Wingman Marketing Communications Blog
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Influence at Work
I'm currently reading the book, Influence: Science and Practice by Dr. Robert Cialdini, in which he describes his 6 weapons of influence. The book is a very good read, giving scores of examples and research on influence. It wasn't until I recently attended a "free" stock seminar from Rich Dad Education that I saw all of these weapons pointed at me. I was as interested in learning about how to do technical analysis of stock charts as I was in watching them fire off these weapons into the crowd. The premise of the "free" seminar was to tease us with information and get us to pay for the $500 3-day seminar. So below is a list of the six weapons of influence, and how Rich Dad Education used them:
- Reciprocity - People feel an obligation to repay favors.
- I was greeted with a free USB drive (a paltry 128mb) loaded with useful Rich Dad info (or propaganda). And of course the free seminar which covered just a couple topics. In theory, I'd feel an obligation to sign up for the seminar to reciprocate all that they've given me.
- Commitment and Consistency - When people commit to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honor that commitment.
- After pounding into our heads that education is an invaluable asset, we must've done at least 20 audience fill-in-the-blanks where the answer was education. They had us verbally commit to our education, and write down our financial and personal goals. Of course for $500, they would provide us the tools to meet those goals. So by not paying for the course, we're then being inconsistent with our commitment to education and to achieving our goals.
- Social Proof - People often decide what to believe or how to act in a situation by looking at what other people are believing or doing.
- We did a show of hands toward the end of who was seriously interested in buying into the seminar (about 1/3). They were excused to the back of the ballroom to sign-up, leaving all us non-committal free-loaders to look at all the believers.
- Liking - People tend to say yes to people they know and like.
- The speaker tried his best to be likable. He talked about how he helps his dad with his retirement account, how his goals are to spend time with his family, travel, and play golf - which is why he does these seminars 20 weeks of the year and spends the rest of the time doing what he loves. How can you not like that.
- We also got to see a few video testimonials of different types of people we could develop an affinity with to follow their success - the engineer, the salesman, the stay-at-home mom.
- Authority - People tend to obey authority figures.
- Robert Kiyosaki, the face of Rich Dad Education and the author of several Rich Dad financial education books is branded as an authority figure and expert.
- Scarcity - People assign more value to opportunities when they are less available.
- Sign up today, at this "free" seminar, it will only be $495. If you wait, and register over the phone, it'll be $995! Think of the value this is mentally creating; you get a $1000 course for only $500. I can't wait or else I'll pay double.
- But wait there's more... you'll also get this stock analysis software for free! (except you have to pay $40/mo to get the stock data feed or else its useless). The speaker claims its worth at least $2000. So I'm getting $3000 of value for only $500. Score!
- But wait there's more!... Act now, and you can bring a guest for free! Now its $4000 of value for $500, and I can split it with a friend.
- Seats are limited on a first-come-first-serve basis.
- We're only doing 2 workshops scheduled in the area.
Fortunately, Dr. Cialdini's book, Influence: Science and Practice, makes you more aware of these weapons for you to use as a marketer, but also gives some advice on how to defend, resist, and see through them. For me, the free seminar was enlightening and cost-effective; I got to see the principles of influence in action while getting a little bit of general financial knowledge. Not a bad way to spend two hours.
References:
Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. 5th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2009.
Labels: email marketing, influence, Positioning, Wingman
# posted by Ray Huang @ 10:10 AM
0 Comments
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Email Fail
As you know, I recently moved from Phoenix to the SF Bay Area. I was looking up options to set up television service, my default was to just get cable, but I'm not sure if satellite dishes are allowed or will work from my location.
Perfect timing, I get an email advertisement from DirectTV. $29.99 for 12 months and 150 channels, not bad. So I click on it to learn more and read the fine print and it takes me to ...
Having managed several web sites in my day, I can appreciate and understand the challenges of getting a site up and working and functional, but for the entire site to be inaccessible while you update, is not good for business.
The lesson - beta test your sites somewhere else and migrate the new and improved site quickly. Oh, and always know where your email ads take the user.
# posted by Ray Huang @ 10:56 PM
0 Comments
Perfect timing, I get an email advertisement from DirectTV. $29.99 for 12 months and 150 channels, not bad. So I click on it to learn more and read the fine print and it takes me to ...
Having managed several web sites in my day, I can appreciate and understand the challenges of getting a site up and working and functional, but for the entire site to be inaccessible while you update, is not good for business.
The lesson - beta test your sites somewhere else and migrate the new and improved site quickly. Oh, and always know where your email ads take the user.
Labels: email marketing
# posted by Ray Huang @ 10:56 PM
0 Comments
Monday, June 1, 2009
Targeted Email Marketing
We all receive a lot of email these days, a majority of which is junk, some of which are marketing emails from businesses that you are a customer of.
These companies, depending on the sophistication of their databases, have some information about you - what you bought, where you live, stuff like that. And that's not a bad thing as a customer, to have opted-in to promotions from a company that has an idea of what you like. Its great that Southwest Airlines knows I fly from PHX to SFO regularly and notifies me of deals. What I'm not interested in is getting prescription drugs, making my penis larger, or taking HGH. That's what separates email ads from outright spam.
I recently got this email promotion from an online printing company I've used several times over the last few years. They do decent printing at a low price and are great for my value-conscious clients. As an opted-in existing customer, why on earth would they send me a promotion for new customers only?
Furthermore, I've noticed a lot of companies sending more email promotions out. I'm a fan of email marketing, its cheap, and when targeted and executed properly can be very effective. But even for someone like me that has a higher tolerance for receiving opt-in mail, many companies have worn out their welcome by sending information too frequently.
So 2 rules of thumb to leave you with...
# posted by Ray Huang @ 9:20 AM
0 Comments
These companies, depending on the sophistication of their databases, have some information about you - what you bought, where you live, stuff like that. And that's not a bad thing as a customer, to have opted-in to promotions from a company that has an idea of what you like. Its great that Southwest Airlines knows I fly from PHX to SFO regularly and notifies me of deals. What I'm not interested in is getting prescription drugs, making my penis larger, or taking HGH. That's what separates email ads from outright spam.
I recently got this email promotion from an online printing company I've used several times over the last few years. They do decent printing at a low price and are great for my value-conscious clients. As an opted-in existing customer, why on earth would they send me a promotion for new customers only?
Furthermore, I've noticed a lot of companies sending more email promotions out. I'm a fan of email marketing, its cheap, and when targeted and executed properly can be very effective. But even for someone like me that has a higher tolerance for receiving opt-in mail, many companies have worn out their welcome by sending information too frequently.
So 2 rules of thumb to leave you with...
- No more than one email promotion per week if you legitimately have something new, unique, and relevant. Most companies should do so even less.
- Target your emails. Most email distribution companies have rudimentary ways of classifying your master list into multiple categories. Sort your list, and send your customers what they are interested in.
Labels: Advertising, direct mail, email marketing
# posted by Ray Huang @ 9:20 AM
0 Comments
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Is Email Marketing Better?
Dear Wingman,
Is email marketing more effective than direct mail?
The real answer is... "It Depends."
It depends on who you're trying to reach.
It depends on your type of business.
It depends on what you're trying to achieve.
It depends on your budget.
It depends on how you measure effectiveness.
For local B2C companies, email marketing may not be very effective unless marketing to your existing client base. Purchasing personal email lists are hard to come by for very local markets, and consumers are very quick to write off unsolicited email as spam, no matter how brilliant you think your subject line is. Generally speaking, I'd recommend direct mail for B2C companies with a local or regional reach. But it can be expensive and require a lot of repetition.
B2B email lists are far easier to generate or purchase. Lists are available by industry, by geography, and by profession. Plus you can tap into industry sources and associations for some of these prospects. Its considerably less expensive and allows for better tracking and customization. But don't over do it. Its a trap that a lot of over zealous small businesses run into. An email every few weeks is already too much. I generally recommend no more than once per month. And like all branding, the message needs to look consistent, professional, fresh, and of course... make sure there is a call to action on all of your communications.
So there really is no clear answer that email marketing is more effective. The truth is, if you're in question, you probably should be doing both... and a lot more.
# posted by Ray Huang @ 1:13 PM
0 Comments
Is email marketing more effective than direct mail?
The real answer is... "It Depends."
It depends on who you're trying to reach.
It depends on your type of business.
It depends on what you're trying to achieve.
It depends on your budget.
It depends on how you measure effectiveness.
For local B2C companies, email marketing may not be very effective unless marketing to your existing client base. Purchasing personal email lists are hard to come by for very local markets, and consumers are very quick to write off unsolicited email as spam, no matter how brilliant you think your subject line is. Generally speaking, I'd recommend direct mail for B2C companies with a local or regional reach. But it can be expensive and require a lot of repetition.
B2B email lists are far easier to generate or purchase. Lists are available by industry, by geography, and by profession. Plus you can tap into industry sources and associations for some of these prospects. Its considerably less expensive and allows for better tracking and customization. But don't over do it. Its a trap that a lot of over zealous small businesses run into. An email every few weeks is already too much. I generally recommend no more than once per month. And like all branding, the message needs to look consistent, professional, fresh, and of course... make sure there is a call to action on all of your communications.
So there really is no clear answer that email marketing is more effective. The truth is, if you're in question, you probably should be doing both... and a lot more.
Labels: direct mail, email marketing
# posted by Ray Huang @ 1:13 PM
0 Comments
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