Brandbuilder99

Brand Building. One word at a time.

The Most Common (but easily preventable) Mistake in Email Marketing Campaigns

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The most common mistake? Ignoring the 40-40-20 Rule.

Over many years, marketers have studied direct response results and have discovered a breakdown of what generally makes an e-campaign or any direct response campaign successful. The results are as follows:

40% is the quality of the LIST

40% is the quality of the OFFER

20% is the quality of the CREATIVE

Of course, every campaign is unique and there are variations of the rule, but 40-40-20 is easy to remember and serves the purpose.

Most marketers like to focus on the creative because that’s the fun part. But now we know creative is only 20% of what’s needed to be successful. The fact is too much time is often spent over-analyzing and revising the creative concept, images and copy.

If you’ve ever created a direct response campaign, you’ve seen this movie. Everyone wants to see the concepts. Then everyone wants to put their mark on it and then it gets reviewed again. The creative goes through endless rounds of revisions until it becomes sanitized and diluted by too many cooks spoiling the creative broth. In the end, everyone is equally unhappy.

To be clear, the creative is important – it needs to grab attention and trigger a response. But instead of so many revisions, make sure the creatives understand the audience/message. Then make sure they create very specific and targeted concepts. Finally, have one creative director who approves the creative.

Back to list. Before you even look for a list or start the creative, spend time creating your audience profile. Try to refine it down as far as possible. Remember your campaign can only get a response from prospects already interested in buying. Don’t try to sell to anyone else. THEY WILL NOT RESPOND. You can’t create demand – only satisfy it.

So, the list must be comprised of people who are most likely to buy your product. Seems obvious, but finding the optimal list requires a clear understanding of your best prospects. That may require some additional research and strategic thinking.

Even with the perfect list, it’s important to understand that only a small number of people will respond:those already interested in buying and can be motivated to buy NOW. Keep in mind, a successful campaign might generate just a 2% response.

With the time and budget limitations every marketing campaign faces, you need to focus on only the best prospects. Develop your own and/or buy one from a list company. If your list includes current customers, then you have an excellent list. But if you’re trying to grow beyond those audiences, you need to ensure that you’re talking to good prospects. Do some research and connect the dots. You’ll likely discover smaller customer segments that have even more reason to buy.

What about the offer?

In this context, the offer refers to more than just a promotional discount. It includes both the unique appeal of the product combined with any special discount to buy now. You need both and they must be quickly and clearly communicated. You could offer pet rocks at 70% off and not get any response (unless maybe you had the right list, of course!).

So remember the 40-40-20 Rule. It has decades of results to back it up. There are no guarantees in direct response marketing, but a successful email marketing campaign will require:

  1. Quality list (ONLY those prospects most interested in buying your widget)
  2. Must-have offer (e.g. this unique widget is half off, if you order today!)
  3. Powerful creative and Call To Action (on target message, not diluted!)

Good luck!

Why Apple owes a huge debt to Minnesota & why its second HQ will be located there.

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First, the Debt:

In 1978, just two years after it was founded, Apple won a contract with the Minnesota Education Computing Consortium (MECC) to supply 500 computers for Minnesota schools. Through what InfoWorld described as an “enviable showcase” for its products, Apple sold more than 5,000 computers to MECC by 1983, making MECC, Apple’s largest reseller.

As Steve Jobs said in an interview with The Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program, “One of the things that built Apple II’s was schools buying Apple II’s.”

Cray Research made Minnesota the super computer capital of the world from the 1960s-80s. Without Seymour Cray’s pioneering technology developed when he created the fastest computers ever made, the personal computing revolution could never have happened.

Why Apple will build HQ2 in Minnesota:

1)    Highly educated and extremely productive workforce.

2)    High quality of life attracts top talent. Home to 17 Fortune 500 companies.

3)    Best Buy, headquartered in Minnesota is currently Apple’s largest reseller.

4)    Innovation is the key to growth for any company and Minnesota is a leader in retail & technological innovation. Think Target, 3M and Medtronic.

As the founder of another Minnesota original, Geek Squad, Robert Stephens explained; “Why is Minnesota such a great place to do business and how did so many creative people end up here? Because it’s cold. There’s nothing to do but sit by the fire, read books and strategize against your competition.”

So is Minnesota the odds on favorite for Apple HQ2?

You betcha!

Retail 2017: The good, the bad and the ugly.

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The Good:

  • U.S. retails sales growing at fastest pace in three years.
  • C-Stores continue to grow fueled by Millennials
  • Grocery produce growth outpaces other categories – again fueled by Millennials
  • Just over half of Millennials prefer shopping at a brick & mortar store vs online.
  • 81% of young Gen Z (age 13-21) said they preferred to shop in stores, while 40% said they will only shop in stores.

The Bad:

  • A record number of retail store closings, close to 7,000 in 2017.
  • Hispanic spending was down. Retail experts, economists and business leaders believe the administration’s stance on undocumented immigrants is causing anxiety in the Latino community. Hispanic business leaders added, “Many Hispanic consumers are saving money in case something happens to them or their loved ones in any crackdown on immigrants.”

The Ugly:

  • Shiny, gray concrete floors have become all the rage at many retailers. Shiny is good, but many consider gray to be a soul-crushing color that promotes a feeling of being in a warehouse. Hopefully, we’ll see some Earth tones or brighter floor colors in 2018.
  • Package theft by porch pirates continues to grow. Nearly 20% of American homeowners have been a victim of package theft in the last year.
  • Consumers perception of ugly produce (picked by someone else) continues to slow the adoption of online grocery buying.

Consumers are Hooked on Seafood. But Will Higher Prices Make Waves?

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For years, Americans have been encouraged to eat seafood more often as it’s a good source of protein, vitamins and nutrients – plus it’s low in calories and saturated fat. The health benefits are helping to drive the demand for fish at a faster pace than beef, pork and poultry.

The 6.2 percent increase in U.S. per capita seafood consumption in 2015 was the biggest jump in over 20 years. Plus, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Americans increased their seafood consumption by nearly 1 pound per personin 2015, to an average of 15.5 pounds for the year.

In the recent Progressive Grocer’s 2017 Retail Seafood Review, over half of respondents expected seafood sales to increase this year. Even so, Americans still fall short of dietary recommendations of 8 ounces of seafood per week (24 pounds/year), which means there’s room to grow.

However, many grocers saw declines last year in some higher priced seafood categories and consumption increases in 2017 could be impacted by price changes. They noted that shrimp helped boost fresh seafood volume last year due, in part, to an average retail price decline of 9 percent.

If the tide continues to rise for seafood (U.S. wild-caught seafood, in particular), prices could as well and Category Managers will need to navigate accordingly.