GoDaddy Attempts Re-Activation

As a matter of disclosure, GoDaddy.com is who I host my blog (ScottWritesEverything.com) through. And, as a paying customer, I am on their email list. I would classify GoDaddy as pretty aggressive in their campaigns, always harping on discounts and deals to get additional sales. My being a sole-domain-long-term customer, I am clearly not their bread-and-butter customer.

That said, their creative stands out to me sometimes. Like the following message:

What stands out to me as positives:

• The subject line got me to open immediately. “Was it something we said?” is clever, and I opened without hesitation.
• Solid use of a top banner… even if “Exclusive offer from GoDaddy.com” is a little considering it’s a different deal each week. A little like the “Boy who cried wolf.”
• A reminder of the value proposition in the body copy is good.
• A prominent deadline and prominent calls to action are well-placed both at the top and bottom of the main message.

What I don’t like:

• I own a single domain and have purchased hosting and the domain name for 5 years. I’ve made no other orders before or after, and it’s been nearly 9 months since that purchase. What sort of engagement metrics are being used to push further orders if I’m a single purchase customer?
• The image-laden header is way too big in my opinion. Their use of alt-text is really good, but they’re pushing the image on me. Which is a bit funny, because the GoDaddy backend is anything but. (I’m a fan and happy customer, so don’t get me wrong.)
• Seems odd that the message would be signed by Bob Parsons, the founder. I know as customers we’ve become sophisticated to the point that we acknowledge it’s all “marketing” anyway, but I would always push for a level of credibility in the voice if at all possible. And I doubt that Bob is concerned about a 25% off of $60 purchase deal.

All in all, this is another message that has some solid work put into it.

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About the Author: Scott Cohen is the Marketing Copywriter for Western Governors University. He also writes on email marketing, fatherhood, sports, and politics on ScottWritesEverything.com and contributes to the Email Zoo Blog.

Amazon Focuses on Relevance in Weight Watchers Season

One of the most important elements of an email message is its relevance to the recipient. If the recipient wants the message and divines purpose from said message, it’s likely to be a successful campaign. So that’s why I applaud Amazon.com for the message below:

When you click on the image to see the full-size version, you’ll see what I mean by relevance. Here’s what I like:

• About three years ago, I bought my parents a Weight Watchers cookbook. The first paragraph reminds me of that purchase and links me to additional cookbooks. Nice little tug there.
• Relevance in terms of timing: New Year’s Resolutions are played up in the headline. Good call there.
• I really like the use of “Featured Recipes” as a portion of the message. Solid visuals compliment the cookbook theme. Because after all, if it looks delicious and you know it’s from a diet cookbook, you might even buy the book to cook the meal. Right?
• It’s cut off in the above screen grab, but below the Featured Recipes section is a “More Weight Watchers Books” section. Good call with a big of a secondary offer module there.
• The fact that everything is linkable makes this message easily clicked through to the desired pages. Nicely done.

There is one thing I don’t like about this message:

• “Dear Amazon.com Customer.” It’s a bit surprising to find that since Amazon knows I bought the Weight Watchers cookbook that they couldn’t go for a Dear “First Name” at the least here. It’s a dehumanizing facet right before a VERY humanizing facet. Like I said, a little surprising. Almost like it was forgotten while they were building dynamic elements in the coding of the message.

All in all, I think given the time of year and the solid reminder of a previous purchase, this is a well-done email from Amazon.

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About the Author: Scott Cohen is the Marketing Copywriter for Western Governors University. He also writes on email marketing, fatherhood, sports, and politics on ScottWritesEverything.com and contributes to the Email Zoo Blog.

Email Marketing and the Dangers of Silo Thinking

I had an epiphany recently that I’d like to share with you:

I cannot think of email marketing as its own entity–but rather as part of the entire customer experience.

Email can’t be put in a vacuum.

The idea of the vacuum, or silo thinking, with any marketing medium is very dangerous. And of course, naturally, it’s easy to separate each medium into silos:

• On TV and radio, I’ll deliver this message. This will handled by my ad agency.
• In direct mail, I’ll deliver that message. This will also be handled by my ad agency.
• In email, I’ll deliver this other message. This will be handled by me and my ESP.
• For search, we’ll go this route. This will be handled by our SEO team.
• On the phone, we’ll give our customers yet another message. This will be handled by sales.

The danger lies in thinking each medium is separate–that the right hand doesn’t have to know what the left hand is doing. And that’s all wrong.

To the customer, it’s all part of the experience.

Imagine yourself as the customer. How do you expect your experience to go? How would you feel if each method of contact with you was different from the next? So much so that it created confusion, a cognitive dissonance, enough of a disconnect that you’re left scratching your hand, wondering why you’re getting an email from your sales rep a day after speaking with them on the phone about the same topic?

It’s not so good, is it?

Questions to ask if you’re a marketer:

If you can, and time allows (and it rarely does), construct a diagram of how each medium hits your prospective customers. Map it by days or even hours if you can. Then throw it out and start asking questions.

• If I were the customer, how would I want to be communicated with?
• What do I want to use email for? For transactions only? For nurturing a relationship? For contests and fun asides?
• What do I want to use TV/radio and direct mail for?
• What kind of presence do I want to have using social media? Do I want to be reactive or out there in the populace becoming (as Chris Brogan says) “One of Us”?

Questions to ask your client if you’re an ESP or other agency:

Speaking from a client perspective, I know it’s easy for you to do your one thing well, whether it be email marketing or TV advertising or what have you. And honestly, you’re likely to get many clients who will only bring precisely what they need from you in terms of your offerings.

Don’t fall into that trap. Ask the right questions.

• What is your typical customer lifecycle?
• Would you like to improve it?
• How would you like to improve it?
• How do you communicate with your customers now?
• How do you anticipate email (or your respective medium) falling into your communication with our help?
• What other mediums are you using?
• How do you anticipate the work we do together affecting those media and your ultimate communication plan?

The bottom line is you need to make sure you’re not perpetuating with your clients the silo way of thinking. Trust me, your clients will appreciate that you care about their bottom line, not just your product. Remember that scene in “Miracle on 34th Street” where Santa sends the worried parents over to another store where it was cheaper? And how it ultimately boosted the bottom line of the Macys?

Don’t be afraid to take those steps. Don’t be afraid to fire a client if you think–nay you KNOW they’re going in the wrong direction.

To both marketers and their agencies:

Create the experience your customers want. It’ll go a long way towards your bottom line.

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This post’s main ideas and content originally appeared on ScottWritesEverything.com on October 21, 2009.

About the Author: Scott Cohen is the Marketing Copywriter for Western Governors University. He also writes on email marketing, fatherhood, sports, and politics on ScottWritesEverything.com and contributes to the Email Zoo Blog.

Email and Politics: Reputation and Value are Everything

I had the thought the other day that politics and email really are a lot alike. If you mess up in politics or email, the right people (the consumers or voting blocs you want) tune out. Here’s what politicians and email marketers alike need to think about in terms of message strategy:

Provide value for your customers/voters (not yourself–at least obviously)

The biggest problem politicians and email marketers both run into is the issue of being self-serving in their messaging. Email done right is not an ad, it’s a relationship builder. Relationships aren’t one-sided. Neither is politics.

Think of politics and email like a savings account–you pay into the account (building credibility and establishing a brand), then you take out payments when it’s the right time to do so (either getting a vote or getting a sale).

How do you build the relationship? By providing value. You provide value by learning about your customers and giving them the information they need to make an informed decision. Enable them to make the decision as quickly or as slowly as they need. Be persuasive, but don’t sell an empty cart of goods. Consumers will see straight through it.

What this means in email (which politicians use) is connections to:

• Third-party reviews/Testimonials/Endorsements
• Whitepapers
• Demos
• Microsites with further information
• Free trials

These are just some of many ideas for getting your message out there without forcing it down people’s throats. That leads me to my next “rule.”

Respect your customers

I know I’m not alone here. You must respect your customers. After all, voting and email subscriptions are opt-in. Respect means proper segmentation of your message. For example, if some of your subscribers want information about jeans and some want information on lingerie, definitely don’t send both sets information about housewares. That’s just not right.

That goes for politicians, too. If your supporters want information about education plan, send them information about that, not your entire platform. There is already a semblance of interest; don’t turn them off.

Respect also means remembering that people have busy lives. That means get to the point and have something important to say; a problem to solve, etc. Kara Trivunovic wrote in her Email Insiders Blog Post:

There is always family. As much as I would love to believe that recipients are sitting with bated breath awaiting the next email from one of my clients, let’s face it–that just ain’t happening. You are competing with email from other marketers in the inbox, as well as newsletters from the local Gymnastics Center, electronic statements from the bank and the occasional request from Mom to help her figure out how to download photos off her newfangled digital camera. Just be sure to keep in mind that you aren’t necessarily competing with your biggest competitor in the inbox. Rather, you may be in competition with Aunt Tilley–so you better have something important to say.

An aside – The White House Email Debate

As many of you email marketers may remember, and as DJ Waldow wrote about on the Email Zoo Blog, the White House clearly forgot about respecting the subscriber. The message sent was pages long when no one has time for that–kind of like the 1100 pages in length that is the current healthcare bill. It was sent to people who clearly didn’t ask for it. And it wasn’t a good vehicle to deliver the value the customer was looking for.

Remember, it’s about relationships.

Relationships are about trust. Trust is built over time–and destroyed in an instant. Think about how quickly Howard Dean’s presidential campaign was destroyed over his scream in New Hampshire in 2004. That’s how quickly email reputations can be destroyed as well.

What is it Ogilvy says?

“The consumer isn’t a moron; she’s your wife. You insult her intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid adjectives will persuade her to buy anything. She wants all the information you can give her.”

That’s a good quote to remember.

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This post’s main ideas and content originally appeared on ScottWritesEverything.com on August 24, 2009.

About the Author: Scott Cohen is the Marketing Copywriter for Western Governors University. He also writes on email marketing, fatherhood, sports, and politics on ScottWritesEverything.com and contributes to the Email Zoo Blog.