Email Focus: The Ones That Got Away
Send messages that hook your audience
Do you click with consumers? Or more to the point, are they clicking on you? As online marketers, we are constantly testing new strategies and tactics to achieve our goals more efficiently. Whether we are trying to obtain new customers, increase retention, build awareness or enhance loyalty, e-mail continues to be an effective and reliable weapon in our media arsenal. E-mail’s versatility in personalizing and targeting messages is unmatched by any other medium but, like other communication tools, its impact is much greater when used correctly.
There are best practices you can employ to combat declining e-mail open rates caused by greater amounts of spam, and increase click-through rates and overall click-to-open rates (CTOR). Since the CTOR expresses click-through rates as a percentage of opened e-mail not delivered, it is a strong gauge of how well your e-mail motivates people. Consider your e-mail list the foundation of your campaign. It should be qualified and cleansed (scrubbed against your suppression list), void of hard bounces and, most important, CAN-SPAM compliant.
It is very important to take time to make sure that your list is in good shape, otherwise you risk low performance, negative sentiment and may get your e-mail permanently blocked by the service provider. Once your list is in order, carefully consider your message. Beginning with the subject line, make sure to keep it short, relevant and clear as to what’s inside (keeping it under 50 characters). The subject line is your first and only chance to influence an open. Never personalize in the subject line (first or last names), don’t use flashy/funny terms, symbols or letters entirely in caps (that’s a guaranteed spam folder candidate). Instead, let the person know exactly what your offer is in a clear and defined way. It’s also helpful to stress value, but do not use language that sounds too good to be true. It is important that the “from” line establishes what company is sending the e-mail. People should be able to quickly identify the sender.
As with the subject line, do not personalize by using someone’s name, but rather state clearly a company name that’s easily recognizable by the target audience. Someone is not going to open an e-mail if that person or company is not familiar to them.
Once the e-mail is opened, it is vital that the content matches the subject line. This connection will perpetuate trust and increase clicks. You should also be sure that a call to action is prominently displayed within the copy. Although some people might view a portion of their e-mail in a preview pane without opening your e-mail, tracking software will record it as an open. In this case, all is not lost if your copy is compelling and positioned correctly. By setting up your copy while keeping these viewable areas in consideration, you can accurately align your call to action accordingly. Thus even a small preview of e-mail copy can still garner a click.
Finally, make sure that your landing page is optimized to reflect and reinforce the offer that brought the user there. Very often marketers invest time and money into their e-mail list, subject line and content only to have people drop off once they come to the landing page. Synergy between your landing page and e-mail content will go far in guaranteeing that they will take action once there. Also don’t forget to include opt-in request language on your landing page. This allows new users to provide their information and gives you the opportunity to add information that you didn’t already have in your database.
And stop looking over the neighbor’s fence. Be sure that you compare results across your own campaigns with similar objectives to derive the most accurate changes in performance. Trying to meet or beat some kind of “industry average” is a poor way of measuring effectiveness. There are too many variables to consider when comparing e-mail campaign performance. Only focus on your own results.
Published by OMMA in March 2008
Vital vs. Viral
By Curtis Hougland
The hype of viral video, viral applications, viral media and viral thisandthat was deafening in 2007.
A recent study by Deloitte & Touche confirmed consumer appetite for viral content with nearly 70% of all Internet users consuming UGC. Every brand is now chasing viral glory–to mostly dismal results because:
Authenticity is difficult to replicate (especially for marketers)
• Brands are competing with their customers for attention
• Viral content is episodic
• Reach is not an accurate measure
• Hype or buzz (prospects) is not equal to word-of-mouth (customers)
• Viral is often cute and funny rather than the meaningful and utilitarian
VITAL must become the new viral in 2008.
Instead of viral content, which is episodic and largely untested, VITAL content is a commitment to building a sustainable relationship with users by sharing content authentically and consistently. VITAL content is part of every aspect of your marketing and communications.
Vital content is one-to-one. Vital content is measurable.
For anyone tired of the question, “can we create a viral video” instead of “how do we engage our audiences via social media,” here are a few tips on creating a vital content strategy.
• Begin by mapping your audience segmentation to actual online communities (a demographic is not a community on the Internet)
• Identify the mavens within each of these communities by influence, popularity and relevance
• Inventory and create shareable assets by speaking to community leaders—learn from your influencers
• Distribution (sharing) is equally and (counter-intuitively) as important as production.
• Tone can matter as much as content
• Measure campaigns by influence, not reach
• Don’t try to sell, try to share
• Keep hype and word-of-mouth in balance
The reality of social media is that you are ceding (or sharing) control of your brand, because your customers are not only consuming your media, but also making their own. Buzz from viral content is ephemeral, but word-of-mouth from VITAL content is sustainable.
Put Spring in Your College Marketing Plans
By Bobby Markowitz
The weather may be turning colder, but now is the time to think about adding some heat to your 2008 marketing plans. EarthQuake Events has two exciting opportunities to reach college students and loyal alumni, BeachBlast at Spring Break and Gridiron Bash Spring Football Tour.
BEACHBLAST at SPRING BREAK
BeachBlast is one of the largest and most successful promotional events in Panama City Beach, Florida during Spring Break. BeachBlast is unlike any other college promotional event in that it caters to over 450,000 college and high school age students from over 250 colleges and universities in the US, and lasts for one full month. This year marks BeachBlast’s 9th year at Spring Break in Panama City Beach. With this kind of experience with the venue and the student demographic, we have been able to create the strongest most successful promotions in the Spring Break market.
EarthQuake Events has a full interactive approach to event marketing which brings continuous excitement and energy to our Spring Break promotions and our clients’ brands. We believe that the students are most interested in not only sampling products but in being a part of an interactive event which gives them a chance to associate the good times they are having at spring break with the products, samples and promotions that are involved. Clients who have run successful Spring Break include:
PartyPoker.com - Poker Tent on the Beach
Vitamin Water - Sandcastle Demolition
PicksPal.com - March Madness Pick Em
1.800.FREE.411 – Dash for Cash
Since Panama City Beach attracts more college students then all the other Spring Break locations combined, we know that the promotional value of being involved in BeachBlast continues to be immense. With more than 450,000 students from over 250 colleges and universities spanning more than 40 states in the US, this promotional opportunity is the best way to have nation wide reach while being concentrated in one area.
GRIDIRON BASH SPRING FOOTBALL TOUR
As the popularity of college football continues to rise, the desire for off-season programs to feed that appetite increases. Sports & Entertainment have a deep rooted history together as an effective platform to reach and capture die hard, casual and periphery fans. Gridiron Bash will become the sports & entertainment platform to take Spring Football to the next level.
What is Spring Football? Traditionally, major Division 1 football schools hold spring practices and “Spring Games” to showcase the following year’s squad and new recruits. Attendance for Spring Games at select universities reaches upwards of 92,000 fans. Spectators include college students, alumni and general team fans.
Gridiron Bash will leverage the excitement around the spring game by creating a unique fan experience. In 2008, Gridiron Bash will occur simultaneously around the country on April 18th on the eve of the 15-20 participating schools spring games. Total anticipated attendance is projected at 750,000-1,000,000+ people. Gridiron Bash will encompass a wide variety of elements including pep rallies, FanFest, autograph signings, chalk talk sessions, tailgating, football expo, final team practice walk through and a premier music concert featuring artists with ties to the university or region. Multiple events will take place on different college campuses on the same day around the country, creating a made-for-TV media platform that could become the largest sports based event platform in the country.
Now is the time to start planning for your college spring marketing promotions. EarthQuake Events has the experience and know how to help your brand make the grade.
Finding the Sweet Spot
Social media have forever altered our conversation with consumers
By: Robert Davidman and Curtis Hougland
With people today increasingly creating and sharing media, marketers are left wondering how much influence they still wield.
Marketers have long been taught that they’re supposed to control consumer interaction with the brand. In conversations with one of the leading office supply chains, we heard executives say their color was sacrosanct, their font inviolable, and their Web site supremely functional. They believed they could influence consumers by representing their brand accurately online and providing quality purchasing information.
But a funny thing has happened. Consumers are taking the information from the site, and aggregators are linking to, reviewing, and often selling, the products. Along the way, marketers are losing control despite their best efforts.
The implication of this shift is huge. Social media are changing the way consumers make purchasing decisions and express themselves — and subsequently how marketers can influence them.
So, what do you do?
First of all, you must understand the interplay of media — how online and offline work together. Rather than simply look at marketing from a traditional “top down” approach, you must incorporate a “bottom up” view into the equation. Look at the interaction between media from a social media perspective as a circle, with fifty percent of what you experience online adapted from traditional media and 50 percent borrowed from the discussion at the bottom.
Also, keep in mind three guiding principles about influence on the Web. The first is that within every community, some trendsetters are largely responsible for the standards of taste and behavior. Often, those people aren’t in your core buying demographic. You may be selling $10,000 televisions to baby boomers, but the influencer may be a pimply 23-year-old kid.
When attempting to persuade people online, it’s also key to first obtain their permission; doing so begins with authenticity. If you “trick” consumers, or in any way misrepresent yourself online, you run the risk of tainting your relationship with consumers, as information travels brutally fast on the Web.
Another component to influencing people online is to participate in their conversations. If someone walked into your store and shouted that your products were terrible and you were crooks, you would respond. But every day consumers are saying similar things online, and many of them influence the opinions of their peers. So, do something about it. Invite participation, which starts with knowing who is saying what about you online. By getting people to actively participate with the brand, it closes the circle to help strengthen validation.
The result, if done right, is word-of-mouth — the most powerful driver of consumer influence. And word-of-mouth is the best form of advertising you can get. This social media viewpoint enables the more traditional “top down” approach to have greater impact. Beyond just hearing something from a friend, there is the need to reinforce the brand message through reach and frequency. The more someone has heard about you, the more receptive they might be when getting an endorsement from a friend. Then, when people see your TV, radio or print ads, they’ll be more disposed to pay attention.
The concept is rather simple, yet marketers tend to opt for the traditional “top down” approach and neglect the more social “bottom up” process, hoping it will just occur naturally. Unfortunately, more often than not, it just doesn’t happen. The process needs to be gently prodded into action with good social media relations and a truly integrated communications approach.
Robert Davidman is chairman and CEO of EarthQuake Media. Curtis Hougland is partner, Attention PR, EarthQuake’s sister agency devoted to social media. They can be reached at rob@earthquakemedia.com and curtis@earthquakemedia.com.
Is the Super Bowl Right for You?
By Jon Lumerman
Super Bowl XLII will be played on February 3, 2008 in Glendale, Arizona. This year’s game will be televised on FOX.
TV - Usage
The Super Bowl reaches over 90 million people or 35% of the entire US population in one shot.
The Super Bowl is unique for a few reasons. First, it’s the closest thing we have to a shared moment in the mass media these days. Second, the Super Bowl marks a temporary shift in attitudes toward advertising in general. People actually look forward to the commercials, and even though this shift is temporary, it’s still an opportunity. When else will so many people be receptive to commercial messaging at the same time? It is the one place where the viewing public wants the advertiser to do well. They come to the game waiting and anticipating your commercials. You are part of their Super Bowl experience!
There are two major factors that contribute to how well the game performs. The first is the perceived competitiveness of the game. This will affect how many people are watching at the beginning of the game. The second is the actual competitiveness of the game. This affects audience flow throughout the broadcast.
Internet – Usage
Comscore released an analysis of online usage related to Super Bowl XLI. According to their study, 72% of Super Bowl watchers accessed the internet on the day of the big game. Although few advertisers used their game day ads to explicitly direct viewers online, consumers have been conditioned to use the web as a complementary resource – and they did so on Super Bowl Sunday. Several sponsors saw traffic to their website spike within minutes of their TV spot airing. This is an added benefit of Super Bowl advertising.
Is the Super Bowl for Every Advertiser?
ABSOLUTELY NOT! The types of ads that create the biggest splash are those aimed at creating brand awareness, introducing a new product or repositioning a company. For advertisers that want to reach a mass audience very quickly, the Super Bowl remains the best vehicle to deliver your message.
Ratings and Trends
RTG = Rating. The audience of a particular program, expressed as a percentage of the relevant population.
Share = The percentage of total television viewing audience tuned in to a program at a specific time
Imps = Impressions. Otherwise known as ‘eyeballs’. The number of people watching at a specific time.
SUPER BOWL TRENDS - HOUSEHOLD
|
SUPER BOWL |
Winner | Opponent | Score | HH RTG | HH Share | HH Imps (000) |
|
XXXIV (2000) |
St. Loius Rams | Tennessee Titans | 23-16 | 43.3 | 63 | 43618 |
|
XXXV (2001) |
Baltimore Ravens | New York Giants | 34-7 | 40.4 | 61 | 41270 |
|
XXXVI (2002) |
New England Patriots | St. Loius Rams | 20-17 | 40.4 | 61 | 42664 |
|
XXXVII (2003) |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Oakland Raiders | 48-21 | 40.7 | 61 | 43433 |
|
XXXVIII (2004) |
New England Patriots | Carolina Panthers | 32-29 | 41.4 | 63 | 44908 |
|
XXXIX (2005) |
New England Patriots | Philadelphia Eagles | 24-21 | 41.1 | 62 | 45081 |
|
XL (2006) |
Pittsburgh Steelers | Seatle Seahawks | 21-10 | 41.6 | 62 | 45869 |
|
XLI (2007) |
Indianapolis Colts | Chicago Bears | 29-17 | 42.7 | 64 | 47535 |
Rich Media in Acquisition Campaigns: To Use or Not to Use…
By Jeff Giacchetti
As the online landscape widens, more creative choices become available to marketers. Whether it’s tune-in, acquisition, opt-in, branding, lead generation, etc. there still remains the tactical challenge of delivering the best creative possible to meet campaign objectives
For acquisition campaigns there’s a particularly fine balance between creative cost (design and delivery) and overall cost per acquisition efficiency. Thus, it makes sense to question when and where to use rich media.
In addressing this question I often advise clients that it is a matter of project scope, and dependent on a few major factors. While it’s easy to assume or accept the rationale that cooler creative correlates to higher clicks; that’s simply not true. And in the worst case scenario for a direct response buy, it could actually work negatively against you.
Not withstanding creative costs that may be associated with building rich media units or serving fees, there is still something much more important in determining whether or not to use rich media. These factors include target audience, subject content and the environment the advertisement will be placed within. Used correctly, rich media can empower your message and supercharge acquisition results. On the other hand, missing the mark on any or all of those factors will translate into wasted messages, missed opportunity and poor response rates.
One example that demonstrated this effect was seen in a campaign for an entertainment client whose target audience were parents and kids. Higher CTRs and conversion rates were recorded when we used simple straight-forward banners, rather than banners that were flashy and video-enabled. This occurred within an animated environment whereby users were asked to upload content.
While we can draw certain conclusions about the consumption behaviors of a particular demographic, and the use of simplicity in a glitzy, busy environment, the bottom line is that we achieved the greatest results by delivering our client’s message in the best format possible.
This is where experience, research, and testing plays the biggest role. From experience we know what tactics work in certain environments, from research we know how certain audiences respond to those tactics, and from testing we find truth.
The case for when to use rich media can be just as compelling as when not to use it. It could mean dramatically high or pathetically low results depending on when and where you use it. Either way these choices force us to know our target audience, subject matter and the environment before making a decision on creative format.
The Ultimate Infomercial - Dora The Explorer
By: Jon Lumerman
Last night I put my four year old to sleep. As she lay down on her Dora the Explorer sheets, placed her head gently on her Dora pillow and pulled up her Dora blanket, she innocently asked, “Daddy, when can I have a Dora lamp?” Continue reading »
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
By: Robert Davidman (Originally printed in the April 2007 issue of OMMA Magazine)
Why marketers need to gamble on new media.
When I tell people I run an ad agency, they tend to ask the same question: Why would anyone need an ad agency? The answer lies in how people adapt as the marketplace evolves.
A viral campaign success
Attention PR is a driving force behind one of the most successful viral campaigns, votefortheworst.com. The campaign, conducted for a wireless client, illustrates the grass-roots power of the Internet to swarm mass media and demonstrates the virtuous circle between traditional and new media.
Tracking Conversations Online
By: 
We are routinely asked to provide intelligence on what’s being said about a company and its competitors online. Savvier companies also ask us what to do about it. And everyone wants to know how to measure it.