 |
| Add caption |
That was the question
I was asked while presenting at Georgia College and State University about
permission-based marketing and preference management. It’s a great question and
one that many marketing professionals are asking as well.
My
answer…”Absolutely!”
In fact, 850 million
Facebook users already do. You see, when you setup a Facebook account, it asks
you whether you would like to be notified when someone posts on your wall, how
you would like to be notified such as by email or text message and how often. Those
are preferences. And, when engaged consumers provide their preferences and
marketers honor them, consumers respond.
In fact, earlier this
year I was in the market for a new automobile. Like most consumers, I began my
research by going online to research the cars in which I have an interest. One
site offered to send product announcements, promotions and information on
specific automobiles. Not only did I sign up for that relevant content, I
anxiously opened those emails when I received them. That’s permission marketing.
Compare that with the
reaction I have when I receive 50+ unsolicited and irrelevant emails per day. Every
morning I start my day by mass deleting all the irrelevant email so that I can
find the relevant ones. That’s called Interruption Marketing. Not only do I not
read the emails, each day I build increasing amounts of animosity toward the
companies who send them. Ultimately, I opt-out of receiving any and all future
communications.
How do all the
irrelevant communications get started?
They start based on
innocent consumers asking to receive a newsletter, or buying a product or providing
profile information. Then marketers predict what products or services that
consumer may be interested in and they fire up the marketing machine. It’s
called predictive analytics. Their prediction is wrong 98% of the time.
For example, just
because I buy a blouse for my wife on our anniversary, doesn’t mean I have any
interest in receiving information on women’s clothing in the future. I’m not
that kind of guy! But how would they know that if they don’t ask?
Bottom line — if you
want consumers to anxiously open your emails, give them the information they
want on their terms. Just Ask!
Eric Tejeda is the Director of Product Marketing for PossibleNOW
and CompliancePoint. Eric supports the organization’s growth objectives by productizing
and launching innovative new products and services that fill critical needs in
the marketplace.
With 25 years of experience, Eric firmly believes that
permission-based marketing and preference management is a mega trend and the
path to success for marketers today.
Follow me on Twitter: @EricTejeda | Connect on LinkedIn: Eric Tejeda
No comments:
Post a Comment