2010
Well-timed Marketing Automation – Explained
Guest post from Joseph Manna from Infusionsoft
Why Bad Marketers with Good Autoresponders don’t work
It’s Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 12:04 PM. As I tend to my inbox, I look at one message I received. It’s promoting a way to make money through multi-level marketing (MLM). Ooh, that’s new, right? I’m especially perturbed by this message because I never requested this; in fact, I requested a free report related to social media. (Of which was lacking some substance, too.)
Old school tactics don’t apply with modern marketing strategies. For instance, using one opt-in as the only basis to inundate me with four to seven emails pushing me to buy through your affiliate link is arguably, old school.
I bet if the marketer asked me if I was interested in special offers prior to sending, I might not have received such a message causing me to unsubscribe and have a lesser opinion of them.
A better method to segment and slice your list and encourage people to elect for such “partner” offers. The way to do this is to store data on your customers and prospects in a CRM and have your email marketing application pull (and make decisions) from the CRM. Unfortunately, I hate to say this; a majority of email marketing apps do not offer this. Even worse, really good marketers are handicapped by these limitations.
There are two problems in the world of email marketing:
- There are bad marketers using really good software.
- There are good marketers using really bad software.
Which do you fall in? It’s okay if you’re a bad marketer; it’s time to fess up and improve and elevate your marketing game.
As a “prospect,” I wish I could have self-segmented myself into their database to only get relevant messages. I wish I could have opted for further follow-up and engagement from their free report. I wish I could develop a sense of respect for the marketer.
Why does this person proclaim they understand “tribes?” (I feel this is a real insult to Seth Godin himself.) Instead, they choose to shill their audience for a meager affiliate commission. Are they even looking after their success? Are they even aware of what their audience wants? I grow highly suspect of their motive and interests when they send messages like this.
See what poor email marketing segmentation can do? Even as a patient person, I grow upset when I see old-school marketing continue.
JOSEPH MANNA
Small Business Growth Expert – Infusionsoft
2 Comments
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Joseph Manna
@grahamjones
My bad, I probably should have provided an example to my “Tribes” reference. In the email I received, this person specifically points out they built the “largest tribe of small businesses” … a claim I know is false and seems to make tribes a commodity among marketers.
I caution that even with a big list, you could be beating your audience over their heads by sending broad messages that don’t relate to their needs. If a smaller list can earn more ROI per subscriber, it would hold true for larger lists. The only caveat with a larger, more diverse audience, is substantially more effort to perform narrow segmentation. I firmly believe there’s value in it for all marketers of all shapes and sizes.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Graham; I appreciate your perspective.
~joseph
Posted 6-17-2010
Graham Jones - Internet Psychologist
I agree; far too many people appear to believe that having an email address gives them the right to bombard you with nonsense. This only works if you have a truly massive list. But with a CRM approach, you suggest, you can earn much more money from far fewer people.
One thing, though, “tribes” is not really an insult to Seth Godin. Social anthropologists were using this term long before Seth was even born…! Plus, it was used by the ethologist Desmond Morris in a human behaviour context before Seth used it. Even so, I do take your point. Seth Godin certainly popularised the term in relation to marketing and he should get the credit for that.
Posted 6-8-2010