EMAIL SIGN UP - Week 3 Update Jan 3
Happy New Year to all. Hope the holidays treated you well and all the gifts and new year cheer are in order (or at least returned for something you want!).
We are now in about week 3 of my email sign up tracking. I'm working my personas with Bealls to see what is happening. More on that below.
Pulte
Pulte still hasn't sent me anything since my original sign up for my Yahoo account, so I guess they don't want to sell any houses to that person or they have some deliverability issues with Yahoo that aren''t being addressed - SOUR email either way! Although I did see a sponsored ad - more SOUR email. Not only are they not using the information they have, they are paying even more to put ads in front of me when they could be talking to me personally!
They have sent me two emails to my Gmail account, but both are generic with no personalization. One was for a design center open house. It was mailed 12/14 for the event on 12/15. They probably could have provided a bit more notice. Wonder how that open house did. The second was for new homes in Fish Hawk Ranch. I believe I did look at this community, but not sure and my profile doesn't capture the information I provided them (which was homes in the $300k range not a specific community). This community starts at the $200s, so I'm not sure if they just didn't listen or if this is just a generic community email that everyone received. I did go look at the community again and even clicked on the email to see if I can influence their future emails to me.
Bealls
Under my Yahoo account which is a Millennial male, I've been looking at hoodies and water shoes.
My Gmail persona is looking for sexy nightgowns and sheets for the bed.
Bealls continues to send me at least one email a day, mostly promotional with limited personalization. I think this is excessive. I'd suggest some testing of timing and frequency to see if reducing frequency can impact performance in terms of unsubscribes, click throughs and ultimately revenue. Check out this test from July 2015 where the overall winner was a promotional email sent once a week versus twice. The learnings:
- always test
- know your customers and prospects
- segment for differing behaviors
They are sending abandon cart emails, so that is good. They also are using some level of site behavior in emails, but it is not working properly as when I clicked on an email within my Yahoo account, it showed me the nightgowns I looked at when logged in under my gmail account. I also looked at the sheets after the nightgowns, so not sure why it defaulted to the first thing rather than the last, or better yet, how about showing me all the items I looked at. It appears the system is using cookies rather than a CRM that knows more about me specifically (at that email address) rather than just watching the computer clicks.
WFLA
Still no emails at all to my Yahoo account - boo for you!
Gmail is receiving emails, also delivered to my promotional folder. Funny thing is that I am getting the weather alerts - two per day. I can't tell why I am getting two and the headlines seem to be different in each. Didn't think weather would change that much and that I needed to be updated twice a day. Not sure what is up with that.
Also, couldn't they just add "Sharon, here's your forecast?" Wonder what impact that would have on their open rates? I know I would feel better that they are addressing me personally.
It is also problematic to manage my content from their website. Unlike most sites that you can log into, the "manage newsletters" link is in the middle of the page by the sign up instead of a universal log in at the top. When I click on that, however it only shows me the newsletter I'm signed up for and doesn't allow me to edit it. I can edit it from the emails I receive, but since I am not getting them in my Yahoo account, I don't have any way to see that. Definitely SOUR email!
We should be MUCH smarter about how we run our email programs! I'm just amazed that these companies aren't doing the simple things that are equating to lost revenue and opportunities. These are not small, unsophisticated organizations either and have the resources to do better. Is it organizational structure, focus or lack of management vision and direction or some of all. As a marketing leader, how much time and focus are you putting into the details of these programs?
Showing posts with label wfla tampa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wfla tampa. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
EMAIL SIGN UP - Anatomy of an Email Inbox Dec 13
EMAIL SIGN UP - Anatomy of an Email Inbox Dec 13
I have talked in this blog about email strategy and why businesses send emails and how they make them timely and relevant. There's plenty of evidence about the value of email marketing and the ROI. I often wonder however, if we did it really well, how much better could it be. eMarketer's 2016 survey found that on average email delivers 122% ROI - in the top 5 revenue driving channels. That's good and well above the others in the study. I think we can do lots better.
So today, I'm picking three companies I am currently not subscribed to and signing up for their emails using two different email addresses. The goal will be to see how well they get to know me and what they use to build the relationship with the two different mes. This will be a series of blog posts over the coming weeks and months so that we can watch what transpires and what we can learn.
I am purposely picking marketers who I think will be a mix of more or less sophisticated in this area to show the contrasts and oppoortunities.
Pulte Homes - Tampa - I am establishing my winter home in the Tampa area, so will be looking at what area I want to live in and what the properties are that might meet my needs.
WFLA - Tampa - Our local NBC TV affiliate. I will want to know more about what is going in my local comunity and things I can do for the winter, so these emails from WFLA to these personas will help me stay in tuned with my new community. I am hoping that they will be watching my behaviors as I visit the site and consume content and use this to send me relevant emails.
Bealls Department Store - New location and home mean I need more stuff.
Today we will begin with just the initial sign up.
Pulte
I started with a search for "new homes Tampa." Didn't find them in paid listings on the first page, but they did make it to the last organic listing on page one. So I clicked on their listing. This led me to the home page which had a nice lifestyle photo, description of what they deliver and map of where their communities are. Other than a small "envelope" icon for "contact us," there was no call to action for signing up or getting information, so I clicked the envelope. That did lead me to a page with options for signing up: financing, information, homeowner questions and repairs. I'm clicking on "information." This led me to a form that is clearly a national form. I'm going to sign up with two slightly different addresses and emails in Tampa area. I left a brief message of the price range of homes I am looking for and that I only want emails at this point. So after I hit enter, which I thought meant I was signing up, I now went to a second screen that told me to create an account and why I should:
- save design ideas and inspiration to your favorite
- create a design board with favorite items
- save home models you love
- follow Pulte communities and get notified about opening
Upon creating my account, there was another page of benefits. My initial impression is that this all sounds good, so why are you hiding it behind a tiny icon at the top of the page and taking several steps to tell me why I should engage with you. And, by the way, the benefits were redundant between the pages. Did you think I didn't get it the first time? SOUR?
My second sign up (Gmail) used a more specific search for Pulte specifically and a different first and last name and email address (so I can distinguish future personalizations). I'm also asking for slightly higher priced homes (in the $300's).
Slightly better presence with a paid and organic listing when I searched for "Pulte homes Tampa."
WFLA
Searching on Tampa TV station, I quickly found the local NBC affiliate - WFLA. The organic listing took me to a very busy home page. This is typical of most media sites, but I guess they think they have to serve everyone, so lots to consume.
There were a few engagement calls to action within the content including a sign up for weather newsletter and a free download to stay connected on the go. I presume that was for their app. The contact us link in the footer was more for a specific department or question.
I signed up for the weather newsletter with my two personas. This was a double opt-in, so I have to go verify my sign up in my email address. Good news, my gmail verification showed up quickly. Still waiting to see something in my yahoo mail account and it isn't in the spam folder either. SOUR when you lose someone before you even have them! Once I confirmed my email through my gmail account, there was a second step to "confirm humanity" and insure I wasn't a robot. Now there are two funnel steps to stop me from getting subscribed. While I get that companies want valid email addresses and real people, can we find a better way? At least combine the steps to reduce friction.
Another interesting thing happened with WFLA. Under the sign up was a "manage subscriptions" option, so I clicked on that. This led me to a page to tell them more about me and sign up for a whole host of other emails (8 in total), none of which they had yet to merchandise or tell me about (at least from the home page). They also asked me to pick my delivery method (html or txt). I'm going to sign up for breaking news from this account and 8 pm news update from the other (that is if my email validation ever shows up - no sign of it yet). Interesting too is they have a "breaking weather" and "daily weather" list - who thought of that? Could these be combined? They will definitely be keeping their content team busy!
Bealls
Started here with my standard generic search and did find Bealls in the organic listings mid-page. The listing took me to a Tampa store locator page given I searched in a particular area, so that was anticipating I was looking for a specific location.
They did have an email sign up about mid-way down the page with a quick sentence telling me why I should sign up and minimizing the initial ask to just my email address. I'm signing up with both emails. Upon sign up, they told me what to expect and how to add them to my safe senders list so I don't miss out on the deals. Generally pretty good. The question will be how will they try to get to know me better and communicate differently. Again, I will visit their site under the different personas to see how well they get to know me and build that relationship.
None of the three email marketers in our experiment specifically included opt-in permissions in compliance with standard CAN-SPAM email opt-in requirements. WFLA did offer a privacy link which seems not to work as it doesn't go anywhere when I click on it - so definitely SOUR.
More news next week when we see what kind of communications I am receiving and how specific these are as I begin to interact with the sites in different ways.
Still no WFLA validation in my Yahoo account now either, so I guess I'm just not going to see any news from them. Wonder if anyone at WFLA even realizes this is happening! SOUR!
I have talked in this blog about email strategy and why businesses send emails and how they make them timely and relevant. There's plenty of evidence about the value of email marketing and the ROI. I often wonder however, if we did it really well, how much better could it be. eMarketer's 2016 survey found that on average email delivers 122% ROI - in the top 5 revenue driving channels. That's good and well above the others in the study. I think we can do lots better.
So today, I'm picking three companies I am currently not subscribed to and signing up for their emails using two different email addresses. The goal will be to see how well they get to know me and what they use to build the relationship with the two different mes. This will be a series of blog posts over the coming weeks and months so that we can watch what transpires and what we can learn.
I am purposely picking marketers who I think will be a mix of more or less sophisticated in this area to show the contrasts and oppoortunities.
Pulte Homes - Tampa - I am establishing my winter home in the Tampa area, so will be looking at what area I want to live in and what the properties are that might meet my needs.
WFLA - Tampa - Our local NBC TV affiliate. I will want to know more about what is going in my local comunity and things I can do for the winter, so these emails from WFLA to these personas will help me stay in tuned with my new community. I am hoping that they will be watching my behaviors as I visit the site and consume content and use this to send me relevant emails.
Bealls Department Store - New location and home mean I need more stuff.
Today we will begin with just the initial sign up.
Pulte
I started with a search for "new homes Tampa." Didn't find them in paid listings on the first page, but they did make it to the last organic listing on page one. So I clicked on their listing. This led me to the home page which had a nice lifestyle photo, description of what they deliver and map of where their communities are. Other than a small "envelope" icon for "contact us," there was no call to action for signing up or getting information, so I clicked the envelope. That did lead me to a page with options for signing up: financing, information, homeowner questions and repairs. I'm clicking on "information." This led me to a form that is clearly a national form. I'm going to sign up with two slightly different addresses and emails in Tampa area. I left a brief message of the price range of homes I am looking for and that I only want emails at this point. So after I hit enter, which I thought meant I was signing up, I now went to a second screen that told me to create an account and why I should:
- save design ideas and inspiration to your favorite
- create a design board with favorite items
- save home models you love
- follow Pulte communities and get notified about opening
Upon creating my account, there was another page of benefits. My initial impression is that this all sounds good, so why are you hiding it behind a tiny icon at the top of the page and taking several steps to tell me why I should engage with you. And, by the way, the benefits were redundant between the pages. Did you think I didn't get it the first time? SOUR?
My second sign up (Gmail) used a more specific search for Pulte specifically and a different first and last name and email address (so I can distinguish future personalizations). I'm also asking for slightly higher priced homes (in the $300's).
Slightly better presence with a paid and organic listing when I searched for "Pulte homes Tampa."
WFLA
Searching on Tampa TV station, I quickly found the local NBC affiliate - WFLA. The organic listing took me to a very busy home page. This is typical of most media sites, but I guess they think they have to serve everyone, so lots to consume.
There were a few engagement calls to action within the content including a sign up for weather newsletter and a free download to stay connected on the go. I presume that was for their app. The contact us link in the footer was more for a specific department or question.
I signed up for the weather newsletter with my two personas. This was a double opt-in, so I have to go verify my sign up in my email address. Good news, my gmail verification showed up quickly. Still waiting to see something in my yahoo mail account and it isn't in the spam folder either. SOUR when you lose someone before you even have them! Once I confirmed my email through my gmail account, there was a second step to "confirm humanity" and insure I wasn't a robot. Now there are two funnel steps to stop me from getting subscribed. While I get that companies want valid email addresses and real people, can we find a better way? At least combine the steps to reduce friction.
Another interesting thing happened with WFLA. Under the sign up was a "manage subscriptions" option, so I clicked on that. This led me to a page to tell them more about me and sign up for a whole host of other emails (8 in total), none of which they had yet to merchandise or tell me about (at least from the home page). They also asked me to pick my delivery method (html or txt). I'm going to sign up for breaking news from this account and 8 pm news update from the other (that is if my email validation ever shows up - no sign of it yet). Interesting too is they have a "breaking weather" and "daily weather" list - who thought of that? Could these be combined? They will definitely be keeping their content team busy!
Bealls
Started here with my standard generic search and did find Bealls in the organic listings mid-page. The listing took me to a Tampa store locator page given I searched in a particular area, so that was anticipating I was looking for a specific location.
They did have an email sign up about mid-way down the page with a quick sentence telling me why I should sign up and minimizing the initial ask to just my email address. I'm signing up with both emails. Upon sign up, they told me what to expect and how to add them to my safe senders list so I don't miss out on the deals. Generally pretty good. The question will be how will they try to get to know me better and communicate differently. Again, I will visit their site under the different personas to see how well they get to know me and build that relationship.
None of the three email marketers in our experiment specifically included opt-in permissions in compliance with standard CAN-SPAM email opt-in requirements. WFLA did offer a privacy link which seems not to work as it doesn't go anywhere when I click on it - so definitely SOUR.
More news next week when we see what kind of communications I am receiving and how specific these are as I begin to interact with the sites in different ways.
Still no WFLA validation in my Yahoo account now either, so I guess I'm just not going to see any news from them. Wonder if anyone at WFLA even realizes this is happening! SOUR!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)