Do "happy holidays" e-blasts really accomplish much?

December 21 was e-blast carpet bombing day.

About every 15 minutes I received a message wishing me a happy holidays, season’s greetings, Merry Christmas, happy new year, and other warm thoughts. While I appreciate the sentiments, most quickly ended up in Outlook’s trash without a second thought.

On the other hand, I also have received about two dozen holiday cards through the snail mail during the past month. I have proudly displayed these in my office, and each captured my attention for at least 30 seconds.

There’s a valuable marketing lesson to be learned from these greetings. Happy holidays e-blasts with a picture of a serene winter landscape are not likely to accomplish much. If your goal is to thank an important customer or impress a prospect, a mailed piece will be more effective—if it’s personalized. I’m dismayed by the number of cards I receive with a blanket “From the staff at …” inside and no personal signature or note. Considering the expense involved in purchasing and mailing cards, I’m surprised these companies even bother if they’re not planning to personalize them (Signatures applied by the printer do not count!). 

Although some say there’s no harm done from sending a happy holidays e-blast, I disagree. E-mail marketing is indeed a tactical science, and each e-blast should be considered for its potential value to the recipients—and the potential harm to the sender. That is, if the material delivered to clients, prospects, stakeholders, etc., is not valuable, receivers will be conditioned to dismiss your messages or even unsubscribe. A happy holidays message paired with a special discount code, news about an expansion in the new year, and so on at least provides the reader with something valuable. Although mailed cards often don’t have any messaging beyond the greeting, they do stand out (especially as fewer people send cards) and when done properly (i.e., personalized) convey a warm and fuzzy feeling you’ll likely never convey through an e-blast.

I do believe a happy holidays e-mail can be effective if it is genuine. A well-crafted and sincere thank you and well wishes certainly will warm any heart. The point is that it is personalized, not just stock art without much thought, and hence not an e-blast. Yet to ensure your message isn’t lost in an in-box, I recommend sending it through the mail.

We all want to impress our customers and prospects, and we all do want them to have a joyous holiday season. Yet to stand out in the holiday hustle and bustle, not to mention the onslaught of year-end budgeting and reporting, I suggest conveying your warm wishes in a way that ensures you stand out from the crowd.

How do you stand out?

What makes your company stand apart from your competitors? 

This seems like an easy question, but I have found that most marketers struggle to articulate an answer.

I have spoken to hundreds of treatment center marketing representatives over the years. When I ask how his/her center is different than others, I often hear about a more caring environment, a beautiful campus, experienced clinicians, and so on. These are all great features, but they do little to distinguish one treatment center from another, as all of them are saying the same things.

For example, at a recent lunch’n’learn representatives from different centers pointed to their equine programs as a distinguishing feature. Yet many programs incorporate horses into treatment; this is not a competitive advantage. A representative of one center, however, spoke about work with active military members. Eyebrows raised. People snapped to attention. Bingo—competitive advantage identified.

Identifying a sustainable competitive advantage is sometimes easier said than done, but knowing what it is—and being able to communicate it in 30 seconds or less—is essential to standing out in our industry, whether you represent one of the hundreds of treatment centers or compete for market share in the electronic health record market. In the latter channel, Qualifacts has done an excellent job with its www.MUforBH.com and consultation services for meaningful use. A trade show attendee with a fist full of brochures will hear much of the same thing as he visits booth after booth, but Qualifacts’ consistent emphasis on meaningful use certification provides a distinguishing—and lingering—impression.

Thousands of business school papers have been written about identifying a competitive advantage, and one blog post certainly cannot do the topic justice. Not all competitive advantages will be obvious to the market, and that's OK. Yet in your marketing communications I implore you to consider what makes you different than your rivals and how you are sharing that message—quickly, succinctly, and accurately—to prospects. Your business depends on it. 

"Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing to perform activities differently or to perform different activities than rivals to deliver a unique mix of value." — Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School professor and Cofounder of Monitor Consulting (1)

Reference
1. Thompson, A.A., Jr., Peteraf, M., Gamble, J.E., & Strickland, A.J. (2012). Crafting and executing strategy: Concepts and readings (18 ed.; Franklin University ed.). Burr Ridge, IL: McGraw-Hill/Irwin; p. 134.

Why is marketing 'silent'?

Twenty-first–century marketing is media rich, with interactive experiences now standard for most consumers. Yet one element of B2B advertising that I have not heard much about is sound. Oh, there’s plenty of talk about video, but I have never had an advertiser ask me about using sounds in a campaign. This is surprising, considering that with the slow shift from print to interactive media the power of sound increases exponentially.

Of course, I do remember in the late 1990s when many Web sites had a music player that launched on the home page. I don’t think anyone wants to return to those days! But I am surprised that companies with strong branding focuses do not consider how sound can be a powerful reminder of a brand. The Intel “ba-ba-ba-bum” comes immediately to mind, as does the Windows startup trill.

I’m sure there have been doctoral dissertations on the power of sound to make brand connections, but from a practical standpoint I wonder why IT vendors in the behavioral healthcare space don’t have a special chime when their programs open, or why treatment centers don’t have a particular type of music continuously playing at their booths. This is marketing at its most subtle, but using sound in a campaign costs little and helps reinforce brands. After all, not all marketing needs to be—or should be—an in-your-face-click-here-now experience.

Using sound in B2B marketing is a topic I’m just starting to explore, and I welcome any feedback. In a world swamped with marketing messages, making some meaningful noise just may pay off.

What are your exhibit hall pet peeves?

Autumn is conference season, and during this time of year many marketers and business representatives find themselves in 8’ x 10’ squares hoping to attract interest to generate sales or admissions. Having spent a lot of time in exhibit halls (some much more suitable to be parking garages than professional display areas), I’ve seen how companies can effectively market themselves—or not. Below I describe some of my trade show hall pet peeves. Some marketers can control; others they can only grumble about. I suspect you’ll be nodding your head in agreement. 

Reps who eat at their booth. During a conference we are usually starving, and it’s oh so tempting to grab one of those muffins in the morning or sample the appetizers offered during opening receptions. Yet we all know we shouldn’t talk with our mouth full, and plates and napkins at the booth are very unsightly. Emily Post would not approve of this behavior. 

Reps who are never at their booths. Exhibit space is not usually terribly expensive, but there are substantial costs for shipping a booth and materials, covering a rep’s expenses, etc. I’m continually amazed by empty booths in which the rep never shows. Why not just pay for a literature drop in that case? 

Attendees who “shop” the hall. I’ve seen conference registrants snag five bags, take a handful of pens, and otherwise view the exhibit space as an opportunity to restock the office supplies. 

Chatty announcers. Every conference needs a “voice of God” to remind attendees about prize drawings, upcoming sessions, etc. But once the needed information is conveyed, I’d much prefer the announcer silence his/her mic, as it is difficult enough to hear the person next to you in a noisy hall. 

Halls open all day. 8-5 hall hours are brutal, especially on the reps having to man their booths. I much prefer conferences that open their hall only for dedicated hours so everyone can get more work done and not have to man a booth in an empty room (and guard all the conference swag!).

Conferences, of course, are a great place to network and earn new business, but we all need to vent now and again about those things that make it sometimes frustrating to get work done. Now that I’ve shared my grievances, what are some of your conference pet peeves?

Online ads must be more than 'click here for more information'

In today’s increasingly digital world, online marketing must be a component of a successful branding strategy. Yet we’ve all heard the complaint that “no one clicks on online ads” and that they fail to engage prospects. In this post I debunk these notions and describe factors that characterize an effective online ad strategy.

The right objectives. Online ads are just like print ads in that they are primarily branding vehicles. Branding vehicles are inappropriate as primary lead-generation tools, but they can support efforts such as white papers and Webinars that are designed to capture leads. With this in mind, it’s important for a marketer to define the desired objectives for an online campaign. While number of clicks may be the measuring stick, I believe impressions (basically, the number of eyeballs viewing an ad) are a better yardstick for an online ad—i.e., a branding campaign.

Call to action. I’ll admit it; most marketers—and their bosses—will measure results in terms of clicks. Yet too many online ads have no “call to action” or reason to click through. “Click here for more information” is an ineffective call to action. “Click here to receive our free white paper,” however, “rewards” Web site viewers for their action and, consequently, will lead to a greater number of clicks. Subsequently, the ad should take viewers to the desired destination, not the home page where they have to search for the promised resource (as they won’t).

Relevance.  Successful online ads address their intended audiences. All too often a treatment center will target professionals with a message such as, “We are here to help you get clean and sober.” This message is targeted at the consumer, not professional, community, and a message like this will not lead to a high number of clicks on a professional Web site. The ad will promote brand awareness, but a better branding message in this case would be “We are your partner in your clients’ recovery.” Even better: "View how our patients use XYZ therapy to improve outcomes." 

Good design and rich media. Online ads need as much thought and creativity as print ads—perhaps even more so given online ads’ smaller footprint. Don’t expect an online ad assembled in five minutes to be a huge traffic driver. A clean design that carries through the brand’s overall theme yet communicates a strong call to action will yield better results. Ads using rich media, such as welcome mats, push downs, footers, etc., consistently generate higher click-through rates because they interrupt the reading experience and command attention. Of course, many people find them irritating, so a site should have them open no more than once per day. When used properly, rich media ads lead to more clicks by directly engaging readers with a compelling message.

In summary, online ads can be effective traffic drivers to your Web site, but only if they are engaging and have a strong call to action. When considering an online ad campaign, review your objectives and make sure your message resonates with the target audience. And always insist on metrics (including site averages) so you can evaluate your results. If your ad campaign is targeted to your objectives and employs a strong call to action, a relevant message, and a good design, you will see results.

What makes a memorable ad

In our information-oversaturated world, it’s admittedly difficult to have your brand message stand out among the crowd. Business-to-consumer companies spend billions on developing and deploying brand marketing. While those sort of resources don’t exist in the behavioral healthcare market, it is still possible—and, in fact, vital—to find a way to distinguish your ad messages from your competitors’. In my review of hundreds of ads over the years, I’ve identified several factors of memorable ads in our market. (Many of these factors apply more to print ads than online ads. In a future post I will discuss how online ads can stand out.) 

Bold colors: I’m no expert on color theory, but yellow, red, and orange clearly command attention. Many, if not most, vendors in the behavioral healthcare market rely on a palette of green, blue, purple, and grey in their ads. Although this combination may be aesthetically pleasing, it’s much more difficult to distinguish one brand from another.  In the treatment center market, orange is rarely used, but I think it not only attracts attention but also communicates an active and dynamic recovery process. For examples, see the Web sites of Rosecrance and Austin Recovery. 

People: Twice a year my advertisers receive a customized report on how our readers are reacting to their print messages. Time and time again people notice and comment on ads with people in them. Readers do appreciate seeing diversity and smiling faces. Credible Behavioral Healthcare Software’s ads often feature CEO Matt Dorman, and many readers have responded positively to this messaging.  

Twists and turns: Several of my clients occasionally position their ads horizontally instead of the customary vertical orientation. The natural response is to turn the magazine to better read the message, which increases readers’ engagement in the ads. 

Reverse ads: Color ads, of course, better grab reader attention than black-and-white ads. However, I strongly believe a black-and-white ad can be effective. My favorite strategy is a reverse ad in which the background is black and the text is white. Even a small reverse ad can jump off a page. 

The wrong reasons: Some ads get noticed for the wrong reasons, including offensive messaging, poorly designed layouts, and obvious grammatical errors. I’ve seen all of these mistakes in the behavioral healthcare field. While these ads may effectively catch a reader’s attention, the impression will not be a good one. A related problem I’ve noticed is that treatment centers often fail to target their marketing to professionals. At industry conferences, in trade publications, and on field Web sites messaging should be targeted toward professionals (e.g., “You can trust us with your clients”) instead of consumers (e.g., “We’ll help you get clean and sober”).

There are many different ways to stand out. I like to think of it as being the blue balloon among a bunch of red balloons. The content of the ad is undoubtedly important, but first you need to find a way to make readers stop and take a look.

The value of lead nurturing

You work hard to generate leads for your sales force or admission staff. New contacts are entered into a database and, ideally, your team will begin sending out marketing messages and calling hot prospects. Yet most B2B relationships take time to develop, and sales or admissions don’t happen overnight. Leads will turn cold if not engaged regularly. This is why lead nurturing is a concept more organizations are paying close attention to.

Lead nurturing recognizes that grooming key contacts to become eventual customers or referral sources is an evolutionary process. Organizations nurture leads by demonstrating that they are a trusted resource, a source of valuable information, a place to turn to when a community member has questions—and is looking for solutions (i.e., the products and services you offer). E-blasts from your marketing department remind leads that you have solutions available. Lead-nurturing activities demonstrate why they should be paying attention.

There are many ways to nurture leads, but one of my favorites is custom e-newsletters. These include content that is valuable to the reader, such as insights on new legislation or an interview with a top thought leader. The marketing message is admittedly subtle; the goal is to engage readers and create a favorable association with your brand. Yet this is a powerfully effective way to turn cold leads warm, keep hot leads engaged, and maintain meaningful conversations with your current customers/referral sources, who are always being solicited by your competitors. With a custom e-newsletter you can monitor who is opening and reading your material, allowing you to track which contacts your staff should be paying particular attention to.

Content creation used in lead-nurturing activities need not be a daunting task. In any field there are experts in "custom media" that can help you deliver the correct message that readers/leads will find useful and valuable. As we say in publishing, content is king: Rely on an organization with editorial experience and industry knowledge to create meaningful, valuable information to maximize your lead-nurturing activities. A third party can be an extension of your marketing, sales, and admission team, who may not have the time,  experience, or resources to successfully implement lead-nurturing activities. 

Lead nurturing is another way to rise above the noise in the community. Your company stands out as more than just another organization blasting marketing messages periodically; you provide valuable information, regardless if someone is a customer. And the next time a prospect needs the type of product or service you provide, you will be much higher on her list.

Preconferences--Rise Above the Crowd

Conferences are exciting. Executives and front-line staff who work in the trenches day in and day out have a well-deserved opportunity to learn, laugh, and even have fun in an environment of their peers. Any conference producer offers a large range of options for a vendor to join in and capitalize on face-to-face time with key prospects (all gathered in one place!). A savvy marketer, however, will find a way to stand out among the dozens, if not hundreds, of exhibitors, whether through unique sponsorships, exclusive networking receptions or, as I’ll discuss today, preconference sessions.

“Preconferences” are just that—educational sessions before the main conference begins. Most conferences kick off very early on the opening day—some open the show floor to bleary-eyed attendees at 7 a.m.! Most registrants will fly in the day before so they don’t miss the opening headliner. Hence, a group of motivated attendees are milling about the show hotel looking for something to do. I sense an opportunity!

Many conference producers will invite vendors to capitalize on this situation with preconference educational sessions. You will choose the speaker and topic; the event organizer will handle food-and-beverage service, room and audiovisual logistics, and event registration. Insist on integrated and extensive marketing outreach to pull in your target audience. If attendees are pursuing CEU credit, ask the conference producer if credits can be extended to your preconference attendees at no cost to them. As long as the content is educational and vendor neutral, many credentialing bodies will permit it. Of course, make sure you obtain a list of your session’s attendees, including full contact information with e-mail address.

Speaking of content, remember that content is king! Choose a thought leader who reflects your philosophy but can speak in vendor-neutral language. Perhaps reward that articulate internal analyst who is ready to blossom. Or have a trusted customer speak on an issue near-and-dear to attendees. If you’re thinking about having your director of sales be your presenter, it’s time to rethink your marketing approach (not just for this preconference). Select a topic that appeals to your product or service’s strengths, but the presentation shouldn’t conclude with the logic, “So that’s why you should buy our solution.” Instead, position your organization as a thought leader, a solutions provider that an attendee will feel comfortable bringing questions—and business—to.

And remember to have fun! It’s easy to become bored during a lecture. Explore offering an “experiential” opportunity or offer unique refreshments to lighten the mood. One of my clients used cupcakes with their logo to break the ice and build a memorable impression (with buzz about the event spreading through the conference, too).

At any conference your goals include personally interacting with attendees to develop confidence in your brand, generate leads, and stimulate positive word-of-mouth marketing. A preconference achieves all of these objectives. So the next time you’re scratching your head about how you can stand out at the industry’s next big event, use your thought leadership as the vehicle for engaging early-arriving attendees who are looking for something more productive to do than checking out the in-room movies.