Your competitors hope you keep saying about patterns found in consumer products "but this is B2B… that stuff doesn't apply here."
It's easy to say that certain tactics, strategies, or tools won't work for your business because you're B2B, B2G, or some other acronym.
It's important to remember, though, that your competitors are more than likely trying to figure out how to make it work for them. And one of your competitors will get it to work for them.
I got up early this morning to work on a post about misleading email content. Exciting, I know!
The thing was, I wasn't excited about it, at least not at 5:30am. And I wasn't excited about it LAST night when I sat down to work on the post then. What I do remember is the feeling of excitement when I first created the note in Evernote, the feeling of "Everyone needs to know about THIS."
That feeling wears off.
And then what do you do? If you're like me, when that feeling wears off, it's extremely difficult to get back into the "excitement phase" and bash out that post. You say, "I'll write it tomorrow night," or "It wasn't worth writing about anyway."
The thing is, though, that post may be worth writing. There may be another person out there who was thinking the same thing about that THING you were going to write about.
You're the kid who's afraid to raise his hand in class, thinking no one has that question, when in fact, you need to be the one who has the courage to ask the question for everyone else.
Just do it.
So, when it came to actually writing something this morning, I just wrote. I wrote for a good half-hour, just stream of consciousness pouring onto the screen of the iPad. The quiet taping on the screen, my dog curled up at my feet, and the soft "pitter-patter" of rain on the windows.
And you know what? It felt good. *REAL GOOD.*
What I learned this morning…
In our lives we get caught up in the idea of something so often that we forget to create that idea.
I loved the idea of a post about misleading email content. I loved the idea of sticking it to the company, publicly, that they screwed up. But I loved the idea more than the actual post. And I created this instead.
Hook the attention of your customer with the email subject line. That’s step number one of email marketing, right? One of best ways to do that is to provide something useful or helpful to your customer, and over my years of email marketing I feel that one of the best ways to do this is through a reminder of a free gift, coupon, or sale of an item that you’ve shown interest in. What you don’t want to do, however, is to use misleading and deceptive email subject lines!
Here’s one example of an email subject line gone bad.
I got an email from Snapfish the other day telling me I had “Free Product Credits” waiting, I was all over it! Open that email! Here’s what the email showed when I opened it:
Pretty good, right?!
Here’s the misleading part of the subject line
As intended, this email provided the needed incentive to go and create the new photo book I wanted to create, so I clicked on “Create free photo product” to see what I could create.
When the page loaded in the browser, however, I was sorely disappointed in what I found. Not only did the original email never tell me what the free credits were good for, the credits themselves were pretty lackluster.
Free 1-Month Video Subscription Trial
First hi-res photo FREE
Those were the two free credit offers. And mind you, that “hi-res photo” wasn’t a print or any physical product.
That’s it.
Don’t use deceptive subject lines. Period.
Was this a bait and switch? Not to the point where it harmed the customer or tricked me into buying something that I didn’t want, no. What Snapfish did do, however, was that Snapfish set high expectations for a premium reward. The body of the email shows three products, a calendar, a mug, and several photobooks. It’s easily assumed that the free product credits apply to a similar product. When the wool is removed from our eyes, however, we see that the product credits are for a trial and one free download of a photo we probably uploaded in the first place.
While I continue to order products from Snapfish, it’s examples like this that continue to show we have much to learn when it comes to marketing.
It hits me every Monday-Friday. The post-coffee/caffeine hangover? Nope. The post-lunch blues? Nope, not that either. It's the onslaught of the newsletters I get between 9AM and 10AM every day. In fact, a few months ago, I tweeted such:
It's 9AM. Time for receiving 90% of my email newsletters! bing, bing, bing! #inboxnoise
That's the eternal question for email marketers, and it's not what this story is about. What this story is about is my love for one newsletter in particular and a random thought about its (seemingly) abnormal length.
MailChimp UX Newsletter
I love getting the MailChimp UX newsletter in my inbox. When I see it pop up, I read it immediately. The times that I don't read it immediately, well, let's just say that I haven't had my coffee yet that day and am not making smart decisions.
And the MailChimp UX Newsletter is all about making smart decisions. The newsletter covers various aspects of the UX world, sharing stories and expertise from those people who bring you MailChimp. The most recent email – Issue 21 – covers the topic of "Teams", including anything from how to hire staff to the workflow and idea generation that works for the MailChimp UX team.
Does Size Matter?
So let's get to the point of this already! Does the length of a newsletter matter?
The newsletter presents a conundrum for us email marketers: What length is too long? At roughly 2800 words, Issue 21 of the MailChimp UX Newsletter is about 118 times longer than the average Tweet. I recently watched a MarketingProfs class on writing for the web in which the presenter talked about the ideal word count for a landing page be 200-250 words. So is 2800 for an email newsletter too long?
Here are some thoughts on why the 2800-word newsletter works:
Relevance.
Everything about this newsletter is about UX; from the name of the newsletter, to the audience it attracts, and to the topics covered within. The most recent newsletter focused on "Teams" with the main topics being
"Building a UX Team"
"Easy to Hire, Hard to Fire"
"Respect"
"Autonomy"
"Parallel Cycles"
"Create a Culture of Empathy"
"Tell Stories"
All of these topics are not just relevant to the UX field, but to many other creative/technical fields. Much of the writing and topic focus hit home for me as a jack-of-all-trades in the corporate world, generally outside the UX field.
Attention-getting.
If this was a standard newsletter, the content would probably have a short introduction paragraph followed by the headline items of the newsletter. In the case of the MailChimp UX Newsletter, the content of each section could even have been separate blogs posts on a UX blog.
I believe, however, that the current long-form iteration of the newsletter keeps the reader focused on the content at hand instead of distracting the reader by taking them to another page with potentially distracting content.
Single Thought.
Following up the last point, the newsletter presents a single, coherent message. Contrary to having several separate blog posts on similar topics, the newsletter presents a unified message created from several distinct ideas. In the example issue above, the overall focus is on your team at work with the deeper dives coming through the individual focus on topics like autonomy and Easy to Hire, Hard to Fire.
Conclusion
In my humble opinion, I believe the long-form newsletter works for the MailChimp UX Team. It keeps my attention, it has a singular focus, and it doesn't offer any distraction from its main message.
Would it work for you or your clients? Hard for me to say.
What I would tell you is this: If you want to hit home on a single idea and keep the attention of your reader, this is a pretty darn good format to steal.
I think of Sundance, Cannes, and Tribeca when I think of film festivals. I don't usually think of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Nor would really anyone else have reason to think that Cedar Rapids, Iowa would be home to a pretty cool film festival.
That is starting to change, and it started this last week with the 24-Hour Film Festival from the Corridor Filmmakers group, led by Will Lenzen, Jr. Created as part of a celebration of "all that is creativity" – Creative Week - Will organized the festival that took place from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon. Rules included:
All submissions must be initially shot on a mobile device (iPhone, iPad, Android phone, etc.)
A prop, announced at the start of the 24 hours
A phrase, also announced at the start of the 24 hours
My wife, Caitlin, was a huge partner in the project, but she wasn't too worried. As she told me, "I wasn't worried about the quick turnaround – I used to work in news."
At the screening on Saturday night, Will talked about the genesis of the project, saying that would-be filmmakers sometimes hold themselves back because they think they need expensive equipment to be successful. "More often than not, people create their own limitations. We have this amazing technology in our pockets all day, every day. I want people to realize they can create their art with something as simple as a pencil or as commonplace as a smartphone."
The actual production of our short film was fairly uneventful, although we did have one bump in the road when I accidentally deleted one of our shots and we didn't realize it until we were editing. By then, it was too late to go back and reshoot that particular scene, so we ran across the street and shot something else really quickly.
Our production schedule was shortened due to the fact that my wife and I were at the Social Brand Forum conference all day on Friday. We started writing the script around 8pm on Friday night and finished our shot list around midnight. Here's what Caitlin said about the production:
"We woke up the next morning before sunrise and continued shooting until 10am. We gave ourselves an hour and a half to edit, with 30 minutes to double-check everything and export the final video. What really saved us was that we wrote a shot schedule and kept to it. We had 5-7 locations and only 3 hours to shoot video so we had to map out our shots in advance and stick to our schedule."
Caitlin had some great final thoughts on the whole event as well:
“It was fun, there were a lot of great videos and I’m glad we participated. I think each of us took home a valuable lesson – don’t set your own limitations, because creativity can be found everywhere.”
Not only was it fun, but it is bringing a lot of fresh ideas to both of our video production at work. Forcing us all to sometimes think of simpler ways of accomplishing a goal is a good thing!
The ubiquitous social media icons that are popping up like spring dandelions on email messages, commercials, print ads, and table tents at restaurants, plus whatever your mind can think of. So much social media used carelessly, it's lost their meaning.
So, when I get an email in my inbox from KEH Camera that stops me in my tracks, I needed to share the awesomeness with you!
Social with Purpose
Right away, I'm presented with a call to action, telling me to connect with KEH. Very simple, yet powerful message. With the body of the email, KEH does a good job of giving me, the customer, reasons to go and connect with them on their social networks.
I also love the fact that KEH has given each social network a different purpose, and therefore, a different reason for customers to visit KEH on each social network.
Congrats to KEH Camera on a great social strategy, and showing it off in an easy-to-act email message.
What say you?
Let me know your thoughts on social and email. How do you include social call-to-actions in your email marketing?
The world heard a collective "WTF" only ten days ago when Google announced it was killing off their RSS program, Google Reader. Here's what this post is not going to be:
There are plenty of people who have written articles much better than mine could be, so why try to reproduce those? Exactly.
But, in all of the noise, it became clear that the real winner coming out of this debacle was Feedly. They were the first, if not nearly, to come out and say, "Use Feedly, and the transition will be seamless come July 1st." I didn't even bother looking at the alternatives. Feedly has a Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and iOS solution (also Android). So, I definitely had all my bases covered.
Let me tell you, the setup was pretty damn easy.
I went to Feedly.com and clicked "Login".
Automatically, I was connected to my Google account and was asked to give Feedly permission to access my Google Reader account. Once I did, I was presented with my new RSS home in Feedly! The home screen reminds me of the Evernote app in how information is presented — topics on the left sidebar, highlights up front-and-center, with some of my subscriptions on the right sidebar.
After perusing my feeds this evening, I definitely feel more comfortable using Feedly. It's nice to have a mix of the old Google Reader feel mixed with a little bit of the FlipBoard look as well.
Let's keep our fingers crossed that the transition goes as smoothly as Feedly says it will!
Let me know in the comments if you used Google Reader. What do you think about the news? How are you handling the transition?
Saw this simple quote on Twitter this evening, and it made me think a lot about blogging and social media.
Much of the time we content managers feel that we don't have the time to write a new post, think of new Tweets, or status updates for our company Facebook pages.
We need to remember why we do what we do.
So, when you hit that obstacle, remember your goal, what gets you excited.
LinkedIn often comes up in social media conversations as the network who pretty much can't do wrong. It's the Marcia Brady of social media – she does everything right.
LinkedIn counts over 200 million members in its network. Not bad for one that's only supposed to be for business. Did I mention it's stock price? Up, up, and away! Since it's IPO, the stock is up 90%.
Then I came across "LinkedIn is a Virus" from Matt Haughey recently. Aside from the eye-catching title, Haughey made a good point about how LinkedIn works – or doesn't.
With three clicks, I (accidentally) asked 1138 people to connect on LinkedIn using their import feature. Goddammit, I hate you LinkedIn.
"It's unfortunate that LinkedIn works the way it does and that this happened, most people that responded to me with messages thought I was making a concerted gesture and trying to reconnect, and/or about to look for a job. I think of business contacts as a pretty serious thing, I don't hand out business cards readily unless I really want to be called up by someone, and yet, LinkedIn just pushed out connections to over a thousand people on my behalf without me knowing what it was really doing."
So, I decided to take a closer look at LinkedIn and here are some of the items I found where there could be some definite improvement.
1. Endorsements
In September of 2012, LinkedIn introduced Endorsements as a way to "give kudos with just one click." I don't think that anyone can disagree that Endorsements have been front and center, especially with the "one click" ability. In many trainings I've given on LinkedIn since the introduction of Endorsements, I've likened them to a "skill-specific recommendation."
Recommendations require some effort to complete, so most people only write Recommendations when they have something to say. Endorsements, on the other hand, only require a single click (by design). I call this "Eliminating the need to think." In this case, LinkedIn dramatically devalued Endorsements when they eliminated the need to think.
When does the chase for the most connections become the chase for the most endorsements? Or has it already started?
What does it say about LinkedIn Endorsements if it only takes a click to get one?
Currently, LinkedIn splashes "Does (Blank) have these skills or expertise?" when you visit a person's profile. Where does it ask me do I want to endorse that person? It doesn't. Asking if someone has skills is completely different than asking if I would personally endorse that individual. Instead, LinkedIn should ask the question "Would you endorse (Blank) on these skills or expertise?"
LinkedIn would still accomplish their goal of "one-click kudos" AND increase the value of Endorsements by simply changing the wording of that splash graphic.
2. "You Scratch My Back…" Privacy Mentality
In almost every training I've given on LinkedIn, someone has asked a variation of the following question:
Can my competition see my activity?
Yes. Unless you change your privacy settings.
Now, let's give LinkedIn some credit on privacy settings. Want to change them? Go to Settings and Privacy is right there. Much easier to handle than Facebook or any other social network (save for Twitter, which is Public or Private).
But what happens when you change your privacy settings?
Say you don't want people to see that you've looked at their profile? Simple enough. Check the box. Oh wait, by checking that box you don't get to see who looks at your profile anymore. LinkedIn basically says that the only way to see who is looking at your profile is to allow them to see the same thing.
Why does Privacy have to be a two-way street?
Instead, if you want your information to be private, it should be private. However, someone else should not be penalized for you wanting to keep your information private.
3. Narcisistic and Spam-filled LinkedIn Groups
It's a common belief that LinkedIn Groups suck.
Did I say that? Yes, I did. They suck for a couple of different reasons, but also for two different groups of people, the participants and the managers.
First, group participants.
You've joined the latest "HR Professionals of Financial Basket-Weavers" Group thinking you're going to have conversations that lead to a new level of HR nirvana, right? Instead what you get is random job postings, links to self-promotional spammy sites, and no conversation whatsoever.
The group emails suck, too. As a participant, you want to stay up-to-date on the group. I mean, you joined to be a part of the conversation and the emails help you be notified of new conversations? Right? What you end up with is an inbox full of emails that you never read, so then you end up ignoring all the emails you get from LinkedIn.
Solution Number 1 is to join locked or private groups. They tend to have at least some semblance of control over the group, including the ability to kick out members who don't follow group rules.
Solution Number 2 is to find a group that encourages conversation and helping the other members. Once you start down that path, you might actually start to enjoy LinkedIn Groups!
The second group of people that LinkedIn Groups suck for is the owners and moderators of those Groups. It's practically a full-time job to moderate posts, comments, and make sure participants are following group rules. While I have yet to start or moderate a group on my own, I've heard nothing but horror stories of managing a LinkedIn Group. And while there's not really any solution for the time-suck of managing a Group, it's still a valuable place to gather like-minded individuals — which is an important aspect of digital marketing.
4. LinkedIn Premium
That privacy thing I mentioned earlier? Goes out the window if you pay for the Premium features of LinkedIn.
Even signing up for the lowest priced Premium plan, you can see who has viewed your profile, and also the full profiles of everyone in your network. At the highest level, privacy goes completely non-existant and you get the ability to see full names of anyone who you would want to contact.
Again, selling privacy but only in a different way is how LinkedIn sells the other part of their Premium plans.
If you sign up for the premium plans, you get InMail Messages. Also known as "Ability to ignore other people's privacy settings."
Now, I do have to admit, there are some useful features of the LinkedIn Premium plans, and that does include InMail Messages. On the sales side of the equation, they do help warm up a cold contact more than just a cold call or regular email. And the OpenLink feature allows other people to message you for free – something they would have to pay for otherwise.
5. Black Hat Web Design
The article that got this whole thing going was about how easy LinkedIn made it to "Connect" with 1100+ individuals. The day after I read that article, my boss mentioned the exact same behavior and how he almost connected with his whole address book. Just like the Endorsements, LinkedIn makes it very easy (or I could say, encourages) to connect and engage with others on the network — to a point, of course. LinkedIn gets you on the network through much the same manner those "Classmates.com" website work as well.
What human being doesn't like knowing that someone wants to connect with them? LinkedIn thrives on that emotion and designs the website to encourage the addictive behavior. And once they get you, well, they can only offer you so much for free.
Does LinkedIn do anything right?
Actually, yes! From providing a space extremely conducive to business to being the Rolodex of the 21st Century, LinkedIn is successful for doing its main job very well. I've nitpicked on a few things above, but that doesn't not mean that LinkedIn isn't right for you. It's the place for professionals to connect, especially for the B2B community. But that's for another post.
Do you agree with these shortfalls of LinkedIn? What have you wished was better about LinkedIn?
While not all businesses are naturally remarkable, they can all be interesting. It’s about the story you tell about your business. Focus on your secret sauce and your business will seem remarkable. “But if every brand is creating content, it’s content overload,” Mr. Eliason said. “Other sources may be more trusted. You need the right balance, which is getting others to talk for you.”
A key point that I took home from reading the article was the challenge a lot of businesses face in not becoming a "me, too" brand.
“Focus on promoting what’s next,” said Frank Eliason, who runs global social media for Citigroup. “Lead the way as opposed to following.”
There's a lot of great information in the article. I encourage you all to take a couple minutes today to go read it!