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The From Line

Rants, raves and ramblings about multi-channel marketing.

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Social Media

Michael Weisel

Posted by on in Social Media
The question is, "Do Exclusive Facebook Only Offers Return Good Results?"
 
Let me preface this post by saying that I don't know the answer to this question.  I have some speculations towards this topic but no definitive answers or facts to back them up.  I would like to solicit some feedback to develop an answer to help some of our retail clients determine if they should be allocating resources to this cause.  I think that if we get enough feedback that we can post the results and do a follow-up post to help anyone who may be on the fence about these types of campaigns.
 
Please take a minute to answer one or any of these questions.
 
If you do send Facebook only messages are you sending it to everyone or just your Facebook fans?
 
If you are sending it to everyone, what kind of increase are you seeing in new fans?
 
Do you feel that the subscribers who are clicking through are your most engaged subscribers?
 
How often are you doing these kinds of offers?
 
Is your goal  to get more followers or do you have a lot of followers and are using Facebook to launch something new?
 
Are you offering enough incentive to get people to click through and become fans?
 
Thanks in advance for your participation in this.  This post was inspired by a campaign from BabyAge.

 

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Michael Weisel

Posted by on in Social Media

Good Monday morning all my #emailmarketing peeps. Get psyched for the week with the latest installment of my Monday Morning Cheer. Thanks to our new Community Manager Sara for all her help in getting this out this morning. Goooooooooooo Preference Pages!

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Michael Weisel

Posted by on in Social Media

Last night while talking to my Dad about my daughter’s incredible ability to demolish sushi, he asked me about an email that he had sent me earlier today from Whole Foods (@WholeFoods on Twitter).  I hadn’t seen it yet so I looked while we were talking.  It was their “One Day Deals” email that my Mom received earlier in the day.  My Dad forwarded it to me because he knows how much my family loves Vitaminwater (@vitaminwater on twitter) and it looked like a great deal.  After reading the email, I disagreed, it wasn’t a great deal it was a FANTASTIC deal, 50 cents a bottle.  This is one third of the regular price per bottle.  Now I only buy Vitaminwater when it’s on sale for a dollar a bottle (I stopped buying it at Costco because although the price is a little less per bottle, the selection in the big packs were not what my family enjoyed) so this was something I would jump at.

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Lauren Rutley

Posted by on in Social Media

A Lesson in Group Buying Programs
Marketing Pros in Niche Markets Warming up to the Craze
 
TREND:
Groupon, a leader in the group buying craze, recently rebuffed a $6 billion buyout offer from Google. This speaks to the relevance and growth potential of an integrated marketing tactic that incorporates email, local advertising and social media. And Groupon is just one of over 500 group-buying sites worldwide. Most of these sites offer easy-to-share discounts and reward subscribers whose friends make a purchase. The deals are almost always announced via daily emails and come with a small window of opportunity. This frequent sense of urgency no doubt feeds into the frenzy. Now Wal-Mart is even testing this model with their email program.

TAKEAWAY:
Deal of the Day emails are nothing new, and neither is buying in bulk. So what is it about the trend that has garnered so much attention lately? Group buying sites are popular because deals are either locally-based or fill a niche such as singles nightlife, organic baby products, home décor and travel deals. But despite the popularity, the increase in coupon sites is beginning to water down advertiser messages. Deals are either too generic or not well targeted. The increase in competing Groupon-like services highlights a need for relevancy, smart targeting and customer service best practices. They also mean that businesses need to be more savvy when evaluating the right strategy -- sometimes the service's commission limit potential profits.

What Works:
Some of these sites have variable pricing models while others have minimum purchase thresholds for a deal to “activate.” Some provide paper coupons while others provide mobile bar codes. But regardless of the niche or region, every group buying site utilizes:

   1. Consistent email schedules and
       
   2. Social media sharing widgets
               

HOW-TO:

To join the group buying phenomenon, businesses should look first at their existing email databases. Subscribers who already interact with communications are likely to remain loyal.

Start by creating a “daily deal” email campaign that integrates with social media sharing widgets such as AddThis. Target the most loyal subscribers – those who regularly click links and share messages.

They key is to then execute campaigns at the same time each day. Businesses should also highlight their customer service such as refunds, reliability, response time and transaction confirmations. Customer service offered by group-buying sites has taken a few hits in the media lately, so this can be a competitive edge for many businesses looking to start an email-based group coupon program.

We look forward to seeing yours!

We'd love to help any business looking to implement or test this kind of strategy. If you need assistance or just want to brainstorm we'd be happy to talk.

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Tagged in: email social media
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Lauren Rutley

Posted by on in Social Media
Recently I brainstormed with a mutual fund CMO about how to use social-to-email marketing within the highly regulated world of financial services. One of the reasons I got out of financial services (mutual funds and ETFs, capital markets, and wealth management), where I spent a decade of my career as a marketer, is because of the increasing restrictions on the sales and marketing departments. Yes, in ways it forced me and my colleagues to get creative, but it also had a dizzying effect over time. 
 
In the US, the reality is that financial advisors are putting themselves at risk of being fined by pushing the limits of FINRA rules. There’s a fine line between networking and a regulator’s definition of advertising. Too many advisors are tweeting stock tips without disclosure, or sounding overly-promissory in just 140 characters. But because social sharing helps expand campaign reach, this marketing channel cannot be ignored (not even by financial companies).
 
It may sound impossible, but what I told her was this: To use social media for enhancing email campaigns, you have to be vague and intriguing at the same time. Engage people, ask questions and then link to the details.

Ask your compliance department if the following example would be safe:
1.       Create an email campaign as you normally do.
2.       Insert a social sharing button for recipients to send to their friends.
3.       Post an abbreviated subject line to your social streams, including a link to the email. No benefits, just a news headline.
4.       The email and landing page will have risk disclosure as usual
5.       Measure social sharing and other analytics as you normally do with email campaigns.
 
The good news is that with email campaigns, sharing a message always accompanies a link to a message and/or landing page. Depending on which slice of the financial industry you’re in, just be careful where you tread and make sure employees understand the rules.


Useful articles about social sharing sites in financial industry are:
http://www.fa-mag.com/fa-news/5695-financial-advisors-breaking-rules-to-use-social-media.html
and
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06/15/fsa_social_media/

 

 

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Tagged in: finance & banking
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