It's Not Rocket Science - 3

You have my limited attention with an email so cut to the chase.

Don't Say one thing...

And do another...

The 3 brands you've enticed me in  with are the 3 I want to see straight away. I don't want to scroll down and see if I can find them elsewhere in the email.

We all know supermarkets put the Pharmacy and Bakers at the back of the store so you have to get to them via the rest of the merchandise in the hope that you will buy on the way.

You have my limited attention with an email so cut to the chase.

It's Not Rocket Science!

Fusion and the Road Map to Revenue

The Fusion Marketing Experience that I was lucky enough to moderate last week was topped and tailed by Kristin Zhivago, international revenue coach.

I had previously bought her book, 'Road Map to Revenue', where she lays out a simple to follow, but highly effective process to re-engineer the sales process by, wait for it, actually selling the way customers buy.

Kristin summarised her own presentation as follows:

Current customers will teach you how to sell to new customers

If you interview them the right way at the right time, 
   YOU can change your organization – 
   YOU can make it more customer-centric

Customers are ignoring marketing and sales and creating their own Customer Communities

Buying process has changed; marketing/sales haven’t

Anyone who doesn’t catch up fast will be beaten by competitors who get it

It's well worth reading

(This is actually a link to Amazon)

Seamless Customer Experience - Well Not Quite!

Maybe it's because I talk about Customer Experience that I notice these things - but surely it rubs 'normal' people the wrong when brand get it annoyingly wrong...especially when I get two in one day.

BMI

I'm flying to take part in the 3rd Fusion Marketing Experience tomorrow, and booked with BMI who ,as with most other international airlines offer online check in for their flights

Now I like online check-in, if only because it often means an extra 30 minutes in bed for an early departure from home.

So, I've booked via the BMI website, and do realise that I am actually travelling with one of their partners - SN Brussels. But that matter not to me, as far as I am concerned its BMI.

I duly get my confirmation email

that obviously confirms everything and has the following link,

Fantastic! Especially about the Online Check-in...''Check-in online to save time at the airport" ..Music to my ears.

So, my flight is at 10.40am and it gets to 11am the day before and I'm itching to check-in

What do I get as I try?

Ouch! I'm sure I have the right booking reference. I'm sure I've booked a flight!

After 3 attempts, I decide to ring the number at which point I get told that as the flight is not operated by BMI I can't check in online.

Now I'm slightly irritated. But I decide to check on that original link that actually does lead me to a page telling me just that.

And to rub the wound with a little salt, I get an email at 3pm saying

But why could you not have put that into the original confirmation email? We have the technology honestly!!

Talking of technology..

TFM&A - Manchester


and I quote..

MANCHESTER'S PREMIER EVENT FOR MARKETING AND DIGITAL COMMERCE

So I get an email from them again today,with

Hi Gianfranco,We'd like to invite you to an exclusive programme of keynote content ateCommerce Expo & TFM&A Manchester, designed to support you on your marketing and ecommerce journey. And what better way to stay on top of the latest trends than hearing it straight from the companies driving the industry forward?

and the link.

An I think..I'm registered for the event. But you know, maybe I thought I had and I'll just register now.

So I click!

Double ouch!

I know we have the technology..it's in the conference name ( I'm sure that's what the T is for? 

I wonder if any of the exhibitors might help out next year

More of this, less of that

I haven't been speaking to HMV recently - that's Amazon's fault to be honest .

Well HMV noticed and sent me a very nice email asking me to tell them what I wanted to hear about.

The Customer Preference page they sent me too was a nice example of how you can make these pages a little more engaging.

It let me switch my emails on or off and provided sliders to let me decide which of the categories I wanted to hear more or less about..

A couple of nice touches were the inclusion of :

My nearest store details - nice multi-channel touch although shame they didn't ask me to confirm that was my Preferred Store

An indication of how many emails I might expect to get from them - although again an option to change that would have been a great move

The acid test is...will I notice any difference in next weeks emails?

Customer-Centricity: The Logical Decision

With the on going move towards marketing automation there is a risk that we always take the next best action or offer based purely on what we know about the customer from data collected historically. 

Of course to a certain extent that's all we have to play with. So the next best action when the customer calls into the call centre is to try and up grade the phone they have. The next best action for the another customer is to send them an email with an offer for the umbrella that goes with their recently acquired garden table.

But what if the first customer has called in to cancel their contract? Or the second customer has actually already sent an email complaining that they have 3 screws missing from the table and so aren't in a position to assemble it just yet. In these instances what are the chances that your offer will be accepted? Although not zero, I would say pretty minimal.

Being customer centric not only means offering the customer what they might want ( it's ok to do that honestly- I'd rather be sold the HDMI lead before I get home and realise I need to buy one!) but it actually needs to understand the context in which the offer is being made.

Context not only relates to a customer mind set but also takes into account physically where the customer is and how they are receiving the offer. You are a Nespresso drinker and you are wandering past a boutique . A logical message to your mobile Nespresso app would be to send you an invite to try the new blend? Not if it's 7-45am when yes, I am in need of a coffee but  the boutique doesn't open until 9am!

Data and context are important if you think that CRM is everywhere, as I do. And of course being customer centric means putting the customer first based on their needs and not your short term profits.

So, do I offer

 a product with a margin of £10 with an 80% chance of purchase
OR
 a product with a margin of £20 with a 50% chance of purchase?

Today's report to the CEO might dictate the second option? But surely the long term play with the customer in mind is the first option, if only because the customer is more likely to be happy with the product they chose and so will positively review the product. But also they are becoming accustomed to you offering them the right product. Saying 'yes' to your brand becomes an easier thing for them to do going forward.

Remember the wise words of Mr Spock  - Live LONG and PROSPER, and then THINK LONG and PROSPER

( This post kindly inspired by this morning's Idio Content Marketing Breakfast  - definitely an event to put your name down for)

Barclaycard and its Social Media Credit Card

Barclaycard Ring MasterCard is the real first venture into a Social Media based Credit Card.

Driven by its community of card members, it promises ro be shaped by its card holders. The community is a forum where exchange of ideas takes place as well as knowledge share to make Barclaycard Ring whatever its members want it to be.




Judging by the (to put it politely) inconsistent approach to Social Media use by Barclays in the UK, this is not likely to happen here in the near future.

It's Official - I Love Space NK apothecary

I didn't dislike Space NK to start with, but over the last 48 hours they have gone above and beyond my expectations after my gripe on Tuesday.

After that post was spotted by their CRM team I received an email apologising for me not getting my Birthday Gift as part of the their N.dulge Rewards Scheme. They then rang me to check my contact details and to explain what had possibly gone wrong and promised that my gift would be with me today, Thursday.

At that point I was happy. Not only was the issue going to be rectified, but someone had read my blog!

So imagine how much more happier I was when this morning rather than a Gift Voucher arriving for me to redeem in store, the ensemble pictured below arrived Special Delivery.

You sent it Special Delivery..Nice..The Handwritten Note...Great... The Goodies.. Fantastic!

Thank you Space NK

The result? A very happy customer, who

- has already been back to the site to look at some treats for the family birthdays coming up
- will show off to his wife about how her favourite store in Harrogate is looking after me
- is blogging about it
- has followed them on both Twitter  ( @iamgfc) and Facebook

The original post talked about how 40% of consumers give their loyalty because their issue is resolved in a way that exceeds expectations.

Count me in that segment ( as well as the segment that smells nice today)

Reasons to be at the Next Fusion Marketing Experience

Sign up at www.fusionmarketingexperience.com

#fusionmex

Where Do I Sign Up? 2

Last year I penned a piece on some ideas for a brand's email sign up page Where Do I Sign Up?.

Essentially it boiled down to

1. Make It Easy to find and do – ideally above the fold Top Right, but it’s worth testing this.
2. Provide only one newsletter subscription page that includes information about all available email newsletters
3. Clearly state when users have navigated to the newsletter sign-up process
4. Don’t pre-select any newsletters for users unless they have clicked on a link that named a specific newsletter
5. In multi-step processes, let users know how many steps remain
6. Explain the ‘value proposition’ – what’s in it for me?
7. Manage expectations – what will I get when and how often?
8. Have a clear Privacy Policy and if you use incentives - be transparent
9. Send a confirmation email, or maybe even the last newsletter – but tell the subscriber to look out for it
10. On the confirmation page / email get subscribers to add you to the contacts list!

But of course the brand website is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to where you can begin that email relationship. The opportunities are endless...well, almost....so here are a few suggestions

Point of Sale - A quick request of email address and name with POS integration to your email platform can result in a welcome email literally as the customer walks out of the door

QR Codes - These can just about be added to anything and everything with a link to the registration page. Imagine next time you're in the queue at the cinema..and next to you is poster with a QR code promoting the venue's newsletter?

Facebook - No need to direct fans away from Facebook either. Just register them for the email where they are. But maybe make it look a little more appealing than this Reiss attempt

Twitter - Perhaps promoting the email program with any welcome Tweet to new followers

SMS - Great if perhaps promote using outdoor media at large events such as football games. It's been a very successful tactic at Wembley I know.

Foursquare - Great opportunity to capture email addresses during check-in registrations for promotions and as part of any location based loyalty programme

Apps - An article in the Observer this weekend reminded me about the power of apps ( especially the momentum of Android). It's a real opportunity to grab an email address, especially when you consider that a large number of downloaded apps remain that...downloaded and unused!

Product Registration - We recently purchased a new washing machine and was amazed that at the point of registering my machine for it's guarantee, not no real argument was made for me to give an email address - at the very least offer to send me the Guarantee via email?

In-store - In a previous post I've mentioned this great piece of work by Best Buy and how they used interactive screens in store to capture email addresses from customers who were just about to walk out...and maybe buy elsewehere.

Email Holding It's Own

 

According to SkyIQ and as reported on emarketer , email in the UK is still very popular with B2C marketers.

Despite the noise being made from the Social side of the fence, it still seems that delivering tailored content via email is key to many marketers marketing plans.

There is of course a view that Social has merely replaced TV as the broadcast channel of choice, without really being able to deliver the personal content that email can.

With the Ehrenberg Institute talking about less than 0.5% of 'fans' interacting with brands on Facebook and IBM talking about a considerable gap between what consumers want from social media interactions with a brand and what the brand thinks they want, there would seem to be still a great role for email - even if it is based on delivering promotions and discounts.

Connect Europe 2012

I'm looking forward to this years Connect Conference from eCircle.

In particular the Integrate sessions from We Are Social on Heinz's use of Social Media and ''Integrating Content, Social and Email'' by Dave Chaffey from Smart Insights

But most of all, am looking forward to attending a conference without the need to prepare a presentation!

Have a Beer on Me

 

Buying someone a beer no longer requires you to be in the same pub or bar.

Tenfour have created Tweet-a-Beer to let you buy someone a beer long distance. 
Tweet-A-Beer uses Chirpify — an e-commerce platform that lets you buy, sell and donate money — to sync your Twitter account to your PayPal  account. You can send your friends $5 beer money.
It does now mean that it can still be your round even if you're not there.


Cheers!!

Integrating Social and Email

Interesting video conducted by my friend Jim Ducharme from Get Response with Sundeep Kapur of Email Yogi at the Marketing Sherpa Email Summit . 


Yogi answers this question: “What is the optimal way to integrate and connect the activity of your social and email marketing efforts?”


In particular Sundeep talks about using Social to get more customers, cut costs and improve email marketing results.

What Do Teens Really Think Of Email?

>Data and infographic by AWeber Email Marketing

Content Marketing Manifesto

by the lovely guys @idioplatform...who also do a fine breakfast

Give Us our Daily Bread ..2

Following on from Give Us our Daily Bread, and having spent a few hours in Belgium last week moderating the

Customer-Centric and Multi-Channel Conversion Success panel at Fusion Marketing Experience in Antwerp, I saw this at Antwerp Central Railway Station.

Yes, that's right a Sliced Bread Vending Machine. 

I'm getting the impression that bread is important to the French and the Belgians.

idio Content Marketing Breakfast

I recently had the pleasure of listening to Deborah Womack from Possible Worldwide at one of idio's Marketing Breakfasts and also the chance to present there .

This is a compilation idio have pulled together of some of the audience comments

A Bird in the Hand...

The Retail environment in the UK is a very competitive one, and no more so than the competition between the Supermarkets.

The main players are very keen to show that they are no more expensive than the competition. They do this is in different ways

ASDA for example have their Price Guarantee

' If the total cost of the comparable items in your shopping isn't 10% cheaper than the above competitors, we'll give you the difference'

What they ask you to do is to either go to the website or the actual ASDA Price Guarantee site no sooner than 6am the day after your shop and enter your receipt details.


Sainsbury's on the other hand, have their Brand Watch as part of their Live Well For Less standing.


They even have a nice little video to watch




And having shopped in one of their supermarkets the other day I received this at the till

Now setting aside which is the best deal for the consumer, I can't help think that Sainsbury's mechanic is better than ASDA's.

And this is purely because there and then, the consumer is given some re-assurance that they have got the best deal. They don't have to remember to hit the web the next day , with the receipt and do some work.( Perhaps that's the point, ASDA don't want them to do that)

The Sainsbury's version doesn't use a fancy widget, doesn't have a website. All it does is make use of the data they have collected about the competition and presented that to the consumer with respect to the shopping they have just done.

Simple everywhereCRM that tries to make the customer experience easier.

A Small Town in the UK Talks Multi Channel

A report this morning on the BBC News ( captured here on BBC.com ) gave a small snap shot of how this year’s Christmas shopping even in Newark, will be multi channel. The report highlights how one estimate puts the number of orders per minute today in the UK at 3,300 with over 25% of all sales this Christmas going on line (Centre for Retail Research), and a fair chunk of that being via Mobile.

In fact, Chris Simpson, chief marketing officer at Kelkoo , said: “Online spending is showing no signs of abating, and is mounting a real challenge to the dominance of the high street which, for third year running, is expected to see a decline. Internet sales across the UK are set to be more important than ever, with consumers spending record amounts online, and online commerce acting as the primary driving force for overall retail growth during the festive season.”

Some of those interviewed in the BBC piece talk about the convenience experience of shopping at how, especially during bad weather, or for those with more pressing duties e.g.: looking after small children. Part of this convenience of course is about being given relevant messages, through email and on the website. Hopefully reflecting the consumer’s demographic profile, as well as their transactional and behavioural profiles. Indeed, as John Lewis is now showing these messages can be given as shoppers walk past the store with their clever use of QR codes

Experience goes all the way though the buying process

But that’s only the beginning. Experience goes all the way though the buying process. Gerry McGovern, one of the great speakers at Fusion this year talks about the importance of Ease of Use in this blog post.

And of course he is spot on. We spend so much advertising money on the message and content that we sometimes forget about the consumer and who they really are. Normal people with children in the room who want feeding, entertaining, nappies changing! These are real Tasks we have to contend with.

Gerry talks about Content. Well we as marketers in this Social World always want to view Content as amazingly tailored emails, entertaining videos that everyone will want to share, photos of our products for us to post.

I would argue that content that makes consumers easier is just as important.

- The Ratings and Reviews content on our website that consumer decision making easier and more confident

- The content of the confirmation email telling consumers that they have bought something and it’s on its way

- The text content from the delivery company confirming that the delivery will take place between 9.34am and 10.34am ( he actually turned up at 9.55am)

And that delivery slot information is important, because as the BBC report highlights, some people actually want to go out into the real world to enjoy the atmosphere of Christmas shopping, and see the products themselves ( as discussed by the CEO of Dixons ) If I know the delivery is taking place at that time, that means time for lunch and some afternoon shopping out in the cold where I’ll probably use my mobile to shop even more!

Give Us Our Daily Bread