Happy Birthday, Mr. Loss Leader

Every year around the New Year I'll get a few e-mails from some smart retailers who acknowledge my birthday.

For some time now, I've been signing up to receive e-mails from dozens of businesses including Circuit City, Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowes, and a host of restaurants too numerous to mention.

Some of them send me a simple "Happy Birthday" message... nice... but not really taking advantage of the extremely low-cost of e-mail technology. Others, though, send me a B-day greeting with a coupon. Yippee! A good example is Don Pablo's, a Mexican restaurant chain. Their message stated that they "loaded" my loyalty card with $10 to use up until January 14th.

Am I going to use it? You 'betcha. Am I going to go alone to eat? Not a chance. I'll probably bring the family and meet some friends there too. Those friends, I might add, enjoy copious amounts of Corona beer and margaritas. Cha ching!

Don Pablo's was smart. They used me as a "loss leader" - they'll loose a little money on me but make it back five-fold on the patrons I invite to "dine" with me that night.

Can you identify a loss leader in your business? E-mail me with your industry information and I'll send you back a couple of ideas for free!

Do You Use Autoresponders?

If you're a marketer you must use autoresponders. A quick example is when a business associate goes on vacation and you send them an e-mail only to get an immediate reply that reads, "Sorry, I'm out the office until October 3, 2008. If you need assistance, please call Mary at 123-123-1234."

But the real beauty of autoresponders is you can automate replies for just about any request. "Here's a copy of our catalog," "Find below the Top Ten questions most new customers ask," "Here's our full price list," and "Here's the free report you wanted," are a few examples.

Where do get autoresponders? Most web hosts have an autorespond feature. And here's an eye-opening fact... you can have a different autorespond message for every e-mail account. So if your host allows you 200 e-mail addresses, you can have 200 unique autoresponders. There are also free autoreponders out there - do a search and you'll find the best one for your particular application. You can even buy autorespond software if you're serious about productivity.

So if you're looking to systematize your business (read E-Myth by Michael Gerber) or just want to "get things done" (read Getting Things Done by David Allen) then look into the efficiencies of autoreponders.

Two Very Important E-Mail Tips

While e-mail is the most popular way for business-to-business (b-2-b) correspondence these days, there are many ways for you to improve its impact.

I think two of the most vital requirements for most e-mails are the subject line and attachments (don't e-mail me back stating some of these tips can't always be accomplished - I understand it's not always possible).

First - think very carefully about the subject line. Never, ever use the word "hi" or "hello". Because of the early days of spam and spam filters, those two little words are notoriously bad. Try to stay away from ALL CAPS TOO. CAPS ARE LOUD AND ANNOYING. Your best bet is to include the first name of your recipient with the basic premise of your body copy/message. If you are having a special, say it. If you are introducing a new product, announce it. Don't beat around the bush. Remain focused and stick with the facts.

Second - If you have the option, do not include attachments. The big ISP companies and corporate e-mail filtering programs can and will block your message from ever being seen. If you need to send an attachment, send a "heads up" e-mail to your recipient. Let them know it's coming. They'll appreciate it and their IT guys will have less virus checking work to do.

So there you have it, two e-mail tips that will make you more productive and will increase your odds of your e-mail ever making it into the hands (or should I say "into the eyes") of the person you're trying to reach.

The Weekend Is Just Another Monday

How often do you close up shop and head out the door on a Friday afternoon thinking "I'll start again on Monday?" Shame on you. You need to treat the weekends as a great opportunity to sell your product or service.

Why not try sending an e-mail blast on a Sunday morning? Did you ever update your blog on a Saturday afternoon and track click-throughs? What about offering a time-sensitive sale only good at midnight?

I'd say give all of them a try. You might be surprised at the results. Customers are searching at all hours of the day and night. Many are now checking their e-mails as they are traveling, walking, and shopping. I've known my daughter to inform me of a sale at a local clothing store while surfing the net, while playing the Wii, while texting her girlfriend, while listening to the iPod. You get the point. We are a wired culture, so get your message in front of the consumer any way you can.

Good luck.

Digital Media is a Must

All reports crossing my desk these days indicate that businesses must embrace digital media. Digital media is defined as those marketing tools that utilize the latest in technology such as e-mail, static web banners, pop-up banner ads, search engine optimization, and online video. Read and study about these five technologies as much as you can!

I'll comment on each medium in future blogs but want to stress the following statistics - close to 76% of marketers are using more e-mail, about 61% are using more online video, and 62% are jumping on the search engine optimization bandwagon (these stats are based on today's usage versus three years ago). The bottom-line is, if you're not part of the tech wave you better get going... and fast.

Next time... how an e-mail blast can triple your productivity at the push of a button.

PS. Don't discount print advertising as it still has an important role in generating awareness for your online presence.

Please Pick Up

So too often we think e-mail is communication. It's not. Communication as defined in the dictionary means "the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or signs." The keyword is "interchange." E-mail is not an interchange, or more precisely defined, an "exchange." It's a one-way dialog. If your e-mail is never opened, what purpose did it serve. And what if it is opened but a response is never sent back? Get the point?

Think of all the time wasted as you are waiting for a reply to an e-mail when a simple phone call will do the trick. I'm not saying that e-mail doesn't have a purpose. It does work well in particular business situations, i.e., if you want "proof" that a customer changed their order from 10 widgets to 100 widgets. But nine times out of ten a call will suffice.

Today I want you to be more productive by picking up the phone rather than sending that lengthy e-mail. FYI... most people speak over 160 words per minute, but type less than 40 words a minute.

Restaurant Marketing

Here's a money-making tip for all restaurateurs - collect the email addresses of your guests. And how do you do that? It's simple... just ask.

A postcard on the table or a quick request from your server at the end of a meal should suffice - "If you provide us with your email address you'll be the first to know about special discounts and other money-saving coupons you can use on future visits."

Many times guests will be more than happy to give their email address. A brief disclaimer at the bottom of the postcard should contain the following privacy policy that will increase your request rate even more - "We will never sell or rent to third parties any of the personal information our guests provide to us."

Did you know marketers spend $5.6 billion in coupons annually? And with the rise in gas and food prices, we believe more and more people will be utilizing coupons than ever before.

Our agency has had great success with restaurant e-mail coupon campaigns. Not only do restaurateurs see an immediate increase in business from an e-mail blast, but imagine the delight from a guest who receives a personalized e-mail coupon from 1.) a restaurant 2.) located in their favorite vacation town 3.) where they will be visiting next month. Sweet!

Cena è pronta,
(Dinner is ready)

PS. Don't settle for just an e-mail address. Try to capture a name, mailing address, phone number, birthday, anniversary date, and their reason for dining out. If you can't get the information at the time of their visit, attempt to get it in a future e-mail, i.e., "To better serve you, please answer the following questions..."