Tis The Season…To Email Your Customers

About three weeks ago, I was on vacation at the beautiful Del Mar beach in San Diego, California. Within five minutes of stepping into the ocean for the first time in years, I got stung by a stingray. If you have ever been stung by a stingray, it is an experience you won’t forget.

The sharp spine that contains venom-producing glands delivers a severe sting, and luckily I was only stung on my ankle. However, the sting has consumed my life in such a way that it’s had me thinking about a lot of things, including how this whole experience relates to B2B marketing.

As soon as the stingray stung my ankle, that fish immediately got my attention. I was in agonizing pain for a good 30 minutes where all I could think about was the pain. While I soaked my foot in hot water for several hours to help ease the pain, all I could think about was the stingray and how this all happened.

But where’s the B2B connection?

In B2B marketing, the importance of an effective direct sales force through distribution channels is critical. The type of sales forces can vary tremendously so it’s important that you deliver a dramatic yet effective marcomm impact (or sting) that will both get your prospect’s customer’s attention immediately and continue to stay in their mind (or in my case, foot). Your first customer touch point is your sting, so to speak.

A week after I got stung, my ankle turned black and blue, and I ended up in the emergency room. Turns out, I got an internal bacterial infection from the stingray and had to get treatment right away to avoid surgery.  Just when I thought the stingray incident was behind me, that fish got my attention again!

In today’s overloaded B2B marketing environment, getting the attention of decision markers and influencers is a challenge, which is why B2B marketers need to make sure they are using the correct B2B communication tools to keep the customer engaged in the product and/or service. One touch isn’t enough, you need to plan for that second, and third, and fourth touch throughout the sales cycle. Just like the stingray got my attention again, you need to keep getting your customer’s attention with a variety of strategic B2B marcomm tools.

My stingray damage.

As of today, my ankle is still a bit swollen and the wound is purple due to all the internal bleeding, but I am well on my way to recovery. I am never going to forget this experience and I’m sure it will be a story that I’ll tell my grandchildren someday.

In other words, when you’re trying to think of new ways to capture the attention of a prospect’s crowded day, develop a message (and a delivery system) that will stick in the back of the customer’s mind forever.

It is stingray season, so make sure to do the “stingray shuffle” in the ocean to let them know you’re coming. Unfortunately, I had to learn this the hard way.

Have you stung your B2B customers today?

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It’s that time of year again; time to stash away the holiday décor and party hats, go out on a limb and boldly predict the big-time marketing trends for 2011.  So, without further ado (drum roll please), my prediction for this year’s big marketing trend is: an explosion in mobile marketing! 

Phew, I’m glad I got that off my chest.

Actually, now that I’ve announced it, I guess it is not a very bold prediction after all, especially considering the fact that SmartPhone sales have increased by 96% over the past year; a trend that shows no signs of stopping any time soon.  According to Mary Meeker of Morgan Stanley, SmartPhone sales will overtake PC sales by 2012.  This huge shift in technology will not only impact the general work environment, but it will also significantly change the way marketers communicate in the B2B sector. 

Over the past few years, B2C mobile marketing has grown tremendously, allowing marketers to reach customers and influence decision makers directly at the point of sale.  This growth has led to a major expansion in retail-based mobile technologies designed to generate foot traffic and increase loyalty. 

But now with the continued growth of SmartPhones, it is time for B2B marketers to step into the forefront and focus more attention on developing communications that are optimized for mobile devices as well.  More and more firms are starting to accept Apple and Android operating systems on company-issued mobile devices, providing an opportunity for B2B marketers to communicate to customers in fresh, creative ways. 

Only time will tell how the increase in demand of SmartPhones will impact the presence of B2B mobile marketing.  But one thing’s for certain; it is now up to us as marketers to take advantage of this open gateway and speak to our customers on the most accessible medium possible; their mobile device.

Do you think there will be a huge increase in mobile B2B marketing in 2011? How are you preparing to use mobile in your 2011 marketing mix?

Discovered a new fad this week – QR Codes. To some, these “quick-response”, two-dimensional barcodes may not be new, seeing that they originated in Japan well over 10 years ago.

QR codes are appearing almost everywhere now – magazines, direct mail, business cards or basically any communication vehicle out there enticing you to want more information. The codes can be read by QR scanners or cell phones with a camera.

This sparks my interest as a B2B marketer because we’re always looking for unique techniques that drive leads and engage businesses. You can take an innately traditional marketing communication and add a QR code that prompts an immediate invitation for your audience to reach out and engage with your company.

QR codes are great for contests and freebies, too. For example, Arizona State University (my alma mater), sent out a recent contest via snail mail using the technology:

This targeted communication, message and offer motivated reaction and prompted me to immediately download a QR scanner onto my iPhone (for free), so I could have a chance to win the tickets.

If you want to experiment with QR codes, here are some tools to get you started. Once you get the hang of it, here are 5 other creative ways to use them. Keep an eye out for them on Facebook in the coming months.

Where have you seen a QR code used recently?

Gmail rolled out a new feature called Priority Inbox which automatically prioritizes incoming e-mails into categories that reflect each message’s importance/relevance to the receiver. In short, Gmail automatically organizes your inbox into three main categories:

1. Important
2. Starred
3. Everything else

This is a fabulous feature that allows you to skip the unwanted e-newsletters and go straight to the e-mails that matter to you. It’s great for users, but can it present new challenges for e-mail marketers?

Based on Google’s description, Priority Inbox studies a user’s behavior such as how frequently they open and/or respond to messages from a given sender, how often they read messages that contain a certain keyword, if a message comes from a person they chat with and whether or not the message is addressed solely to the user or if looks like it was sent to a mass mailing list.

The idea is simple. If your intended recipient is not opening and reading your e-mails, you won’t be prioritized. Since it is very likely that other e-mail programs, such as Microsoft Outlook, will soon adopt this feature, it is important for B2B marketers to create e-mail campaigns with relevant content that will make readers want to open their e-mails and interact with them.

Do you think Priority Inbox will have an impact on e-mails used as lead generation tools?