In a recent poll* from some of the top marketers in the country: client side, vendor side, agency side, thought leaders, former clients and colleagues, the question:

WHAT ARE THE TOP FIVE CHALLENGES YOU OR YOUR CLIENTS FACE TODAY?

As we head into 2012, conferences are abounding:  Sherpa, MAAWG, EEC, EIS, DMA and dozens of others – local and national – upcoming.

Each of these conference committees works hard to try and bring relevant subject matter to attendees.  A lot of these conferences are expensive, and these are hard economic times.  The committees try to secure speakers, panelists, keynoters and content, in addition to paid attendees and new membership.  WHAT do the attendees want?  What are they looking to learn?  What can the thought leaders provide?

As a marketer, new technology and marketing channels is critical.  As a vendor, exposure to new prospects, technology and social integrations is key for lead generation and PR.  As a business, you have an opportunity to learn about solving your own challenges and explore companies who might have solutions, and to learn about new channels and technology everyone says is critical, but you don’t exactly know how to put them all together, or just plain don’t know much about a specific channel… and you are charged with learning it now.

From a poll of ~300 people – marketers, vendors, clients, former clients and agencies, the aggregate top five challenges for 2012 are (drum roll please):

1. Internal bandwidth and budget on marketing, vendor and IT sides – CLIENT AND VENDOR  looking to “up their game” with limited resources.
2. Marketing integration and optimization with new technologies into their existing platforms (and lack of knowledge base in new channels) – Mobile and Social lead the pack right now  -and integrating email with other traditional, and new channels.
3. List/Customer Acquisition and eAppend via ANY CHANNEL (the latter has truly become a 4-letter word these days.  It has 7 letters, actually).  “How can I grow my list in accordance with the law and not lose a good portion of my list if I port vendors?”  How can I utilize different channels to grow?  How do I acquire solid new customers?
4. Managing multiple “partner/vendor” contracts (sometimes 5 and 6 at a time) and those vendors’ unique abilities, and the failed efforts in wasted bandwidth to try and integrate them  with IT, their CRM databases and marketing into one email or other platform, including CALL CENTERS.
5. PRIVACY:  Interpreting Privacy Policies from Social Groups and Global rules (EU, APAC, etc., Google, FB, Twitter – they have all been in the news, as has SOPA, ACTA, PIPA), yet internal bandwidth issues remain.  Clients do not have TIME to filter through 40 articles, nor read the laws.  And how do they have to change their web privacy policies to conform?

It wouldn’t be complete without the next ten (that is the MORE part!):

1. RFP help.  Or RFI help.  This happens, quite often, in three areas of involvements on the client level:  procurement, IT and/or Marketing (or a combination).  They often work against each other with different goals, or have problems coming to fruition with marrying their multiple goals, cost-efficiently.
2. MOBILE.  Specifically.  Everyone has seen slides, and knows the potential positive impact.  Some have seen case studies, but they don’t know how to go about it.  They look for aggregators, efficiency and ease of use.  QR codes and how to utilize them is included.
3. Loss of experienced professionals due to economy, and replacement with lower-paid/less expensive and experienced staff who has to learn the “game” all over again – back to marketing 101 educations, diversification and separation of “duties” (e.g., a Social Media Manager, an Acquisition team, etc.).  Often working toward common goals, but at cross-purposes in the leadership/budget chain.
4. Combating declining channel effectiveness, and how to measure and test for increased adoption and engagement.
5. Utilizing analytics to full advantage.  All analytics, and how they can be integrated (from each channel) easily for a “one view.”  WHAT DO THEY ALL MEAN, and how can I make sense and how do I marry them?
6. How to build effective messaging in a highly competitive marketplace?  How to leverage the ability to profile data for more relevant dialogues across all channels?
7. Utilizing analytics to full advantage.  We have web analytics, integration analytics, email analytics, social analytics, mobile analytics – basically this was a “HELP!”
8. VIDEO.  How can I integrate video into my channels?
9. Increased use of triggered/automated messaging – mostly with implementing automation, updating systems to handle, or creating the right rules and programs
10. Testing.  Putting together a cross-channel testing methodology, including frequency/cadence

And outsourcing is an issue as well.  To outsource or not to outsource?  A good question.

While many of these seem iterative with each other, these are the many of the topics that were the most pressing.  Everyone agrees email is not going away.  However, the commonality is that marketers feel the pressure to have all channels at their ready in a complex marketing stream and clients want help with streamlining this process and utilizing every resource they have to optimize EVERY channel.  Together.

Comments are closed but you can respond to dori@dorithompson.com.

This was an internal study conducted by information era marketing + consulting, llc (EIMC) in 2012, and represents a compendium of marketers’ and thought leaders’ top challenge opinions in a limited study.  Of ~300+ surveyed, response rates were ~48%.  This was a private study, and is proprietary to IEMC, llc.

3:    You have three seconds to get someone’s attention

5:    You have five seconds, once you get their attention, to draw them in

7:    If you got this far, you’re lucky.  Congratulations.  The next seven seconds are critical

For more than 35 years, journalists and researchers have been kicking around numbers of “impressions/advertisements” a person is exposed to in one day … “1,500,” “2,000,” and “up to 3,000.”

Ad “impression” level indicates each individual receiving approximately 3000 advertising “impressions” daily.  This was certainly a compendium of all marketing/advertising channels – TV commercials, billboards, ad-serving, banner ads, newspaper and magazine ads, email – personal and marketing – to name a few, way back in 2005.

Picture this:

The infamous Times Square “Naked Cowboy” is also an impression.  He is selling something.  Times Square equals hundreds of impressions. Even if you’re only eating a pretzel and looking skyward.

These studies were prior to major online adoption by most channels; no big social forces were in play (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, cable top box bursts, pre/post roll ads on videos, etc.).  So what is that daily impression volume now?  It is vast;  it is staggering.  Too staggering to quantify.  I write this as I pick up my branded pen to jot a note on a branded pad and sip coffee from my branded cup.

We now live in what The Relevancy Group™¹ coined a “short burst” society.  Attention spans have become short.  Online attention spans have become almost miniscule.  Consumers buy DVR systems to avoid ads.  Email clients and ISPs have altered their frameworks so you can automatically filter out, “score” and file away what you consider relevant or non-relevant communications.  Advertising agencies have had to become more creative.  Newspapers are dying.  Magazines?  Skinny.  TV commercials have shortened, creating more 15 second “hooks.”  “Hooks” become important in all channels as marketers need to grab this ever-shortening share of a very limited attention span.

On top of all that, every two days now we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003, according to Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. That’s”.. something like five exabytes of data…,”  he says.  He revealed this at the Techonomy conference in August of 2010.  Has it grown larger?  Likely.  This means attention spans are even shorter.

So what does this mean for email marketers?  It is well documented that email recipients don’t read; they SCAN.  First their inbox – from whom is the email?  Think about your own inbox.  If you see an email from a family member, you open that first. Takes you just a few seconds to find it, right?

THREE SECONDS.  Do you recognize the brand name in the “From Line?” If not, you skip or delete it, right?  Everyone is afraid of viruses, phishing, identity theft… perhaps you are tired of being over-mailed or have lost interest but have taken no action to unsubscribe.

If you recognize the “Sender”, next comes the “Subject Line” – is it relevant?  Is it information you really need or want?  If those two important pieces are recognizable, trusted and seem relevant, perhaps you will open it.  If not, you will likely delete it.  Or let it sit there cluttering your inbox until you have hours to delete all the “non-relevant” messages without actually unsubscribing.  So cool.  What’s next?

Assuming you open the email, you take about FIVE SECONDS to scan the message – promotional or otherwise, right?  Does it convey what was promised in the subject line?  Can you easily find the information or call to action/offer/etc?  Do you have to scroll or hunt and peck to find what you’re looking for?  If marketers are burying their CTAs, you will more likely abandon the process.

If marketers are smart and have clear calls to action, or specific landing pages, customers may engage.

Engagement gives a marketer about SEVEN SECONDS to compel the customer, compete with their competition and cut through the “clutter.”  We’ve got a lot, every hour of every day, everywhere you turn.  So marketers, take heed.

If  you take your customer to a specific landing page, your proposition/offer must be formatted brilliantly, be brief and clear.  You’ve gotten them this far.  Your SEVEN SECONDS becomes the difference between a purchase, a conversion, a sale – or abandonment, unsubscribe or end-user frustration.  We all know one bad experience can lose a customer and damage your brand.  And there is a difference between B2C and B2B tolerance when it comes to 3-5-7.  That’s another subject.

Bottom line:  you have no time to flounder (yes, every pun intended).  Flounder is a bottom feeder.  Don’t do that.

WORK THE THREE, FIVE, SEVEN.

Dori Thompson is a results-driven executive consultant with 19 years of experience in direct and online marketing, ecommerce, sales, strategy, and research.  Dori is also the Co-Chairman of the Email Experience National Council’s Speakers Bureau (US).  You can reach her for more information at dori@dorithompson.com.

History shows us that crafting a meaningful, thoughtful and relevant message was almost key to survival.  Love, escape, family health, politics.  It was the only means of communication before the telephone (don’t get me started on the Pony Express).  Even Julia Child had to correspond with her colleagues, to write one of the most relevant cookbooks to this day.  They did it by post, and later by phone.

So when you think about your email or blogs, remember that from line, subject line, content construction and message meaning is KEY to success.

Pretend you are trapped in the 19^th century.  You MUST write something so relevant that your loved recipient cannot ascertain ANY OTHER meaning, and you continue to enthrall them, and hold them dear.  And wait with baited breath for a response.  That’s your goal, right?  And we love our customers.  We should.  They pay our bills.

When you think about constructing a message (which will impact your KPI or your ROI)… don’t throw out the usual crap everyone is doing now (an offer, a sweep, a discount you’ve been offering with every email).  GRAB THEIR ATTENTION.  Sit and think.

And think outside of the box.  And keep it short.  The digital age has revolutionized the “short attention span” as we all know.  So you have to be VERY creative.  This is good.  You can do it.

A salesperson’s job is to sell you the biggest contract they can. That is how they earn their living, and how they meet their quotas. We all know this. In almost every presentation I’ve attended, ESPs storm the castle with every cool thing their company can do – all the partnerships, integrations, new technologies, and case studies that may or may not pertain to your business.

While scalability over time is a critical requirement and must be considered due to the investments involved (budgetary and internal man-power, existing legacy programs), many companies end up choosing an ESP and PAYING FOR all those “bells and whistles” they’re not going to use in the first, or even the second, year.

I aver it is the sales person’s job to start by assessing and resolving YOUR immediate needs. How can they help start turning your issues and challenges into opportunities? How do their functionalities and services meet your “wish list” for future scalability? Some salespeople do this brilliantly. Others fail miserably (mostly because they just don’t listen at the outset). And any good salesperson will have a basic handle on marketing and marketers’ challenges, and carefully craft a “vision” of where you two can live now, and where you can go in the future.

Don’t be sold on the “bells and whistles” just because they’re there, and are “cool.” Think about what you need NOW, and what you may want in the FUTURE. And scale your decision, budget, headcount, expectation outlay, marketing calendar and eventual solution, and pay accordingly to that plan.

Recently, I had an anniversary of a past birthday, and received a delivery from 1-800-FLOWERS, via FedEx, on a Saturday. Door delivery. Sweet!

FIVE MINUTES LATER, my phone rang. 1-800-FLOWERS! What?! Intrigued, I answered the phone because it was so coincidental. A lovely operator from Customer Service, Tammy, was calling to ask if I received my delivery, if the roses were in good condition, or if I had any problems. I was a bit startled. A call? An actual phone call not selling me something?!

I opened the box while on the phone; splendid flowers. My curiosity peaked. I asked her “why the call?” (I haven’t received a call like this in YEARS). Evidently, it is a new ‘call’ initiative from marketing; a personal touch point to ensure quality and a good customer experience. So, me being me, I pushed it further and asked if I could speak to someone in the marketing department. On a Saturday!

Tammy got Jessica, her marketing manager, on the phone who explained it is part of a new call initiative to reach out directly to recipients of orders. I was impressed; I delved a little further.

Me: “Loyalty and acquisition are expensive. Call centers are expensive. This must be costing you.” Jessica said they use VoIP. It has severely decreased CC costs. To me, obviously this helps enable this initiative to fly having worked with numerous companies with CCs in the past.

Me: “I got a call 5 minutes after the delivery arrived. Is this coincidental? (possibly? Not sure. But it was the first FedEx delivery window). “Do you have an automated alert to the CC when delivery is complete?”

Jessica said they did get reports of orders/deliveries, but she couldn’t be specific with details and suggested I contact corporate. I tried, to no avail. So I assume some things here, but have fairly solid background knowledge and experience on how things work. (oh, and I asked the sender) … again these are assumptions.

The SENDER of the flowers used his Smartphone to place his order, received an email confirmation to his personal email account, and a tracking #. I got the flowers on time, in good condition and a CALL from 1-800. Within five minutes of delivery.

So in this case, we’ve got Smartphone –> Web Order –> Customer transactional confirmation with Tracking Link via email, back to Smartphone –> Actual delivery –> Auto-order/delivery record automated or batched quickly to Call Center –> Immediate recipient phone call.
The personal phone call was most impressive.

For some marketers, this might seem like something from the ’70s. I know there are multiple call efforts out there, just not for me in the last decade with such relevancy.

As an existing customer, this service level impressed me and increased my own loyalty. I’m not easily impressed. If I was a first-time recipient, I believe I would consider using 1-800 post-experience. I looked at their website further, and they also have a link for Radio Listeners (where you can enter a code you heard on the radio. Nice!).

As a marketer: One VoIP call for acquisition – very good. One VoIP phone call to increase loyalty? Even better. A personal call with a pleasant employee? Priceless.

Talk about connected marketing! Take a lesson marketers. Sometimes the personal, “older” touches can become new again. Good job, 1-800-Flowers! I’ll bet there is a good case study coming….

First published on The Relevancy Group Blog

I’ve seen over time, due to the economic climate and various other reasons, a lot of attrition at major companies. Out with the old (and highly paid) and in with the new (and less expensive and less experienced). While this may not be in any company’s best interest (losing valuable resources), it is a reality.

So I see new email marketers who may not be as experienced with the “classics” – classics being best practices. What to do? What not to do? Let’s add the latest “fresh ingredients.”

A lot of experts continue on exploring and expounding the leading edges of new technologies, advanced testing techniques, how new technologies and applications are being integrated in the mix and their impact on client initiatives. That’s GREAT. They are, or work with, clients that are above Marketing 101 or 201, and continue to be a never ending supply of great information.

But where do you start as a new marketer trying to make your way in an ever confusing world? Get back to the basics. Crawl, walk, run.

Take an honest assessment of your own knowledge, resources, NEEDS and budget. Then start with square one, fresh ingredients and get it right the first time. From there you can build an incredible marketing program over time that will turn heads, lift your ROI and make your CFO smile.