Remember this scene from Glengarry Glen Ross? When Alec Baldwin tells his real estate agents that they are losers and terrible salesmen, and they should all be fired? “A-B-C. A – Always, B – Be, C- Closing. Always be closing. ALWAYS BE CLOSING….. “A guy don’t walk on the lot lest he wants to buy….
“Know your competition.” It’s one of the golden rules of marketing. And it’s sound advice. You wouldn’t launch a business without carefully surveying the marketplace first, to figure out the opportunities and threats (I hope). The same goes for your marketing. But there’s a danger in looking too closely at your competition, too. You can…
How often should you email your list? When companies launch a new email marketing campaign, this is often something they get nervous about. They seem to think that there’s an optimum frequency, and that if they get it wrong, their marketing will go down the drain. I blame all those Internet memes and blog posts,…
“The last thing we want to do is annoy people with too many emails.” I was speaking to the CEO of a healthcare company with over 6,000 email addresses on their database. They were desperate to market themselves better, and wanted to talk about all kinds of options: Social media, direct mail, LinkedIn advertising. But…
We’ve been moving to a new marketing automation system, and while dealing with that process, I’ve taken the opportunity to re-read some of the messages I wrote last year. Looking at them with fresh eyes, sometimes the structure doesn’t quite work. There are too many enthusiastic exclamation points (!!). They could also be more…
The email left me in tears. It came from the patient of one of our clients, a private dermatology clinic. That morning, we’d sent out an email to their list about rosacea, a chronic skin condition that causes redness and pimples on the face, encouraging patients to book a consultation. Several hours later, they received one response I will never forget. It started: “Nothing has ever resonated…
“I need help.” The voice at the other end of the line was shaking. “We’ve been posting on Twitter every day for six months, but we haven’t seen a single lead. Not one! I don’t see the point any more. “Nothing else we’ve tried has worked either. But this business really needs to grow, or…
Three years ago, I bought some face paints for my daughter from a small online retailer. They continued emailing me regularly with new promotions and products – none of which I had any interest in. Nevertheless, I stayed subscribed. Inertia is a powerful force! :- ) Cut to World Book Day this year. One of…
“Mum, can I have it?” I was in Tesco’s with my 7-year-old daughter, D, when she spotted her new object of desire: A Darth Vader toothbrush, with a lightsabre-shaped handle that lights up. “No.” “But can I have it?” “No.” ….And so on and so forth, ad nauseam, until I exited the supermarket with…
So, you’ve written a great email. You upload it to your marketing automation system…. Press “send”… And what percentage of your audience open and read it? 20%? 30%? 40%, if you’ve really struck gold? Somehow we’ve all convinced ourselves that if a third of our audience reads what we say, we’ve done incredibly well….
