SDMA Events

I enjoy receiving email marketing, but as a marketer, I’m not really normal.  I like to analyze the subject lines in my Hotmail and give them ratings, and peruse them for any indication of today’s social or political climate. You can learn a lot about what’s going on by the email marketing you receive. For instance, if you always forget about Mother’s Day or Election Day, just sign up for a lot of email newsletters, and you’ll get plenty of reminders about important upcoming holidays and spending opportunities.

When there are few “natural” reasons to communicate with subscribers, direct marketers have to generate other reasons to send intriguing email marketing.  And, when this is done on a regular schedule, it can grow challenging to the creative mind.  Recently I received an email from 24-Hour Fitness that I thought was quite clever. (No, not the “take your mom to the gym for a free workout” one.  That, not such a hot idea!) The one I liked was the “24 years. 12 million lives.” campaign.

It is mathematically pleasing, with tying in the name of the company to the years, and then having a nice, round half-value for the second part. So, I clicked to see what this more subtle than usual sales pitch would be.

As a marketer, I found it interesting that their email campaign is driving visitors to their own “social media” site, where users can read inspiring stories, enter their own stories, and comment on others’ stories. 

There is a smattering of regular guy testimonials mixed in with a few super star athletes, in case we were to forget that it’s a big-budget Internet marketing campaign. The writing is also a mix of professional marketers as well as comments that I can only guess are being made by the real users. Or, very clever marketers disguising their persuasive abilities in bad grammar, punctuation, and notes about how hot one particular lady is in her jogging picture.

The first time I visited the site, the links were a bit buggy, with many of the home page stories going to error messages, but that appears to be fixed. One other non-user friendly programming issue is the links to the user profiles.  They take readers to a truncated version of the story, without indicating that it is not the real story, which makes the writing just look bad. If you are not persistent enough to keep clicking around, you may never see the actual story, and most consumers will not wallow in our direct marketing propaganda for long. No matter how ingenious the design team believes it is.

Overall, I give one check in the plus column for a good use of combined email and Internet marketing for this direct marketing giant.  Maybe I’ll check on FaceBook to see if they have a group there, and see how seriously social these guys really are!

Click here to see for yourself   

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At a recent Seattle Direct Marketing Association networking and learning event, representatives of the Parnassus Group presented on how to use social media in your Internet marketing mix. One of the topics they covered was how to monitor your organization’s coverage in the vast, vast Blogosphere. 

Due to a technical snag, attendees at the event weren’t able to view this part of the presentation.  But, our friends in marketing at Parnassus have created a quickie tutorial that can be viewed at their web site.

If you are a direct mail or email marketer, or any other kind of communications manager, and are not monitoring the Blogosphere because it seems too complicated, then this is good new for you!

These are easy-to-follow directions that can get you set-up to monitor any direct marketing (or other) news you want to follow in just a few minutes:

<http://parnassusgroup.com/2008/03/monitoring-the-blogosphere-with-google-reader-a-follow-up-to-the-sdma-presentation/>

Today was one of those, "Lessons learned days" that will prove invaluable, but that you wish you could know without it ever happening.  One you wish you were able to suck it back in, like a regrettable email. 

I recently changed my role from that of an in-house marketing manager to vendor with marketing customers.  Since Chief Marketing Officer is statistically the shortest lived position of ALL corporate roles, with an average life span of 18 months, chances are that this may happen to you some day too. My switch was by choice, but still, it comes with some adjustments. And, even though I began my career in agency, it is easy to forget some nuances of the outside position.

In my eagerness to "handle everything" for a very important client, I found that I'd overstepped my role.  The consequences were not fatal, but the anguish was visceral.  

Fortunately, my customer is experienced and understanding, aware that they are demanding and complex.  And they are willing to go through the learning curve with me. They must see some potential. I hope.

My pain involved my decision to approve a high profile project, in an effort to get the product to the customer expediently. I was confident in my ability to make wise choices, as I've done this for years on behalf of very discerning constituents.  

The problem.  I am the vendor.  The choice was not mine to make. 

Ultimately my eye on the color of this printed piece was acceptable. But the problem is, I've not yet earned this right to choose.

So, lesson of the day, if you are in a new position as an outside vendor, wait.  Wait until the marketing manager, or print buyer, or chief bottle scrubber has said, "You make the call on this one."  Then, put the dishes away with confidence.

Oh yes, and don't forget the beauty of the written word, and never forget their signature!  Think of it as filling your autograph book, and remember the customer is now the star of the show.