March 08, 2005
Beware the immediate reaction of the vocal minority, or better yet, know your market
There's an interesting dynamic taking place on one of the discussion groups to which I subscribe. And it seems to coincide nicely with the thoughts swirling about in my head about Blink, the latest effort from the accidental guru, Malcolm Gladwell. (More on that later. I'm still thinking about it. Oh. Inside joke.)Anyway, here's the situation: An apparently well meaning, creative-services representative sent his email newsletter to some people that he had met at a recent gathering of list members. The people to whom he sent the email either didn't remember that they had met the rep (entirely possible) or they remember meeting the rep but they don't remember giving their permission to be added to the newsletter list or some other tangent along these lines. So, the well-meaning rep sends his newsletter to the new recipients. The new recipients, not understanding why they received the email, jumped to the (somewhat reasonable) conclusion that the discussion list had been spammed or that email addresses from the discussion list had been harvested in some way. So, one recipient went to the most likely source (in his mind), the discussion list, and asked the question: Did anyone else get this?
This set off a volley of comments on the subject, and sent the fact checkers checking. Now, we encounter the second misstep in this situation: the lack of information on the creative-service rep's Web site. No contact information to speak of. In fact, little information of any sort. And some of the information that was there was incorrect. Which led to another volley of comments. The most heated of which offered that the service was nothing more than a phishing scam to steal social security numbers.
So what additional effort resulted from this seemingly innocent email blast? The list leader had to send an email guaranteeing that the list had not been compromised and that list information had not been sold or rented to anyone. The rep that sent the newsletter to people who he thought would be interested in receiving it had to send an apology to the list. Several people who already work with the rep took the time to vouch for the rep and the service. And so on. And so on. It continues to roll along.
Was the intended result achieved? No. Not at all. Quite the opposite, actually. And now, the damage has been done. And it's going to take substantial effort to recover from it with this group. I've never met the
What are the lessons here?
1) Know your market. If you're dealing with a loose-knit group of people for whom you are providing the communications structure, that is very different than if you are entering an existing network and offering a service. Bear in mind that existing communities exist and survive because they communicate. If you mess up with one, it's likely to make it to all.
2) Ask permission. And then ask again. Now, more than ever, people hate additional anything: mail, email, spam. So use several different types of media to ensure you have that permission, especially if you're claiming to be a high-touch service. If you meet them in person, then follow up with a phone call and an email to double check. It may seem like a waste of time, but it's a lot easier than trying to clean up the mess-on-aisle-5 that upsetting someone causes. And that doesn't even begin to broach the "If he treats me this way, how does he treat potential customers?" question.
3) Don't assume that a handshake is a marriage contract. See number 2. Just because someone is willing to shoot the breeze with you about your business doesn't mean that person is actually interested in your business. Sad but true. No matter how excited he or she seems, the person will likely cool off by the next time you meet or talk. So give the person the opportunity to continue the conversation if he or she is interested. If he or she isn't interested, offer to keep him/her in the loop.
4) Don't dive without a pool. When you send someone new an email newsletter or post an advertisement or push him or her in the direction of something, make sure there is something there in which the person can land. Don't push people to a non-descript Web page if there is no information there. Because, honestly, more likely than not, that is going to cause the recipient to form the opposite perception that you intended.
5) Your service, offering, Web site, whatever, is usually not half as cool or as inventive as you think. On rare occasions, we manage to come up with really good ideas or create really good sites or offer really good services. But more often than not, it's just so-so. (This site is a perfect example.) It's good to be excited about what you're doing, but understand that your target market isn't. Not at the outset. And it's your job to show them the way to that excitement. It took you x number of years to get there. Don't expect them to get there with one email.
These are just some quick-hit suggestions. I haven't put a great deal of skin in the game, here, I realize. But I felt like I had to say something. This stuff happens every minute of every day. Why? Because of the assumption that anyone can do marketing. The assumption that it's not hard. But in reality, well-done communications are difficult. They just don't look like they are. That's what's so hard. It's like Google's identity. Every single communication needs to be more thoughtful, especially today. And remember, when it comes to marketing, the communication is only the tip of the iceberg.
When was the last time you were less than thoughtful with your target market? Let me know, and then return to discuss it further.
Beware the immediate reaction of the vocal minority, or better yet, know your market
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