eROI Blog Email Marketing News, Articles, and Strategies
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Aging Consumers
So I read Barron's Financial Weekly, hoping to get a leg up on the investment community. This weekend, there was a great article about aging consumers, that I felt marketing professionals could benefit. Here is a re-cap:
There are 78 million baby boomers, and they are collectively richer than any group in history. The 50+ crowd controls 50% of US discretionary income, and have 65% of America's household worth.
They are known as a fickle, self-centered, and a "live in the present/ instant gratification" group.
OUT: - Senior Citizen - Golden Years - Sunset Years - Geritol Junkies - Retirees - The Aging
For other markets, we talk about advergames, but for Aging Consumers, I learned a new term: "braintainment" i.e. Sudoku, Brain Age, etc.
Other terms taken from the article: - Active Adult (specifically for communities) - Un-retirement - Re-hirement - Re-firement (not sure what this means)
I really really really try not to get on my soapbox, but regardless of how annoying image spam that originates from the far reaches of the world, there is nothing worse than getting spam from legitimate companies, people, and organizations. Yesterday morning, I recd. an email from the National Development Institute, promoting the Nonprofit Marketing & Public Relations Conference at the EDVENTURE CHILDREN's MUSEUM - COLUMBIA, SC - March 27, 2007.
I usually hit the delete button on such nefarious emails, but this one in particular got under my skin. Here is why:
First, I simply tried to unsubscribe, using the instructions that they provided. "Send an email to unsubscribe@nonprofitconference.info, with the subject line REMOVE." The email bounced.
Secondly, I simply replied to the "FROM" address in the email. It bounced as well. No surprise that the nonprofitconference.info domain has been suspended.
Thirdly, I looked for a physical address in the email, so I could mail a letter, requesting to be removed from the list. There was not a physical address.
3 violations of the CAN-SPAM Act.
Fourthly, I drilled into the website, and emailed the person direct, that was listed in the email as being in charge of the event: Jimmy LaRose. I let Jimmy know about the problems with the email, and furthermore, inquired to how in the world I got onto his list. Guess what, 24 hours and still no response.
Now what? Do I complain to the ISP? I would rather not. I gave Jim the benefit of the doubt, but as of today, those unsubscribe emails are still bouncing.
I am not going to get into the IP address that the email was sent from, but I just wonder what the board members and sponsors of this event would think, knowing that they are spamming?
I figure I will just blog about it, send a copy to Jim, and keep you in the loop on any developments. Posted by: Andy
at 9:42 AM | Permalink
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Attitudinal Analytics
I sat in on a web analytics presentation last week, and took away a few things that I wanted to share.
To begin, you might read my post on segmentation a few weeks ago. Along with behavioral, demographic, profile/preferences, psychoanalytic, and customer life cycle, I am adding a new segmentation form into the mix: Attitudinal Segmentation.
The concept is simple, you factor in someones "intention" for a certain result on your site or email. Forget what they did (behavior), its what they were intending to do. Did they find you using keywords for gloves, but purchased a coat? Did you want them to be distracted, and/or is there an opportunity to offer the original product of interest.
Furthermore, Webtrends presented findings on conversion, 4 different behaviors. A. First Time visitors vs. repeat visitors B. First Time buyers vs. repeat buyers
First time visitors and buyers are typically driven by organic search results, or PPC. Search drove value shoppers, discount shoppers, and offers that were typically on the low end to garner initial interest.
On the other hand, Webtrends finds that repeat visitors and repeat buyers spent more, and profit was higher off of those transactions. Why? They were typically driven by email, where the marketer has more control to promote higher value/margin items.
Furthermore, Webtrends split up email into 4 CATEGORIES, with proven ROI in increasing order. Low to high A. Broadcast B. Trigger C. LifeCycle D ClickStream
My point, is that segmentation is very important, and I hope you are trying something. Posted by: Andy
at 1:46 PM | Permalink
Does anyone know your brand?
The only reason I am familiar with UNKL Brand, is because I always go to the Kid Robot Store when I visit NY. There is nothing like having a Snorkin' Labbit on my desk to spark conversation.
Back to my point.
Here is a cleverly produced video by the UNKL crew, engaging the consumer, building brand awareness, and even with a clear call to action (however subtle). Its 10 min., but worth it, as there are some wonderful guerilla marketing tactics. Imagine how far this video would have gone as a bland factory video tour... Exactly.
So the calls are trickling in regarding the Outlook 07 rendering issues. As of today, we are seeing a 3% adoption rate (of those already using Outlook). Outlook makes up 56% of B2B email clients, so total you should have around 1.5-2% on your lists.
Styles will not work, but they also do not render in Gmail, so nothing surprising there. The big issue is that Outlook 07 won't support background images. Background images allow for an email to be designed and expandable like a blog.
