Mark Brownlow wrote a nice piece about the differences between email newsletters and promotions. We are beginning to see more conversations taking place in the marketplace, especially with the increase in Facebook, Twitter and other social media. Not too many years ago, we would sit back in an almost powerless fashion and watch the persuasive promotions crafted to get us to buy something – a certain product or service. Consumers are demanding a more direct and transparent relationship with vendors today. Heck, even CEOs of major companies are communicating directly with their customers today on blogs, Facebook, Twitter and in email.
Consumers today are savvy creatures who often take glossy ads for what they are worth. Product and service promotions certainly still influence behavior and cause action. But, as consumers, we have become much more desensitized to advertising over the years. Especially in our inbox, which fills with promotion after promotion from product and service providers each day.
Today, many consumers are seeking timely and relevant responses to their needs from authentic and engaged providers/partners who are actually listening to them rather than persuasive pitches glorifying products that may or may not respond to their needs. Consumer behavior is changing. The game is shifting.
What conversations are you taking part in? What relationships are you building? Are your emails purely promotional messages or do they respond to topical conversations in your industry? Do your emails bridge recipients to timely and relevant conversations that are taking place about something they are interested in? Hopefully, your email campaigns are doing both.
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One Response to “Conversation vs. Promotion”
Wow, this is exactly where a new company called InMarkit is going. [Full disclosure, these guys are my client.] Last week, they launched the company and a social shopping tool with the purpose of helping retailers connect with shoppers and shoppers connect with other shoppers. It provides consumers with a simple way to tag, retrieve and share information on their favorite items (clothes, shoes, gadgets, etc.) via their mobile phone, through social networks and when shopping online; it also leverages existing print advertising and catalogs. It gives its retail customers a way to customize promotions to be customer-, item- and location-specific and deliver them at the critical purchase decision moment via the mobile phone. It also provides retailers with way to digitize their brand and product information to be shared organically by customers with friends, family and social networks, and listen to the conversations that going on so they can respond to customers’ preferences and interests. You can find InMarkit’s recent press release at http://eon.businesswire.com/portal/site/eon/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090401005265&newsLang=en. You can also of course check them out at http://www.InMarkit.com.