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Screaming Louder Won't Help

by Ardath Albee, CEO, Marketing Interactions

When the economy trends down, it’s challenging enough to address people’s uncertainty and concerns.

Buyers tend to hunker down and avoid anything that isn’t already a project in progress. You may start to notice a drop off in responses to your email campaigns. This can lead to a bit of uncertainty of your own in regards to your ability to maintain marketing effectiveness during the economic downturn.

Often, in our tendency to respond to this perceived dip in prospect interest, we up our instances of email communications thinking, if we can just get them to pay attention, we’ll be okay.

This high-volume repetition of your message is akin to “screaming louder.” It’s actually perceived as monotonous, annoying and makes people click the delete key even faster to avoid you. Not to mention that it makes your company look desperate. And, that’s not reassuring.

Don’t panic. Don’t make the mistake of swinging the focus back to you. Instead, think about what your buyers need to think strategically during this time of increased stress. Consider how you can deliver thought leadership messaging and content that will be received by your prospects and customers with thanks, because it’s designed to guide them through the tough times.

The best course of action is to create an email campaign to deliver high-value content that helps calm your buyers’ fears because you’ve offered useful information they can put into action.

We all stumble in times of uncertainty but, your ability to remain calm and in control will transmit to your buyers and elevate your value to them. The more relevant your messaging, the more opportunities will open up. Business doesn’t stop just because the economy takes a hit…or two.

The reality is that for most people, hunkering down seems like the best choice. But, that simply opens paths for their competitors to take over. By lending prospects the strength of your ideas and the certainty that things will come around, you’re making an investment in your future. And, you’re showing them the importance of continuing to move forward in trying times.

Think of your new campaign as a “Hero” campaign and set out to make each of your buyers become a hero to their companies because they’ve taken action gleaned from the insights included in your email communications.

Here are a few steps to take when you create your Hero campaign:

• Choose a variety of topics you’re familiar with and can easily provide relevant insights to help your prospects improve the job they’re doing today – without necessarily buying anything;

• Create a frequency plan and design a series of 4-6 communications you can send out over the next few months. Hold one article in reserve as a special offer;

• Research your topics and write your messaging and content from a purely helpful perspective. Make this campaign all about them dealing with tough times. Make the articles short and meaty – no more than 250 – 500 words;

• Monitor your sends and make follow-up calls to build on the dialog you’ve begun with all the leads who’ve responded to more than one of your emails. Offer to share that special offer article that you’ve held back as something special – just for them

The outcome of this type of campaign will pay you back in huge returns.

First of all, your credibility will escalate in your buyers’ minds. When everyone else is desperately trying to sell, you’ll have been offering helpful advice and insights they can use. Secondly, business doesn’t stop. You’ll be top of mind when they need to move forward. And, with your status as trusted advisor, they’ll turn to you first.

 

Comments? Questions? Send them to me at: eric@businessmarketinginstitute.com

Ardath Albee (Ardath@marketinginteractions.com) is an expert at creating contagious content and e-marketing strategies that engage prospects-from initial attention until they're sales ready. She has a unique ability to develop content strategies that work hand-in-glove with overall corporate and product positioning to deliver hard hitting e-marketing programs and tools that compel customers to buy. Ardath helps her clients generate more opportunities by optimizing how they leverage marketing automation and CRM technology investments. Her clients include Covad Communications, LANDesk and Silicon Graphics. Visit her website and industry-leading blog to learn more: www.marketinginteractions.com.

 

Questions and Comments

Writing in response to last week's TMN on testing methods for marketing programs, Neil Brown writes:

Eric-
I enjoy your articles and the marketing handbook, but I must say, email should have been included as a copy test tactic. Yes, deliverability is an issue, but you can measure open and click thru rates quickly, and with very small samples. Keep up the good work!

Neil Brown (neilb@fusionb2b.com)/ managing partner
FUSION b2b, Inc.
www.fusionb2b.com

Dear Neil:

You are correct—e-mail is another useful testing method that is fast and very easy to implement, especially for testing promotional offers and different copy approaches to current customers...E.G.