Picking a New ESP?

Email Vendor Selection very kindly asked me to write a few words on selecting an Email Service Provider. And as last year I went through the process of selecting a new Email Service Provider, for the digital agency where I was Head of eCRM, I felt up to the challenge.

A few things to think about: ( all links go to Email Vendor Selection)

1 – What the email platform needs to to for you

What will the email platform need to do for you? Crazy Suggestion? Not really. Too many organisations don’t think about what their email strategy is. What are you using and planning to use your emails for. Are they transactional or service messages? Are they for marketing?

Are you looking at just emails or are you actually looking for a platform that will deliver through other channels such as mobile, social, web etc.

2 – What are your volumes?

This can help you eliminate perhaps some of the platforms that can’t cope with the ‘enterprise’ volumes or indeed the speed with which you need to get the messages out. It good to know the difference between small midsized and enterprise email marketing solutions.

You’ll also need to know, because the ESP will want to know to give you a price. And that price will be a reflection also of the commitment you give them in terms of volume and length of contract.

3 – Who needs to be in the decision making process and at what stage

This isn’t just about IT and Marketing. It’s also about Customer Service and Operations. Think also about the teams who will be pulling the emails together internally. At the agency they were called Campaign Managers. And when does Finance want to look at the numbers with you. What does your ESP selection team look like?  There is often a Business Case to be created.

If you are working at an agency, do you need to get the input from your clients as well?

This is also an opportunity to think about what is missing from your team and so what gaps the ESP could fill in terms of technical or strategic expertise

4 – What does it need to integrate with?

Think Website, Databases, Social Platforms, CRM systems, Content Management Systems, Finance Systems.

5 – Flexibility

Particularly true if you are an agency with a mix of clients. A platform that is geared up for truly sophisticated multi-channel messaging with 50 million emails per year may not be the right platform for a client who sends out just 50 thousand emails per year

But also think about how flexible you might want the ESP to be in terms of support. Do they need to at least be in the same country? Do you want them on site?

The original piece can be found here

It's Not Rocket Science - 4

Making it easy for me to do what I want to is good eCRM. Turning Product Registration into a Market Research Exercise is not.

As an avid gardener (not), I decided on a new hedge trimmer ( watch out for my next post from A&E).

Having seen the opportunity to win £10,000 by registering the product..I thought why not?

Now having seen the generic landing page I kind of thought Bosch could have made my life easier with a link to the actual registration page, or at least when I got to www.boschgarden.co.uk , it would be easy to find the registration page

Think again...

But in for a penny, in for £10,000 I carry on.

So I'm thinking next stage you will ask a little about me, and I'm right. But do you really need my date of birth?

And check out the clause to get me entered into the prize draw..it involves me opting into 3rd party marketing!

But from here on in it gets worse!!

Followed by

and just when you thought it couldn't get any worse!!!

I wanted to register a hedge trimmer not give you my life history!

As a consumer I have no idea why you want all this stuff ( as a marketer I do). Please think of me first and your segmentation/profiling/targeting second

It's Not Rocket Science!

Note to self : Make Life Easier and Better for Customers

Making Life is easier and better for customers is what good CRM is all about.

Sometimes easier and better also means entertaining..



Thank you DollarShaveClub

And sometimes it just means making my life a little healthier as Graze do

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)

It's Not Rocket Science - 1

This will be a new series of posts highlighting elements of eCRM where brands kind of get it right..but then waste an opportunity to..well, sell me something. And as my first degree is in Astrophysics, the Rocket Science label works for me

I'm a frequent traveller on EastCoast Trains, usually between York and London. so, it makes sense for me to join their Loyalty Scheme. There isn't actually a real alternative ( sorry Grand Central but not enough departures) so I'm getting points for something I'm doing anyway although I do now book other rail operators through them as well.

Anyway, I like the idea that as I'm on the site they show me how many points I have...but look at the Ad beneath my points

Surely that was an opportunity to recognise me further and perhaps get me to redeem my points, encourage an upgrade, buy a refreshment voucher?

It's Not Rocket Science .

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)

Bricks and Mortar and Customer Centricity

The rumours persist -  'Amazon to open physical stores'

This story has been running since the end of last year and the debate rages as to whether the stores might be a Costco approach, pile it high and sell it cheap, or whether it might be a boutique offering that promotes primarily its Kindle range of e-readers

Whatever the outcome, or indeed even if the rumours are true, it does suggest that the role of bricks and mortar will not vanish for a quite a while yet.

Who would have thought 10 years ago that Apple would have a part to play on the high street? Have you been in an Apple store recently. Even when they are not introducing a new version of the iPad etc, the stores are always full of customers.

Why?

It's because they understand their customer.

Not all customers are truly IT savvy and feel immediately comfortable in switching from a PC to a Mac so they want to touch and feel the product and get some face to face advice.

Not all customers once they've bought the kit are happy to wade through on line tutorials on how to get the most out of the iCloud, so are ok with sitting in one of the free workshops which as Apple say

' are taught by people passionate and knowledgeable about Apple products and eager to share their knowledge with you. You’ll have a great time, learn new skills and pick up loads of tips '

Not all customers can solve their technical problems, so why not step up to the Genius Bar? 

Even the way that sales can be processed via hand held devices so there is no real till point is all about making the customer experience second to none. and you haven't opened the box yet!!

They didn't set about by setting a a target for store turnover. They started out by setting a vision of an environment that would make their customers lives better and easier. That's what being customer centric means, and in Apple's case making the store cool enough to hang out at.

We often think that customer centricity is all about data. And to a large extent data helps us understand our customers but being customer centric is thinking about customer needs and wants. 

Yes it is about an amazing in store experience but it is of course also about understanding that customer journeys are not straight forward and don't always start at 'A' and finish at 'B'.

It's about understanding that at different points in that journey their needs will vary. As I write this I came across a nice post from Hubspot on How to Design a Persona Centric Website Experience . And although web specific this section seems very relevant

Segment by Demographics: Start developing personas by researching your existing customer base to identify the most common buyers for your products and services. You may have several different types of buyers, so give each one a detailed description, including name, job title or role, industry or company info, and demographic info.

Identify Their Needs: What are the biggest problems they are trying to solve? What do they need most? What information are they typically searching for? What trends are influencing their business or personal success?

Develop Behavior-Based Profiles: What do they do online? Are they active on Twitter, Facebook, or other social networks? What kind of search terms do they use? What kind of information do they tend to consume online? Which of your products do they spend the most time researching? How do they use those products?

In the words of Kristin Zhivago one of the presenters at the Fusion Marketing Experience, 

“Marketers spend the bulk of their time on internal politics and learning new tools – out of necessity. But all this knowledge is worthless without a personal, in-depth understanding of what customers are really looking for and how they want to go about buying it,”

This is certainly something Best Buy considered when they set up their interactive screens in stores for customers who wanted to touch and feel the equipment but also wanted information and reviews on the product.


If a product needs 'test driving, whether that's a new computer, a car..or a new fragrance, stores still have the upper hand. The trick is to make the experience so amazing,  that the customers buys there and then..and not from an online retailer later on in the day.


But if they do, it's from the brands own e-commerce offering.

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.

Putting the Brand at the Heart of the Customer

I know, we all thought that the Customer was the focus. Indeed they are. But to mis-quote from John F Kennedy’s inauguration speech

 ‘And so, my fellow Marketers: ask not what your customer can do for you - ask what you can do for your customer.’

We know that traditionally the model has been for the Brand to have the upper hand in the relationship with it’s customer. But we believe that has changed. Don’t we ? Well yes and no.

Today’s customer no doubt does have more control.
The way they buy has changed
The way they research has changed
And they undoubtedly talk, comment, review our products in a completely different way to say even 5 years ago

Does this put the brand on the back foot? I suggest that actually it’s an opportunity for brands to become as important as ever in customers’ lives.

How? By listening to customers’ needs at every touch point in their journey to whatever they are trying to do. That might be the journey to purchase your product or it might be an opportunity for the brand to help customers in their everyday lives by just making things easier and better.
Yes of course we can sell more by understanding how customers buy, but we can actually sell more just by sometimes being there when customers need help or have a problem.

In reality what does that mean? Here are a few examples that I've liked recently





As we continue to tighten our belts we still need to eat
– even when we are on the motorway where food is notoriously expensive.
So the Moto app provides us with a Deal of the Day to make prices more palatable.











When tyring to sell a car, webuyanycar.com very kindly
sent me an email confirming my appointment, but also gave me the option to change the appointment time with a link in the email.
In the end I didn't sell my car to them but the service was amazing






I sometimes treat myself to a lovely sandwich from my local deli Mairs. And I can tell you they are amazing!

But on one Saturday lunchtime...

And what did I get back?

So of course I go back!


At the checkout in Sainsbury's,

they automatically compare your baskets branded goods with their main competitors and are honest enough to tell you if your shop would have been cheaper elsewhere.
( Brand Match)


And as a result offer to give you money off on your next visit.







In one way or another, these are examples of great use of different touch-points to enhance the customer experience. Making life easier.

Great examples of eCRM

Great examples of everywhere CRM

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

First Impressions Gain Loyalty and Trust

I've argued in previous posts that Trust is a key factor when trying to convince an audience to read your content or buy your products and services - See the A-Z of eCRM A is for Ancient Greeks . No real surprise there.
I've also suggested that first impressions do count. Whether that be the content of your subject line or the landing page you direct people to - See the A-Z of eCRM G is for Gladwell.

And now a new report from ClickFox has suggested that indeed lasting first impressions are key to gaining loyalty and trust. 48% of customers indicated that the most critical time for a company to gain their loyalty is when they make their first purchase or begin service.

As you can see from the chart, 40% become loyal when problems are resolved in a way that exceeds expectations.

Only 1% of the customers indicated that a good time would be at the point where they are considering switching to a competitor. I would argue that also applies to win-back campaigns that target customers when they have not shopped with you a while. I regularly make use of those 'missing you' communications that include a tasty 20% off. Its not making me loyal. It's just buying my attention for a while.

But lets not assume that once you've made a good impression a Brand can take a foot off the pedal. I mentioned a while back about a great first impression that Space NK made with me when I signed up for their NDulge Rewards Program. Sign up was easy and I received my welcome email as I walked out of the store. I have to say however that since then I've been very disappointed. I didn't get my promised Birthday treat, and the email content has been geared towards my initial purchase - a gift for my fiancee - and not based on me - a man!

So although I do agree that first impressions do count, I would argue that every touch-point impression is an opportunity to to exceed expectations. But also an opportunity to slowly erode the trust and good will you originally gained.

ClickFox 2012 Brand Loyalty Survey available here (registration required)

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.

It's All About the Call To Action

Click to Enlarge

If you have ever read Blink by Malcolm Gladwell you will recall that talks about Thinking without Thinking and that most of the decisions we make are actually made in a matter of seconds.

This of course applies to how consumers react to emails. Their decision to move onto the next stage is made within 2 or 3 seconds, so we need to make sure that we do everything we can to ensure that we inspire action.

Litmus have produced this great infographic to give us the inspiration to do this better

Personalised Search a Customer Experience Too Far?

A recent study in the US from Pew, came up with consumers fears about search engines using past search to filter future results. In particular:

65% say it is bad.because it may limit the information you get online and what search results you see ..and indeed this may result in less innovation going forward. ( See the origin of the word Serendipity for a slight distraction)

73% say it would  NOT BE OKAY with a search engine keeping track of your searches and using that
information to personalize your future search results because you feel it is an invasion of privacy

A summary of the findings can be found on this pdf

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!!