If you want to sell more bagels then start giving them away. Sound weird. Not with the power of social media it doesn't. Einstein Bros. started a campaign where they provided a free offer through instant digital coupons.
What amazed me even more was that in 3 days they went from having 4,700 fans to a whopping 336,000 fans and the campaign is only 3 days old.
I am not saying you have to "give away" something to increase your fan base, but it is wild how quickly those numbers increased.
As I speak around the country on becoming "contagious", I always spend some time focusing on why the social market is not "going away" and why every savvy business owner needs to jump in immediately and start to create a following.
Last year, Dell reportedly generated 3 million in sales from a link in one tweet to their site. Don't tell me social media is not contagious.
Now it is up to all of us to find that "free bagel" in our business and strategically get that message out to our own markets who find a "free bagel" so captivating they will follow us anywhere.
Now.....how do I package cream cheese!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
10 Tips for Using Cupid’s Arrows to Target Customers with Email
By Wendy Lowe
Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching and whether you personally view it as the most romantic day of the year or an annual, tacky ordeal there’s no question it can have a positive effect on many small retail businesses.
One of the best ways to take advantage of this potential bump in profitability is through email marketing. Email is a very effective way to bring highly-tailored messages to specific audiences. And since many people are prone to read into the gifts they receive from a significant other, it gives you an opportunity to use Cupid’s arrows to target your customers and prospects.
Following are 10 things you should do, beginning today, to make sure your Valentine’s Day doesn’t pass with a lot of empty promises and wilted dreams.
1. Start now! It’s less than a month out from the big day so best to start compiling your copy, imagery, offers, etc. now. You don’t want to inundate your recipients by email, but a rough schedule could entail:
a. Email 1: Wednesday, Jan 20th: Initial offer
b. Email 2: Wednesday, Feb 3rd: Offer Reminder
c. Email 3: Thursday, February 11th: Reminder 2 - “Three days left `till Valentine’s Day!”
d. Email 4: Wednesday, Feb 17th: Thank you follow-up email to all customers who took advantage of the offer. Say thank you and extend another offer to these loyal customers.
2. Use a Valentine’s Day template with a nice balance of valentine-specific copy and imagery to get people in the mood and thinking about the event.
3. Segment your list. Split out your list by gender. Send female oriented offers to the guys and male oriented offers to the ladies.
4. Make sure your offer is compelling. Most people are still paying off their bills from the Christmas holiday season, so make sure the offer is affordable and is compelling enough to encourage them to act.
5. Partner with companies who offer complementary services or products for an offer that can’t be ignored. Example: Spa services and floral shop (walk away from your spa treatment with a dozen red roses), Restaurant and flower shop (have a bouquet of flowers ready at the table when you arrive), etc. Get creative as the possibilities are endless!
6. Target a special email to people who bought from you last year around Valentine’s Day with an even better offer for this loyal audience.
7. Make it easy for people to take advantage of your offer. If fulfillment is to come to the store, give clear directions or a store finder link, if by phone, make phone numbers prominent, or if online, make the button or text link stand out in the email. Printable coupons or promo codes always work well.
8. Help spread your message to more people by using forward-to-a-friend functionality.
9. Use email to promote a special Valentine’s Day draw to win a prize - to collect emails and grow your email subscriber list.
10. Send a Happy Valentine’s Day email postcard to show customer appreciation - thank loyal customers by providing complimentary redeemable points (if you have a points program) or a free gift for Valentine’s Day.
The Valentine’s Day colors may officially be red and pink. But follow the tips above and you’re sure to be seeing green by the end of the day.
Wendy Lowe is director of product marketing for Campaigner (www.campaigner.com), the email marketing solution that enables organizations to have highly personalized one-to-one email dialogues with their customers, measure how they respond, and analyze those responses to interact in a more intelligent, automated way - resulting in more profitable relationships. Campaigner is provided by Protus, provider of the highest quality Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication tools for small-to-medium businesses (SMB) and enterprise organizations, including my1voice, the cost-effective, feature-rich virtual phone service, and award-winning MyFax, the fastest growing Internet fax service.
Wendy can be reached at wlowe@protus.com.
By Wendy Lowe
Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching and whether you personally view it as the most romantic day of the year or an annual, tacky ordeal there’s no question it can have a positive effect on many small retail businesses.
One of the best ways to take advantage of this potential bump in profitability is through email marketing. Email is a very effective way to bring highly-tailored messages to specific audiences. And since many people are prone to read into the gifts they receive from a significant other, it gives you an opportunity to use Cupid’s arrows to target your customers and prospects.
Following are 10 things you should do, beginning today, to make sure your Valentine’s Day doesn’t pass with a lot of empty promises and wilted dreams.
1. Start now! It’s less than a month out from the big day so best to start compiling your copy, imagery, offers, etc. now. You don’t want to inundate your recipients by email, but a rough schedule could entail:
a. Email 1: Wednesday, Jan 20th: Initial offer
b. Email 2: Wednesday, Feb 3rd: Offer Reminder
c. Email 3: Thursday, February 11th: Reminder 2 - “Three days left `till Valentine’s Day!”
d. Email 4: Wednesday, Feb 17th: Thank you follow-up email to all customers who took advantage of the offer. Say thank you and extend another offer to these loyal customers.
2. Use a Valentine’s Day template with a nice balance of valentine-specific copy and imagery to get people in the mood and thinking about the event.
3. Segment your list. Split out your list by gender. Send female oriented offers to the guys and male oriented offers to the ladies.
4. Make sure your offer is compelling. Most people are still paying off their bills from the Christmas holiday season, so make sure the offer is affordable and is compelling enough to encourage them to act.
5. Partner with companies who offer complementary services or products for an offer that can’t be ignored. Example: Spa services and floral shop (walk away from your spa treatment with a dozen red roses), Restaurant and flower shop (have a bouquet of flowers ready at the table when you arrive), etc. Get creative as the possibilities are endless!
6. Target a special email to people who bought from you last year around Valentine’s Day with an even better offer for this loyal audience.
7. Make it easy for people to take advantage of your offer. If fulfillment is to come to the store, give clear directions or a store finder link, if by phone, make phone numbers prominent, or if online, make the button or text link stand out in the email. Printable coupons or promo codes always work well.
8. Help spread your message to more people by using forward-to-a-friend functionality.
9. Use email to promote a special Valentine’s Day draw to win a prize - to collect emails and grow your email subscriber list.
10. Send a Happy Valentine’s Day email postcard to show customer appreciation - thank loyal customers by providing complimentary redeemable points (if you have a points program) or a free gift for Valentine’s Day.
The Valentine’s Day colors may officially be red and pink. But follow the tips above and you’re sure to be seeing green by the end of the day.
Wendy Lowe is director of product marketing for Campaigner (www.campaigner.com), the email marketing solution that enables organizations to have highly personalized one-to-one email dialogues with their customers, measure how they respond, and analyze those responses to interact in a more intelligent, automated way - resulting in more profitable relationships. Campaigner is provided by Protus, provider of the highest quality Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication tools for small-to-medium businesses (SMB) and enterprise organizations, including my1voice, the cost-effective, feature-rich virtual phone service, and award-winning MyFax, the fastest growing Internet fax service.
Wendy can be reached at wlowe@protus.com.
10 Tips for Using Cupid’s Arrows to Target Customers with Email
I am thrilled to share this article from Wendy Lowe and how email can be an effective tool for you anytime, not just at Valentines Day.
Read on....
By Wendy Lowe
Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching and whether you personally view it as the most romantic day of the year or an annual, tacky ordeal there’s no question it can have a positive effect on many small retail businesses.
One of the best ways to take advantage of this potential bump in profitability is through email marketing. Email is a very effective way to bring highly-tailored messages to specific audiences. And since many people are prone to read into the gifts they receive from a significant other, it gives you an opportunity to use Cupid’s arrows to target your customers and prospects.
Following are 10 things you should do, beginning today, to make sure your Valentine’s Day doesn’t pass with a lot of empty promises and wilted dreams.
1. Start now! It’s less than a month out from the big day so best to start compiling your copy, imagery, offers, etc. now. You don’t want to inundate your recipients by email, but a rough schedule could entail:
a. Email 1: Wednesday, Jan 20th: Initial offer
b. Email 2: Wednesday, Feb 3rd: Offer Reminder
c. Email 3: Thursday, February 11th: Reminder 2 - “Three days left `till Valentine’s Day!”
d. Email 4: Wednesday, Feb 17th: Thank you follow-up email to all customers who took advantage of the offer. Say thank you and extend another offer to these loyal customers.
2. Use a Valentine’s Day template with a nice balance of valentine-specific copy and imagery to get people in the mood and thinking about the event.
3. Segment your list. Split out your list by gender. Send female oriented offers to the guys and male oriented offers to the ladies.
4. Make sure your offer is compelling. Most people are still paying off their bills from the Christmas holiday season, so make sure the offer is affordable and is compelling enough to encourage them to act.
5. Partner with companies who offer complementary services or products for an offer that can’t be ignored. Example: Spa services and floral shop (walk away from your spa treatment with a dozen red roses), Restaurant and flower shop (have a bouquet of flowers ready at the table when you arrive), etc. Get creative as the possibilities are endless!
6. Target a special email to people who bought from you last year around Valentine’s Day with an even better offer for this loyal audience.
7. Make it easy for people to take advantage of your offer. If fulfillment is to come to the store, give clear directions or a store finder link, if by phone, make phone numbers prominent, or if online, make the button or text link stand out in the email. Printable coupons or promo codes always work well.
8. Help spread your message to more people by using forward-to-a-friend functionality.
9. Use email to promote a special Valentine’s Day draw to win a prize - to collect emails and grow your email subscriber list.
10. Send a Happy Valentine’s Day email postcard to show customer appreciation - thank loyal customers by providing complimentary redeemable points (if you have a points program) or a free gift for Valentine’s Day.
The Valentine’s Day colors may officially be red and pink. But follow the tips above and you’re sure to be seeing green by the end of the day.
Wendy Lowe is director of product marketing for Campaigner (www.campaigner.com), the email marketing solution that enables organizations to have highly personalized one-to-one email dialogues with their customers, measure how they respond, and analyze those responses to interact in a more intelligent, automated way - resulting in more profitable relationships. Campaigner is provided by Protus, provider of the highest quality Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication tools for small-to-medium businesses (SMB) and enterprise organizations, including my1voice, the cost-effective, feature-rich virtual phone service, and award-winning MyFax, the fastest growing Internet fax service. Wendy can be reached at wlowe@protus.com.
Read on....
By Wendy Lowe
Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching and whether you personally view it as the most romantic day of the year or an annual, tacky ordeal there’s no question it can have a positive effect on many small retail businesses.
One of the best ways to take advantage of this potential bump in profitability is through email marketing. Email is a very effective way to bring highly-tailored messages to specific audiences. And since many people are prone to read into the gifts they receive from a significant other, it gives you an opportunity to use Cupid’s arrows to target your customers and prospects.
Following are 10 things you should do, beginning today, to make sure your Valentine’s Day doesn’t pass with a lot of empty promises and wilted dreams.
1. Start now! It’s less than a month out from the big day so best to start compiling your copy, imagery, offers, etc. now. You don’t want to inundate your recipients by email, but a rough schedule could entail:
a. Email 1: Wednesday, Jan 20th: Initial offer
b. Email 2: Wednesday, Feb 3rd: Offer Reminder
c. Email 3: Thursday, February 11th: Reminder 2 - “Three days left `till Valentine’s Day!”
d. Email 4: Wednesday, Feb 17th: Thank you follow-up email to all customers who took advantage of the offer. Say thank you and extend another offer to these loyal customers.
2. Use a Valentine’s Day template with a nice balance of valentine-specific copy and imagery to get people in the mood and thinking about the event.
3. Segment your list. Split out your list by gender. Send female oriented offers to the guys and male oriented offers to the ladies.
4. Make sure your offer is compelling. Most people are still paying off their bills from the Christmas holiday season, so make sure the offer is affordable and is compelling enough to encourage them to act.
5. Partner with companies who offer complementary services or products for an offer that can’t be ignored. Example: Spa services and floral shop (walk away from your spa treatment with a dozen red roses), Restaurant and flower shop (have a bouquet of flowers ready at the table when you arrive), etc. Get creative as the possibilities are endless!
6. Target a special email to people who bought from you last year around Valentine’s Day with an even better offer for this loyal audience.
7. Make it easy for people to take advantage of your offer. If fulfillment is to come to the store, give clear directions or a store finder link, if by phone, make phone numbers prominent, or if online, make the button or text link stand out in the email. Printable coupons or promo codes always work well.
8. Help spread your message to more people by using forward-to-a-friend functionality.
9. Use email to promote a special Valentine’s Day draw to win a prize - to collect emails and grow your email subscriber list.
10. Send a Happy Valentine’s Day email postcard to show customer appreciation - thank loyal customers by providing complimentary redeemable points (if you have a points program) or a free gift for Valentine’s Day.
The Valentine’s Day colors may officially be red and pink. But follow the tips above and you’re sure to be seeing green by the end of the day.
Wendy Lowe is director of product marketing for Campaigner (www.campaigner.com), the email marketing solution that enables organizations to have highly personalized one-to-one email dialogues with their customers, measure how they respond, and analyze those responses to interact in a more intelligent, automated way - resulting in more profitable relationships. Campaigner is provided by Protus, provider of the highest quality Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) communication tools for small-to-medium businesses (SMB) and enterprise organizations, including my1voice, the cost-effective, feature-rich virtual phone service, and award-winning MyFax, the fastest growing Internet fax service. Wendy can be reached at wlowe@protus.com.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Toys R Us could be contagious in a bad way!
We have just come through another crazy holiday season. Stores are busy re-stocking shelves with Valentines Day merchandise and parents are finally organizing the toys and presents and breathing a sigh of relief as the kids head back to school.
This is the perfect time to grab the duplicate toys and head back to Toys R Us to exchange or replace. That is if you have a receipt for Toys R Us. On their website and I quote: "We will not accept any returns or exchanges without a receipt".
Now, I have a friend who's grandchild received 2 identical gifts and neither had receipts AND the box had a label that said "Exclusively made for Toys R Us" and the employees stood their ground and said, "We know this is a stupid rule but we can't take it back or exchange it".
I wonder how many other grandmothers, friends, people buying toys for birthdays or showers really keep track of all those receipts. It sounds like if you don't, some child will have the thrill of having two of the same toy....or maybe you could "re-gift" to some other un-suspecting parent.
As a retail consultant, I always challenge my clients to be careful of the "hoops" you make your customers jump through. I know that this type of "policy law" may be helpful for re-stocking or inventory control, but I know that I will choose to shop at other stores who's return policy favors the customer and not retailer.
As Toys R Us continues it's globabl expansion it will remain to be seen how "contagious" they are in a good way and if and when they will need to be more customer friendly when it comes to their return policy.
I know there is one grandmother out there who will never set foot in another Toys R Us. Some times being contagious can actually make you sick.
This is the perfect time to grab the duplicate toys and head back to Toys R Us to exchange or replace. That is if you have a receipt for Toys R Us. On their website and I quote: "We will not accept any returns or exchanges without a receipt".
Now, I have a friend who's grandchild received 2 identical gifts and neither had receipts AND the box had a label that said "Exclusively made for Toys R Us" and the employees stood their ground and said, "We know this is a stupid rule but we can't take it back or exchange it".
I wonder how many other grandmothers, friends, people buying toys for birthdays or showers really keep track of all those receipts. It sounds like if you don't, some child will have the thrill of having two of the same toy....or maybe you could "re-gift" to some other un-suspecting parent.
As a retail consultant, I always challenge my clients to be careful of the "hoops" you make your customers jump through. I know that this type of "policy law" may be helpful for re-stocking or inventory control, but I know that I will choose to shop at other stores who's return policy favors the customer and not retailer.
As Toys R Us continues it's globabl expansion it will remain to be seen how "contagious" they are in a good way and if and when they will need to be more customer friendly when it comes to their return policy.
I know there is one grandmother out there who will never set foot in another Toys R Us. Some times being contagious can actually make you sick.
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