Did you ever wonder why so many consumers hate businesses? Often it’s because businesses take advantage of the relationships we have with them. When I bought a camera from Casio, I was pretty excited about the relationship. I bought several models over the years, convinced many friends to buy one, and blogged about them more [...]
Tag Archives: email marketing
When selling is actually customer service
Another classic, effective marketing technique demonstrated by Amazon: They send an email reminder to their customers when the sequel to a previous purchase is released. This week they dropped me a note that Dan Roam has a new book because I bought his previous ones. I bought it, of course. The best part: This sort [...]
Should we forgive the sleazy behavior once companies get famous?
Many famous dot-coms did a lot of sleazy, spammy things in their early days. AOL, Microsoft, and other major players in the online advertising industry bought and absorbed some very ugly promoters of pop-ups, spam, and deceptive ad practices. Today, startup Thumbtack is shamelessly harvesting emails off of Craigslist and mass-spamming fake personal emails to [...]
Did you leave something behind?
One of the most effective — and most forgotten — online sales tools is sending an email follow-up to people who left items in a website shopping cart. These simple emails, if timed properly and tastefully done, can push all those shoppers from the “considering” stage to the “buying” stage. Especially if you throw in [...]
eBay Needs Your Help
Well, maybe not — but this is a great example of how to increase response to a marketing message. Instead of telling people something, try to ask them for help. You’ll make them feel important, you’ll sound more human, and you’ll get a better result. We all want to believe that companies care what we [...]
If you send mass email with no way to reply, you're being a jerk to your best customers
You send your well-crafted promotional email blast or newsletter. It has a do-not-reply return address, or it goes to an unattended mailbox. This is like calling someone on the phone, hollering a sales pitch, and then hanging up before they can buy. (Actually, there are links in the email, so it’s like calling, giving a [...]
Let your customers in on the planning #2
[Note: When I write about a politician, I'm not talking about politics. I'm writing about marketing lessons.] Here’s another great example from the Obama team that shows how to get deep buy in: They sent out a mass email asking for hiring recommendations. Everyone who got this email instantly felt important. It made you feel like [...]
Let your customers in on the planning #1
[Note: When I write about a politician, I'm not talking about politics. I'm writing about marketing lessons.] The Obama team sends extraordinarily great email communications. Here’s one you should copy: They invite supporters to a “grassroots planning session” — which is pitched as a chance to have an early voice in the strategy of the [...]
Is your email forwardable?
If you want people to share your email newsletters, don’t use a dark background:
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