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marketing

The Problem with Form Letters

by Daria Steigman on October 31, 2011

marketing, customer service, Independent Thinking

Is personalization really that hard?

I received the following letter the other day:

Dear Valued [name of organization] Member,

Please excuse this form letter, but it is an inexpensive way for us to let you know that your membership is up for renewal. We wanted to be sure you have the opportunity to receive all the benefits of membership without interruption…

Excuse me, but if you really wanted to save time and money you could have sent an e-mail.

Form letters are lazy. Form letters without a hint of personalization send the message that you can’t be bothered to actually talk to people.

This is how you value me?

My friend Shonali Burke had a great blog post the other day about bad business pitches. At least those are from strangers.

The organizations you do business with should at least know your name.

What do form letters say to you?

Photo by Alan O’Rourke (Flickr).

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3 Surprisingly Awesome Ways to Use Location-Based Marketing

by Daria Steigman on October 24, 2011

location-based marketing, Foursquare, dataI really dislike the early iterations of location-based marketing.

They’re interruptive rather than integrated.  And gamification turns me off.  (Seriously: being the mayor of your local coffee shop matters to you?) Then there’s the whole tweeting-about-it thing. People are all indignant about Triberr, but I find all those “I’m at…” tweets are far more irritating.

There has to be a better way to use this technology–and to get me to give up my data.

In a recent MarketingProfs Webinar, Aaron Strout and Mike Schneider talked about some of the more forward-thinking ways that companies are using location-based marketing to engage with both customers and prospects. Here are my top takeaways:

  1. Showcase your smarts. USA TODAY’s foursquare page includes a “10 Great Places” feature that gives users “tips”–information on places ranging from The National Mall to the Bird Cage Theater in Tombstone, Arizona. In doing so, the media company has found a way to engage with a broad, geographically dispersed audience. I can see ways that all kinds of organizations can create campaigns that give me a reason to check in.
  2. Make it participatory. Buffalo Wild Wings teamed up with SCVNGR to create a series of challenges around the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Most required small actions (a picture of the sauciest wing in the bucket, a snapshot of you with a fan of the opposing team). The campaign drew almost 200,000 unique players and 1.3 million challenges. Sure, there was a big gamification element–but it also fit the personality of both the venue and the forum (sports). If my favorite sports bar did this around the NFL playoffs, I’d probably be all over it because it’s social and it’s fun.
  3. It’s not just for B2C. Strout and Schneider talked about how cybersecurity firm BreakingPoint has created a foursquare location for its conference booths and encourages check-ins via its marketing collateral. The strategy, which also includes prizes for checking in, has led to hundreds of demos with key prospects. It’s just another example of how business-to-business companies can take advantage of location-based marketing.

During their Webinar, Strout and Schneider also provided a peek into the future of location-based marketing, including passive check-ins (addressing the “interruptive” problem), location-at-point-of-sale strategies, and better use of meta data. There’s some terrific stuff here.

What creative uses of location-based marketing have you seen? What would you like to see?

Photo by sophiea (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

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How to Turn Browsers into Buyers

by Daria Steigman on October 14, 2011

Content Rules, MarketingIn the age of The Google, you’re nowhere if you can’t be found. Especially by your prospects. As a result, pretty much every business has to be a publisher, and every company has to have something to say besides “BUY ME.” Content matters.

In Content Rules, co-authors Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman have written a bible for savvy entrepreneurs and everyone else who understands that good content is a competitive advantage. The point of great content, they say, is:

“to convert browsers into buyers and customers into regulars or (better yet) rabid fans, ambassadors, and advocates. You do that by deepening your relationship with them, over time, by repeatedly and consistently creating content they care about and want to share freely with their friends and colleagues, and by encouraging them to engage with you and to sign up for things you publish (like an e-mail newsletter or a webinar) or to download a white paper or an ebook.”

You can read the full book review here.

Photo by David Armano (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

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Can You Have Too Much Business?

by Daria Steigman on October 11, 2011

At the Bar, Groupon, BusinessA big rap on Groupon is that it brings in one-time customers that most retail businesses have no idea how to convert. If it led to a steady uptick in business, companies would be cheering. Right?

But can you have too much business?

Chef Geoff‘s uptown location used to have a terrific happy hour. You could come in, plop down at the bar, order a Super Mug, watch the news or a game, and hang out. My last memory of Tim Russert was on a bar stool at Chef Geoff.

That was Before The Groupon.

The Groupon brought in a new customer base–and a noisy, bustling happy hour made up mostly of law students from a nearby university. Now I have nothing against grad students (or college bars), but it’s a different atmosphere. And empty bar stools are hard to find.

I don’t know whether Chef Geoff is happy with its new business model. Or whether it’s impacted their dinner numbers–which is what generates the real revenue. What I do know is they sent an e-mail in June saying that the schools were out and it was a good time to come back in.

Maybe you can’t have too much business. But you can have too much of the wrong customers for your core market.

Photo by Mo Riza (Flickr).

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

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Why I Love Billboards

by Daria Steigman on August 29, 2011

Billboards, Advertising, Customs and Border Protection, Human TraffickingI love billboards, and not just because dozens of South of the Border ads have given me and millions of other drivers cheesy entertainment while driving up and down I-95.

Billboards work.

In an era when we’re constantly on the edge of sensory overload, very little unwanted information seeps through. I tune out extraneous stuff on Web pages, rip ads out of magazines, mute TV ads, fast-forward through commercials while streaming video-on-demand, and pay for ad-free premium Spotify.

But I see billboards. Clean Bathrooms Next Exit. Best Morning Drive Station. Outlet Stores 20 Miles. Free Wifi, Heated Pool, Kids under 12 Stay Free.

And Slavery Still Exists.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection last month launched a human trafficking awareness campaign. I hadn’t seen or heard anything about it–and it’s a topic that I pay attention to. Then I rode by a “Slavery Still Exists” billboard at a busy intersection in Atlanta.

Billboards aren’t right for every business or every ad campaign. But sometimes old-fashioned, low-tech, can be a very effective way to grab people’s attention.

Have you signed up to receive the Independent Thinking newsletter? Now’s the time! Once a month I’ll send you exclusive, subscriber-only content highlighting interesting articles I’ve found, as well as tips on marketing, social media, and how to grow your business. Sign up today!

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