Recently I read an article by David Goetzl entitled, "Study: Email Spending To Rise In 2010"
Here’s my take away on the article:
Instead of cutting back on spending during this recession, email marketers are looking to spend their budget on cross-channel marketing including SMS.
A survey conducted by SilverPop to 300 marketers, reported that 90% of the marketers are planning to spend as much or more in 2010 than they did on their email marketing in 2009. Even amidst the recession, those who had a strong email platform still saw increased ROI last year. Why? Because even in difficult times, when other companies are cutting back, the most measurable channels, like email, let you see a real return on investment and it keeps your brand at the forefront of your customers’ minds.
However, eventually the market will turn around and you can expect nearly every company to be employing email marketing. It is forecasted that by 2014 consumers will receive on average, 9,000 emails a year. When that kind of volume happens, it will be necessary for marketers to cut through the clutter and you will be able to do so if you continue to build strong, personalized relationships now. In addition, employing other media tactics such as SMS (text messaging) seems to be a popular new avenue that will continue to build acceptance.
There is always the debate though, that SMS is an invasion of privacy because some people feel their mobile devices are solely for private use. However, if SMS is used only as an opt-in channel, then it is definitely a great source of direct marketing. If the number of emails to an inbox really does increase to 9,000 per year as the article claims, SMS will be a great way to break through the normal clutter of email messaging and get personalized messages directly to the customer every time.
Bill Nussey, CEO of SilverPop was quoted to say "as customers become more mobile, their marketing must reach them in more timely ways and through channels such as SMS."
Customers are becoming more and more mobile and if you want their business, you have to keep up with them. Email and SMS text messaging are a great channel for delivering messages that meet their needs.
Elizabeth Hunt
Download | Duration: 00:00:00
I must admit, when I first started implementing ExactTarget, I was slightly overwhelmed. Ok, ok, majorly overwhelmed. It was the most robust email program I personally had dealt with to that point.
Thankfully, ExactTarget has one of the best help, training, resource sites I’ve seen: 3Sixty.
3Sixty has resources galore! What I find the most useful though, is the University. The University is a database of step-by-step, interactive videos. These 10-15 minute videos focus on individual functions of ExactTarget ranging from very basic, beginning functions such as creating emails to automating your email campaign. Not only do they talk you through each step, they show you and then you actually do it. ExactTarget gets major props for incorporating all learning styles. By the time you have finished one video, you feel confident that you can recreate that same process on your own.
Here are some of the other training and resources ExactTarget offers through 3Sixty:
Not every email provider makes things this easy. If you’re looking for an email marketing solution, either to bring it in-house or to partner with a service provider, I promise your marketing managers will greatly appreciate you taking into consideration the resources available for training and implementation.
3 Lessons of Great Customer Service – Home Depot
Let me share with you a recent encounter we had with Home Depot:
Background: We’ve lived in our house for 17 years now. It’s been through 5 kids and 4 grandkids and numerous other kids we probably didn’t even know. The poor carpet took the brunt of it all. When we decided to replace all of the carpet with beautiful carpet from Home Depot, we were thrilled! It was a lot of work getting ready for it, seeing as how nearly our entire upstairs is carpeted. It took an entire day but we finally got the carpet replaced. Oh the joy of walking barefooted on beautiful, soft, lush carpet!
The carpet and fumes smelt terrible, but we figured that would just go away right? I mean everything has a funny smell when it’s new, even babies. We opened every window and door in our house to air it out, but it didn’t go away and my entire family started getting sick. Our respiratory systems went haywire we couldn’t breathe properly or sleep and we had constant headaches. This has been going on for 4 weeks now.
We called Home Depot to let them know the problems we were having. We didn’t expect them to do anything actually but if there was a problem with this particular carpet or padding or glue they should be aware of it. However, we were pleasantly surprised at their response. In fact, we’ve been singing the praise of Home Depot’s customer service ever since.
Lesson 1: Listen and Genuinely Care
When Home Depot heard our story we could tell they were concerned and genuinely cared that this was affecting our family. They got the right people on the phone and made sure they fully understood our plight.
Lesson 2: Respond Immediately
Within 10 minutes of hanging up with Home Depot, the carpet installation company called us and then came over in less than 10 minutes after hanging up the phone to check out the situation. Home Depot also immediately scheduled a specialist to come out, check the air, and test the chemicals in the carpet.
Lesson 3: Fix It
Home Depot realized something had to be done so they volunteered to replace the carpet at their expense. Our carpet hasn’t been replaced yet, but from my perspective they are handling it right.
So next time a customer comes to you with a complaint, keep these lessons in mind. Listen and care, respond immediately, and then fix it! It may be at an additional cost to you, but it will ensure you a life-long customer. Plus good customer service is definitely a marketable attribute.
Note to Customers: Speak up! How can the company know we are dissatisfied if we don’t let them know? Had we never spoken up in the first place, we would have gone on being sick and upset with Home Depot for selling us this carpet. Instead, we are singing praises to their name because of how wonderful they responded!
Note to Marketers: Pay attention to your customer service department. Proactively act on the feedback you’re already getting before an upset customer writes a scathing tweet, blog post or newsfeed to their 500 closest friends about your company. Many of you have automated inbound response systems in place. Integrate these into your email marketing systems and leverage the event-triggered capabilities that they offer. Use your messaging platform to incorporate a follow-up series that is custom tailored to the disgruntled customer. These are the folks that can become your “raving fans.”
Customer service is a marketable asset and if you take the time to plan for it your company will be ready and prepared with a great response when a complaint comes in. It may cost a little time and effort but it will ensure you a life-long customer.
-Elizabeth
www.iangilyeat.com