricing, placement and promotion.

Step 3: Differentiate and Dominate – Develop and communicate your CORE marketing message.  Understand and communicate what your value is -and that which sets you apart from the rest.

Step 4: Give Them An Image – Communicate using a complete marketing package to ensure all messaging and visuals are in alignment.

Step 5: Develop Your Story – Create meaning by telling your story so that it resonates with your audience.

Step 6: Marketing Materials – Develop marketing materials that educate and stand out; simplicity is key.

Step 7: Web Site – Develop a content-based business web site; make sure it aligns with top search engine optimization guidelines. 

Step 8: Business Advertising – From web to print including free listings, paid advertising, sponsorships, partnerships and more, every sale starts with a lead.

Step 9: Direct Mail – A solid lead generation tool when your market segment is highly targeted and your messaging and offer resonates with your audience.

Step 10: Public Relations – Create news around key milestones within your business. Write and release PR messages via Blogs, online news wires (i.e. http://www.prweb.com) and more to gain media attention and expert status.  Look online for templates. Follow SEO guidelines.

Step 11: Referral Marketing – Building a systematic referral marketing machine such as an Affiliate Marketing Program or Agent Referral Program.

Step 12: Search Engine Initiatives - Generate leads from the Internet including Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Search-friendly PR and more.

Step 13: Blogging for Business – Develop a Business Blog and communicate… with your customers, the media, prospects, partners and more.

Step 14: A Selling System – Turn prospects into clients and clients into partners; automate your sales process as much as possible with leading (and affordable) automation tools; be clear on how to manage each stage in the sales cycle.

Step 15: Marketing Automation – Automate and extend your marketing with technology tools.

5 Quick Tips for Effective eNewsletters

For companies large and small, an email newsletter is a great idea… IF you keep in mind, the key success factors in developing one.  Here are a few top tips for turning your e-newsletter into a powerful marketing tool.

         

1. Understand Your Readers: Newsletters are a time to build your relationshp with your customers and prospects. Be sure to discuss topics of interest and provide value for your audience. Of course, some self promotion is OK.  Consider the 80/20 rule – 80% of the content should be about them and 20% of the content mentions your company (and how it relates to them of course). 

        

2. Get Personal: Of the hundreds of communications the average business reader receives daily, you MUST find ways to seperate yourself from the pack. Be unique, be real… include your personality and connect via the human factor. Readers like to know there’s a real person on the other end.

             

3. Visually Appealing: The appearance of your e-newsletter is important.  As with everything on the web, keep it brief. From a few seconds to a few minutes, that’s all you have to capture their attention.  Use bullets, enticing headlines, fluid font treatments, relevant graphics and easy navigation.  Don’t clutter up your communications. Cut content & creative 1, 2 even 3 times.

     

4. Feedback is Key:  As with Blogs, forums and other communication mediums, in today’s online world feedback is part of a successful communication cycle. Don’t be shy.  Ask your readers to comment on the newsletter – both likes, dislikes and future ideas.  As with any communication, interaction draws you closer to your customer (and to a sale).

                 

5. Contact Information: Keep in mind, the ultimate purpose of email newsletters is to develop your brand, build relationships and provide top-of-mind awareness regarding your products or services (in turn make sales). Make sure your would-be customers know how to reach you (via click, call, email even fax). Always make it easy to communicate with you.

           

Create newsletters that provide value to your readers and just maybe they will thank you wtih a sale.  Keep it simple, keep it short, and take full advantage of the powerful communication tool that it is.

        

DeMystifing Common CAN SPAM Myths

Quick Overview : Webinar provided by Jigsaw

• Email continues to be the preferred method of communication in B2B
• 80% of marketers say email is strongest performing media buy
• 50% are now emailing prospects, not just customers
• Per the Direct Marketing Assoc, email produced the highest absolute response rates for those whose primary objective was to generate leads

Myth: CAN SPAM requires explicit permission or “opt-in”

Reality: CAN SPAM is about notice & consent – not “opt” anything

• Regardless of consent, there are certain requirements when sending unsolicited commercial email.
• It is the subject matter of the message and how you identify it that is the key.
• Again, Opt-in is NOT required however, Opt-in will help with deliverability, results, etc… so, you should try to convert “prospect” emails into opt-ins; but it is not required by law

CAN SPAM covers both emails you send to your customers (opt-in – to marketing emails) and your prospects (not opt-in)

CAN SPAM IS NOT: A Data Protection Act – only personally identifiable data – NOT business data

CAN SPAM does:

• Ban false or misleading header (origination) info – must be identifiable
• Prohibit deceptive subject lines
• Require your email gives recipients an easy / 1 click opt-out method
• Must stop sending within 10 days of receiving opt-out
• Must be able to process request at least 30 days after you send the email (live link)
• Requires that you identify as a solicitation or advertisement
• Clear & conspicuous – email intent, opt out, valid physical postal address

Additional fines for e-mailers who:

• Harvest email addresses
• Generate emails using a “dictionary attack”
• Use scripts or other automated methods
• Relay emails through a computer or network without permission

Recent Modifications

• 1 Click opt-out
• PO boxes are OK
• CAN SPAM applies to businesses and individuals

BEST PRACTICES: CAN SPAM Compliance

• Applies to Business Email – not PII (Personal Identifying Information)
• Requires no questions asked removal opt-out process
• Open-ness and transparency (i.e. header, subject line, etc…)
• Aggressively, continuous testing
• Use only reputable data vendors
• Stay away from manufacturing and/or harvesting emails
• Stay on top of change: 40% change rate per year – ensure list hygiene with quarterly updates
• Continue to utilize all best practices you’ve developed around opt-in
• Manage deployment of emails yourself / in-house or through a legitimate ESP… don’t send via 3rd party list providers

DMA Guidelines for Ethical Business Practices

• Clear communication
• Clear description on how you collect and use your data
• What type of data you keep and how you secure it
• Accountability and enforcement inside your organization
• Multi-channel opt-outs
• Easy access to policies
• Commercial solicitation online/including email

Marketers may send commercial solicitations online under the following circumstances:

• Can send solicitations to their own customers
• Individuals have given their affirmative consent to the marketer to receive solicitations online
• Individuals didn’t opt-out after opportunity was given to do so
• For third party lists: must receive assurance that individuals on list did provide consent to receive solicitations or have already received opportunity to opt-out but have not chosen to do so
• The individual is not the marketer’s in-house suppression list
• Within each email solicitation, marketers should furnish individuals with notice of automated mechanism to “opt-out” (EZ & Fast opt-out)

RE: Rent, sale or exchange of emails

• Assure that you do not rent, sell or exchange their email addresses for online solicitation purposed
• If individuals request that their names be removed from marketer’s in-house list, then marketers may not rent, sell or exchange their email addresses with 3rd parties for solicitation purposes
• Only marketers that rent, sell or exchange info need to provide notice of a mechanism to opt-out of information transfer to 3rd party marketers

Where do I find emails?

• Use reputable sources
• Scrutinize capture methods
• Test, test & test
• Datahouses once were the sole provider of data (i.e. D&B, Harte Hanks, InfoUSA, etc..)

In Web 2.0 world there are new ways to acquire data

• Web Crawling: Generate, Hoovers, ZoomInfo, Spoke
• Social Networking: LinkedIn, FaceBook, etc…
• Wiki/Community: Jigsaw, NetProspex (Strongest Data Quality)

What email issues do they Address?

 

Data Challenge	Traditional B2B Compilers	Crawling	Social Networking	Wiki / Community
Email compilation	W	M	W	S
Email Changes / Hygiene	W	M	W	S
Email Appends	M	W	W	S
Email Deployment / Mgmt	M	W	W	M
Email integration with CRM	M	M	W	S

(S)             Strong (M)  Medium     (W)    Weak

 

How do I keep them accurate?

Traditional technologies

• eCOA (Change of Address service)
• Hygiene/update services
• Deliverability reporting, management

Best new technologies

• Include the above, plus…
• Jigsaw-like real-time updates
• Generate-like frequent web crawling updates

In Summary …

• Email for Acquisition / Prospecting is a growing trend –make sure you’re not left behind
• Utilize CAN SPAM to DO responsible email for prospecting, not to PREVENT you from doing so.
• Utilize Best Practices at all times
• Choose your data providers, deployment providers, and hygiene/update providers carefully.