We meet a lot of interesting people through the regional Panel of Peers workshops we host; one workshop provided us the opportunity to meet someone we’ve dubbed, Mr. Perfect.
Mr. Perfect is a CMO who refused to look at the numbers; his rationale was simple, “I don’t need to look at the numbers, I am the conductor of best practices!” Unfortunately a closer look proved to the contrary – his five-plus emails a week, featuring a random product assortment, garnered an unsubscribe rate of 3% and a list size that hadn’t grown in over five years.
As consultants, we tried to help him. We suggested sending fewer, more targeted messages – maybe not including basketballs, with coffee, towels and golf shoes in the same message. He responded that his recipients didn’t know what they wanted and it was his job to grab their attention.
We told him his unsubscribes were too high, his response was that those people obviously didn’t understand the value of his messaging, so he was glad he didn’t have to do business with them.
We insisted that his list size had not just stalled, but had shrunken… he responded just as he had to the topic of unsubscribes, convinced that those people were at a loss and missing out on what he was sending.
It’s hard to believe that there are still eMarketers resistant to change, our environment is constantly in a state of flux making monitoring, best practices and strategic thought requirements to stay competitive. To help you stay current, we’ve invited a colleague to share her insight on list growth and engagement during today’s Service In Action call – make plans to attend at 2:00 or check out the podcast (available shortly after 3:00 EST.)
P.S. – We’ve recently learned that Mr. Perfect is looking for a job; so if you’re in need of a visionary in the field, we can make the introduction.
