Sales

Email Lists – Part 1: Bulldozer vs Relationship

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Introduction

As a business owner or marketing executive, having an email list for your business is imperative. If you don’t control access to your prospects and clients, then you’re at the mercy of whoever does.

I’ve worked for international companies, large US based firms, small businesses, and mom-n-pop shops. More importantly, I’ve subscribed to email lists from businesses of all sizes. Broadly speaking, there’s a philosophical difference in how lists are built and managed between large corporations and small businesses. But before I get to that difference –

Many small business owners want to run their operations like they see large corporations being run, and that is a HUGE MISTAKE. Small businesses can’t afford to market to prospects and clients the way large companies do.

I call these two different ways of operating the bulldozer method, and the relationship method. Local and regional businesses don’t have the same pool of prospects and clients that a national or international company does. They literally cannot afford to treat prospects with dismissive, “my way or the highway” marketing and sales tactics.

Large Corporations

Many (not all) large businesses seem to have the idea that there are always new prospects out there. If the business blows its horn loudly enough, people will consume their marketing and buy their products. When people lose interest, or for some other reason quit consuming the company’s marketing, there will always be new prospective consumers coming along. They view leads, prospects, and consumers as a game of numbers. You’ve heard that phrase. It means that if you hit enough people with your marketing materials, sales will be enough to sustain the company. Sure, some folks will die, or otherwise drop off the sales train, but that’s why the business keeps dredging up new people.

Blasting people on their list with sales messages or new product announcements day in and day out can grow very tiring for their audience. I’ve been on lists where I got two emails per day – one morning, and one in the evening – doing nothing but trying to get me to buy, Buy, BUY! Even though they insist on collecting your name along with your email and/or mobile number, they almost never use it when contacting you.

Small Businesses

Many (again – not all) executives of small businesses realize their pool of potential prospects is small. Perhaps you’re limited by region – say, a coffee shop in a small town. Perhaps they are limited by the size of their potential market. Maybe they have a niche product or service that few need, or can afford. These marketers realize that building a relationship with their prospects and clients is essential. And by “relationship,” I mean letting them get to know your business and business philosophies, as well as learning something about the owners and perhaps employees. Just as importantly, the marketer asks the prospects and clients about themselves – their opinions and thoughts.

Size Matters

In marketing, one big difference between large corporations and small businesses is the size and focus of the marketing departments. I’ve seen businesses where the “marketing department” is one of the (or the only) executives. Other businesses have several people, some who create marketing content like graphics, or video, or marketing copy, and one or more people who oversee the direction and focus of the messaging.

Some marketers are focussed on the reach of the message – how many people will see a particular message. Some marketers are focussed on results – what percentage of the people reached take action.

People are impressed by large numbers; having a mailing list with over 2 million names on it can seem a lot more impressive than having a 63% open rate.

Metrics

Larger corporations often have employees who are concerned with having large numbers. Marketing department heads can be more concerned with the raw number of names on an email list. Smaller businesses may often look at the percentage of people who are opening and reacting to marketing messages, regardless of the number of people to whom the message was sent.

Larger businesses may have marketing departments divorced from the sales department. But that philosophy isn’t necessarily dependent on revenue numbers, or the number of employees. I once worked for an environmental engineering firm of less than 250 individuals where the often expressed opinion was that the marketing department spent money, while the sales department made money.

Numbers can be deceiving: 100,000 people opening an email can sound impressive, but if the number of people on the list is one million, that’s only a 10% open rate. I have one nonprofit client with only about 300 people on their list, but we get a 70%+ open rate, and those readers donated $20,000 (half the nonprofit’s operating budget) in one day in 2023.

KLT

There’s an aphorism that goes, “People buy from those they know, like, and trust.” While I’m not aware of any systematic research comparing the steamroller style vs the relationship approach, it’s my belief that – regardless of the size of the business – it’s a good idea to foster a relationship between the consumers and the business and employees.

Now, I didn’t say that building a giant list is a bad thing, as long as it’s cleaned on a regular basis. I think it’s good to have a large pool of people who are willingly signing up to consume your marketing efforts. And I’m not saying that emails that only try to promote a product or service are negative – they’re not. What I am saying is that, if people buy from those they know, like, and trust, then using marketing emails to build that relationship will influence a percentage of your list to respond favorably when you send out a message exhorting people to spend their money on a product or service. If your list knows, likes, and trusts your business, they’re more likely to respond by doing what you ask them to do.

SMS/Text

Many companies are also putting together lists of mobile numbers, and sending texts or SMS messages directly to their list members’ mobile devices. However, these short form messages are best used for immediate action on the part of the consumers. People also consider messages coming directly to their phones very personal. Sending a message directly to a mobile device is not the best way to build a relationship. It’s also not a great avenue for mass consumer goods, like soup or vacuum cleaners. That’s one of the reasons I’ve kept my discussion to marketing messages sent via email lists.

Up Next

In Part 2 of this article, I’ll go over some recommendations for building and managing an email list, and some suggestions for constructing your messages to achieve maximum impact. If you have any questions or comments, please share them!

The PASCU Ad Template

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I had a client contact me recently about running advertisements for their business. This would be their first venture into advertising, and wanted some information on the best type of ad to create.

While the word “best” is a loaded word, I suggested that since they were just starting out, the ads should be built using the PASCU template. It’s a simple formula, easily understood by both the creator and the consumer, and it tends to work well for almost all businesses.

PASCU is an acronym for:

  • Problem
  • Agitate
  • Solution
  • Call to action
  • Urgency

You state a problem a prospect might be having, and then you agitate the prospect – perhaps by carrying the problem to an extreme. The advertiser suggests a solution that they provide, and gives a call to action with a short deadline. Let me give you an example, based on my client’s business.

Did winter weather damage your driveway? Don’t let it destroy the resale value of your home! Smith Brothers fixes most driveways in under 8 hours. Call today to schedule an estimate in the next seven days.

The first sentence brings up a problem the prospect is having. The second sentence takes the consequences of that damage to an extreme. The solution is the third sentence, the remedy for the problem that my client is selling. The final sentence tells the prospect what action to take (“Call”), when to do it (“today”), and the quick reward for doing so (“estimate in the next seven days”).

There are other types of advertisements that might be better, depending on the service or product you’re selling, but PASCU is a great first step towards advertising.

If you have any questions about ad creation, please feel free to reach out to me today.

The Only Reason To Have A Show Booth Is To Turn A Profit

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People decide to get a booth for their business at trade or business shows for several reasons. They decide it’s a good place to show off new product, or to make industry contacts.

Sometimes, they decide that the show is being held in a location they’ve always wanted to visit (Vegas!) and they can write off the expense.

The most common reason I’ve heard over the years is that their competition is doing it, so that person needs to have a booth at the show, too.

I have one rule for trade and business shows, and I know I sound like the obnoxious SOB I am, because when my clients try to tell me their reasons for going to the show this year, I repeat the acronym below louder and louder. I talk over them until they get the idea and go quiet. It’s pronounced exactly the way it’s spelled.

TORTHASBITTAP. Remember it.

The Only Reason To Have A Show Booth Is To Turn A Profit.

All other “reasons” are excuses. If you don’t have a process in place to turn a profit, don’t go.

Profit is usually defined as the money a company receives above and beyond the cost associated with producing a good or service. In other words, “buy low and sell high.”

However, it can have a wider meaning. Let’s say you work at a not-for-profit business, and decide to go to a show. The fact that you’re not in business for the money is in the definition of your type of business! In this case, “profit” could mean you’re looking to leave a show with more of something than you came with. Donors (that is, money), but also volunteers, material, publicity, and so forth. The only way to turn a profit is to make a sale.

Selling is generally described as exchanging money for goods or services. A broader definition might be that you convince someone of the value of an idea via a discussion. For instance, I have a non-profit client that runs a small cat rescue organization. If they want to generate funds from donors, they might engage in a discussion of Trap/Neuter/Release (TNR) programs, and convince their target audience of the value of trapping members of a feral cat colony, performing spay & neuter services on the cats, and releasing them back where they were picked up. Their talk might catch the attention of a local journalist, who writes an article about TNR. A retired person volunteers to pick up the feral cats and drop them off after their surgery. My client has profited from dispensing information at a show, even though money has not changed hands. That is, as long as they consider the acquired publicity and volunteer efforts to be more valuable than whatever money they spent to attend the show.

When considering getting a booth at a show or conference, please keep the concept of TORTHASBITTAP in the back of your mind.

Prepare Your Promotions Preemptively

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Which is to say, start working on creating your promos before you need them.

How Early Should you Start?

If you know you’ve got a “normal” promotion you’d like to run, I recommend starting 3 months, or 12 weeks ahead of time. If you’ve got a large promotion – think Black Friday – then it’s not unreasonable to start your preparations a year in advance.

Set Your Goals

Maybe you want to increase your sales. Maybe you want to add customers, or increase your email list. Maybe you want to introduce a new service or product. Decide what your primary goal is, and perhaps a secondary goal.

Plan Your Process

Once you’ve determined your goals, you need to set up a process to reach them, and then a process for how you’re going to measure your attempt. Will you be using a system that’s already in place, or do you need to build or refurb a system to facilitate your attempts? Knowing your goals, and they system used for attaining them, will drive your creative efforts.

Create – Then Wait

I come from a writing background. I recommend to people that they develop their creative – text, visuals, storyboard for videos – early. Complete your first draft, and then set it off to the side. Work on something else. Give your work enough time (at least a week, and maybe even up to 6 weeks if needed) so that when you come back to it, you can evaluate it with fresh eyes. You want to pare down your work, hone it to the sharpest edge. The creative should deliver your entire message clearly, and not detract from it.

How Late Is Too Late?

I try to begin my efforts at least 8 weeks ahead of time. I begin worrying when I’ve got 6 weeks left before the starting bell. In the past, I’ve run a successful campaign with less than a week’s lead time, but it involved dropping everything else, and working long hours. I don’t recommend it!

I would recommend that you plan on using as much time as you can give yourself, and then a little more. If you know you can pull off the planning, creative, and execution in eight weeks, try to give yourself at least ten weeks, and twelve is even better. Once you have your promo process in place, and you know it always takes you 7 weeks, then set aside nine for your next project.

Always expect the unexpected! Sickness, accidents, unexpected celebrations – it’s all hiding just around the bend, out of site. There’s nothing wrong with having everything in place three weeks before the ball drops. It’s like insurance: when you’re making plans, you hope you’re wasting time and money. It’s always better than the alternative.

What’s Your Situation Like?

How far ahead do you start working on regular promotions? How about large-scale promotions? I’d love to hear from you! Please leave your comments below.

Donate In Their Name: Make Your Client The Hero

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Most of my clients arrive by word-of-mouth, which is great. I reached out to a prospect the other day, who was referred by one of my existing clients. I offered them a small freebie. The prospect was initially hesitant, until I mentioned that my existing client – whom the prospect knows – had donated this service to them. Wow, were they impressed!

A note of warning – don’t say something like this if it isn’t true! Make sure you check with your existing customer to make sure they don’t mind doing this.

In addition to the prospect being impressed, my existing client was as well. I offered to give something to someone they know, in their name. How cool is that? The product or service you offer doesn’t have to be super expensive, it just has to have a perceived value. The receiver gets something useful, and the giver looks like a hero. And that’s the point.

There are a number of things you can “give” to existing customers to show you appreciate them. I’ve talked about this before in posts about loyalty programs, and customer retention strategies. A discount is great, but a hand-written card is better. Above both of these is letting your customer appear as the hero to someone else.

I make it a practice to ask all my clients about their favorite charities, especially local ones. When I’m sending out holiday or event cards (again, written and addressed by hand), I often include cards to those charities, letting them know that my clients mentioned them as being a good cause. Even though the card is from me, I make sure my client is mentioned prominently. In other words, I make my client the hero. My clients often hear about that card!

Offering to provide a product or service in the name of your client is, very obviously, also a great way to find new clients!

31-day Email Onboarding Sequence

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No matter what you read, I can tell you bluntly that email lists work. They help you turn leads (“Anyone with a heartbeat”) into prospects. Used correctly, they can also help you turn prospects into first-time purchasers.

The base of an email list, however, is the automated onboarding sequence. You should have this set up before you post your sign-up form. I’ve developed an outline for a 7-email onboarding sequence, sent over 31 days after a person signs up, that will help you develop a relationship with the list member.

Relationship Building

It’s a hoary old chestnut, but “People do business with those they know, like, and trust.” The whole point of an email list is to build a relationship between each member on the list, and the business. But how do you get there?

Give Without Receiving

Many, many email lists are based on the concept of the “lead magnet.” That is: your business trades something of value – like information, or a checklist, or something else the recipient might find useful – in exchange for adding that person to your email list. And that’s where a lot of businesses stop, which is one of the reasons people quit reading their emails, and fail to develop the relationship.

The best way to build trust and likability is to keep giving. You’re not losing anything, so why not continue to provide value? Make sure at least two emails in your onboarding sequence give the recipient helpful, actionable information. Even if they don’t need that information, they will most likely recognize the value you’re giving them.

Ask Their Opinion

When we first meet someone, our brains love it when they ask about us. What do we like? How do we feel about a topic? What is our opinion of a situation? One of your onboarding emails should ask their opinion of a subject related to why they might have joined your list. You might start your question with –

  • What is your opinion of. . .
  • What’s your favorite. . .
  • What do you think about. . .

The best start: “We need your help.”

Show You’re Listening

Communications experts call this “active listening.” You should reflect back that you’ve heard the thoughts and opinions of the list, and that you appreciate their feedback. You don’t have to agree with or even acknowledge each individual reply. You could show poll results of the aggregate answers, or reflect back that, “Most people we’ve asked think. . .” The important thing here is to ask for their input, and show that you’re listening.

7 Emails

You don’t want to beat new members over the head with emails every day. Then you’re that person they just met who won’t leave them alone!

By the same token, you don’t want to leave them wondering if they’re really on your list, or what to do next.

So here are the seven email topics I suggest for building that initial relationship with new members, along with the schedule for sending them.

Note: The schedule starts on the day they sign up – Day 01. It doesn’t matter what month and day is on the calendar when they sign up – this schedule takes care of that. If you have someone who joins your list on May 3rd, then that’s Day 01 for them. Someone who joins on October 14th has their Day 01 on that day.

1) Thank You/Unsubscribe any time – Day 01

As soon as the person confirms that they’ve subscribed (you should always use a double opt-in process), they should get an email thanking them for signing up, and pointing out the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email. You don’t want them to feel trapped. Besides, if at any point they decide receiving your emails is not for them, you want to make it easy for them to leave. Too many autoresponder lists are choked with people who don’t open the emails sent to them.

2) About Us/Services & Products – Day 02

The next day, send them an email that spells out what your company does. Short and simple is always best!

3) Mission Statement/Philosophy – Day 09

Your next email gives them a bit of background. It might be, “I started this business because. . .” or “Here at ZYXCo, we believe that. . .” The important message here is, “This is why we do what we do.”

4) Helpful Info/Article – Day 13

As I said near the beginning, too many businesses quit giving of themselves. Here’s another chance to give your new listmember something they can use. Maybe it’s a checklist, or a graphic they can keep on their desk, or an article (one of your blog posts) that provides helpful info, and solves one small problem – I like to say that it scratches an itch – that they might have.

5) What’s Your Opinion? – Day 19

Don’t you hate it when you meet someone, and any conversation is all about them? We call them boors – and not just because they’re usually boring!

So, don’t be that person. Create a blog post that’s a poll, or asks a question. Ask people that question in this email, and point them to the post where you encourage them to leave their opion, or their thoughts on the subject.

This accomplishes several things. First, you’re soliciting their input, and that will make them feel important! Also, when they go to the post, they will see you have several other people who are interacting with you, so they know they’re not alone on this email-centric journey. Warm and fuzzy feelings will abound.

6) Helpful Info/Article – Day 25

Here’s your second chance at providing help to the people on your list. One of my dear friends keeps this in mind with a plaque above his desk – “Be a blessing in peoples’ lives.” Stretch that helpfulness muscle!

7) Direct Sales Pitch – Day 31

I’m on a couple lists where every single email I get is a hard-core sales solicitation. “BUY THIS NOW!!!” I mean, that’s very tiring. I get it: “Buy my stuff, or get off my list.”

But you’re in business, and that’s what businesses do – they sell products and services. Every person who signed up for your list knew that going in. A very good way of looking at sales is that you’re helping each customer resolve a problem they have. You’re providing a solution. True, not every solution fits every problem, but it doesn’t hurt to offer. And your last email in the onboarding sequence is a great time to do that.

And that’s a good onboarding process that will help you develop a relationship with each person on your email list.

It Pays to Learn Lessons

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Front page of social meda campaign card - January 2021
Front page of social media campaign card – January 2021

I spent years forgetting the lesson of, “Test before committing.” I’m creating the card I’m planning to send out in January, and I had one test version printed at double the cost I’ll pay later on. Not only were the sides printed in the wrong directions (tops didn’t match), the images didn’t have enough white space around the edges – so the text on one side, and pix on the other, was cut off.

I’ve created a 2nd version, and ordered one more sample card – again, at double the regular price. If I have to, I won’t even mind printing a 3rd version.

For the first 10 years of doing this stuff, I would have wasted money and just ordered the entire print run. Lemme tell ya: being overeager is like sticking a long, dull knife in your own eye. Starting early and having patience alleviates that situation.

The 8 Touchstones of Marketing Cycle

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Courtesy of Freepik

Regardless of your definition of marketing, there is a process associated with marketing your business, products, and services. This process or plan should be framed as one or more goals (I prefer SMART goals), underlied by one or more strategies (a defining statement of action or policy). These strategies are then accomplished by using a series of tactics, or action steps.

Quick Marketing Definition

Before we get to the 8 Touchstones of Marketing, let me prop yet another definition of marketing up in front of you:

Marketing is a two-way interaction with the public, prospects, and peers to present them with the best face of a business. You do this to inform and persuade them of the benefits of purchasing from that business.

The 8 Touchstones

I see a lot of small businesses whose marketing plan is merely to open their doors – physical or digital – and hope for people to storm in. As has been said elsewhere, “Hope is not a strategy.”

The next step up is to open the doors, and then find a way to shout, “I’m here!” That’s a little better, but what do you do when people actually show up?

Your marketing plan should include tactics for informing people about the benefits of doing business with your company. But once contact is made, you need to move them along a path to keep them informed and happy, and lead them to a place where they’ll purchase from you.

Your marketing plan should have these touchstones, in this order:

  1. Find leads (“A lead is anything with a heartbeat”) by communicating with the public
  2. Turn these raw leads into prospects (people who have an interest in your product or service) by starting an informative relationship with them
  3. Help persuade prospects to make a purchase
  4. Help new customers find joy in their purchase (minimize buyer’s remorse)
  5. Persuade existing customers to purchase more/more often
  6. Help people move from being customers (purchasers of services products) to fans of the business
  7. Help fans find more prospects (become unpaid marketing/sales reps for the business)
  8. Start the cycle all over again

Line vs Spiral

Essentially, your marketing plan is about helping – or guiding – people through steps from being a lead, to a prospect, to a first-time buyer, to a happy repeat customer, to fan, to unpaid marketing & sales representative.

Many entrepreneurs think of moving through this marketing process as a line. Probably not a straight line, but they see it as following the steps – first A, then B, on to C, etc. However, this process is actually a cycle; it starts in one place, and then moves around until it arrives at that starting point once again.

Sure, when you arrive at the starting point, you can pick up more people to insert into your marketing process. But one of the objectives of moving people along this process is to raise them higher than they were. For instance, one cycle can be explained as taking a person from being a lead, to a prospect, to getting them to make their first purchase. Now they’re back at Point A, and this is where a lot of marketers drop the ball. They leave the new customer on the same level as people who’ve never bought from the company! The idea here is to raise these new customers up a level, and help them become comfortable enough to make more purchases from the business. While the strategy is the same (“Help them feel happy enough to make a purchase”), the tactics are different on this level (for example: instead of a price discount on a single item, you give them a larger discount based on volume purchases). On this cycle, you want to move them from first-time purchaser, to happy repeat customer, to fan of the business.

These cycles should be an upward spiral. You might be bringing the customers over “the same old ground,” but since both of you are familiar with the process, you can use more detailed and intricate techniques to interact with them. As an example, you might have added a prospect to your list with just their first name and email address. When they make their first purchase, you can add more detailed info to their record; last name, address, birth date, and phone number. You might then go on to ask them for even more detailed information about themselves. If you’ve developed the relationship well enough, they should be happy to provide it.

Effective Tactics

Of course, the 8 Touchstones by themselves are nearly useless. You have to put together a plan of effective tactics that allow you to aid people in moving through all 8 Touchstones. We’ll be discussing those in much more detail soon!

I welcome comments, questions and suggestions. Just post them below!

As Many As It Takes

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How many marketing plans does your business need? The answer is: as many as it takes.

A simple, single plan

If you’ve got a hotdog cart on the corner of 1st and Main, I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll get by with just one marketing plan. You’ve got one business (the cart), with one division (the attendant – you), selling a single product (hot dogs on buns), to a single target audience (hungry people from the immediate vicinity who want a quick meal).

Your marketing media may consist of print (words on the cart & umbrella, a sign stuck to the window of a shuttered business) and audio (shouting, “Get your dogs here!”).

More variables, more plans

But once you start opening new locations, or adding new products or services, or even servicing different target markets, you might find marketing easier if you have plans that address those specific differences.

Imagine there are several buildings down the street on the corners of 5th and Main, packed full of law offices. Another cart down there (same business, new division) selling an upmarket product (new product) to a different target audience (lawyers with more cash, or using digital payments). This would require a different marketing plan. Instead of hawking cheap dogs, your marketing pitch might be for quality served quickly, in a wrapper that will keep food from falling on their expensive clothes.

That new target market will probably respond better to different marketing techniques. Hand drawn signs and shouts are less likely to draw them in.

Specific plans for specific differences

It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a brick-n-mortar store, or a virtual business. As you begin to grow and diversify your lines, it’s inevitable that the things you’re selling will appeal to different audiences. Having a plan on how to best reach them – to introduce them to your products or services, and convince them to buy from you – is important.

I have a friend who has a business making earrings. One line is made from recycled paper, and the other line is made of metal and gemstones. Yes, they’re both earrings, and there is some crossover from one target market to the other, but not much. The women buying the brightly colored paper earrings like to buy several pair at a time, giving them a selection to wear throughout the week. The women who buy pairs from the gem line usually only buy one pair at a time, although both audiences buy from my friend an average of four times per year. But her message to each audience is not the same!

The paper earrings are at a lower price point, but her profit margin is higher. In her emails to that audience, she emphasizes the bright colors and wide variety. They’re inexpensive enough that the audience can afford to buy several different sets to go with different outfits.

The gem earrings are marketed as unique – no pairs the same. They’re made of more expensive materials, and are promoted as going with higher-end clothing. Something worn for special occasions. While the prices are higher, the profit margin is slightly less than with the earrings made from paper.

Two different lines, two different audiences, two different marketing messages – two different marketing plans.

But the basics are the same

Building those plans may seem difficult, but you can create almost all marketing plans using a basic template. I’ve created a checklist for those that want a framework. This free version will allow you to make sure all your bases are covered. I’m currently building a low-cost online course covering the checklist items in much more depth.

Download your PDF of the free marketing plan checklist right here.

Free PDF: Starting from SCRATCH

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No matter the size or age of your business, sometimes it’s good to step back and look at things as if you were a rank beginner. Imagine you were someone just starting your business. What are some great questions to ask yourself before you jump head-first into the deep end of the pool?

Aside from building (or refining) your marketing plan, the answers to these questions can help you build the culture of your company. What do you want new employees to know? How should old hands think about, and act towards, customers and prospects?

It doesn’t matter if you own a small business, or manage a division of a large corporation, these questions apply to you and your marketing efforts.

I encourage you to grab a copy of this PDF, and actually take the time to answer the questions. You may discover something about yourself, and about your business.

Got questions or comments? Please feel free to put them below!