Author Archive: Mallory Hull
5 questions for Premise
Patti founded Premise in 2003.
Patti Faulkner is the founder and owner of Colorado-based Premise Advertising and Premise E-Connect, the agency’s email marketing division. She was kind enough to take some time out of a busy Monday to answer five questions.
Tell me a little bit about your shop, Patti.
I’m a really small shop. I have one other full-time employee and one part-time employee. And I have anywhere from two to eight freelancers working for me at any given time. Our size has given me a lot of flexibility with scale. In addition to running Premise Advertising, I’m also a mom of three, which makes my business the perfect size. It’s small enough that I get to work with every one of my clients and not have to solely worry about running the business side of things.
We’re a full branding firm, so for most of our clients, we’ve developed their entire brand. From their logo to their website, to their on-site marketing materials, like brochures — we have them covered. We work on their online presence through email, online advertisements and SEO because it really is one of the most cost-effective ways that you can get out there.
What Emma feature could you or your clients not live without? Which feature has had the biggest effect on your bottom line?
It’s a very simple and basic tool, but it’s the ease of creating a group and being able to copy people from one group to another. Being able to easily select members that are in multiple categories and groups, then sending them very, very specific emails — that’s phenomenal. Honestly, that’s the one thing that pulls people over to my solution time and time again. I set up their email systems a little like a CRM, so that no matter who your client is — if it’s a restaurant and you’re looking at your lunch crowd, or if it’s real estate and it’s people who are looking for a two bedroom — we can drill right down and send very targeted messages.
We typically get anywhere between a 28% and 36% open rate because we are very specific and targeted when sending our emails. That has to do with groups. I also do a lot of work on the backend to make sure I have a lot of detailed information about my clients’ members, so I can find those segments. That’s my number one, most-used tool in Emma.
I know that sounds very simple, but I don’t think that people really think about how intentional and targeted you can be by using groups and searches. At any given moment, my clients will know how many people are in their lunch crowd, how many people signed up on a certain campaign and how many people are from their Facebook account. It’s nice because people care when they think that you know who they are.
What’s your “niche?” Why is it that new clients decide to come on board with you?
My biggest advantage is that I have both corporate and design backgrounds. So I really think very strategically about each client and how they can position themselves most effectively.
Who is your brand crush and why?
Southwest Airlines. They have done an amazing job at branding themselves with their “We Love You” campaign. From their online presence to when you get on a plane, you know that everyone that works there supports that motto. They’ve definitely personalized the enormous airline industry that’s, otherwise, so impersonal.
Who’s the one person or band you’d like to see live that you haven’t seen yet?
Well, I’m originally from Seattle, so music is huge there. I’ve pretty much trucked and seen a lot of my favorites. So, it’s hard for me to think of someone I haven’t seen. I just saw one of my coveted favorites, Eddy Vedder from Pearl Jam perform acoustically at a private concert. Before that, I would have said “to see Pearl Jam play again.” I’m still waiting on the Pearl Jam come-back tour, though.
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Not a customer yet? Interested in seeing more about the features Emma offers? Take a look at Emma at a Glance — it’s a meeting-ready PDF that highlights Emma’s email marketing features and pricing.
Things we love: Creative alerts to email subscribers
Fandango sent their new address in style.
That’s why I unexpectedly smiled (and it *may* be because I’m a bit of an email nerd) when I received this email from the folks at Fandango. They wanted to let me know that their “from” email address was going to change, and that I should add the new one to my address book.
I love the way they framed the message as if they were moving physical locations. We all recognize the mundane process of going to the post office, filling out the change of address form and then notifying everyone of our new address. It was easy for me to relate to. They also did a great job with the design of the email — it’s branded with a clear call-to-action at the top. (The cute Muppet-like guy didn’t hurt either.)
Add a little creativity to the way you shape these types of messages for your audience, and you’ll most likely yield some successful results. A simple heads-up or FYI alert might not be enough if you want your subscribers to actually engage with your email, even if it’s something as simple as clicking “Add to Contacts.”
*(Hint hint, Taylor.)
5 questions for Solar Velocity
The team at Solar Velocity
Jason Swenk is the CEO (or company commander, as you’ll learn below) of Solar Velocity, a full service digital agency based out of Atlanta, Georgia. He took some time to answer a few questions I had for him on a far-too-rainy Thursday afternoon.
Describe your role in six words.
Company Commander. Visionary. Digital Leader.
What’s your “thing?” What is it that you do that gets new clients in the door?
We solve our customers’ challenges, whether that is building awareness of a particular product or service on the social side or through their website, or increasing client acquisition and how they interact with their customers. That could include creating an online community, or utilizing a product we’re developing called Social CRM that helps promote, innovate and support their company and customers. Or, it could involve the custom development of an application.
For instance, we’re working on a particular iPad app right now that’s for a big bank. They’ll actually send out an iPad to the people that they’re trying to get to join their bank, with our iPad app saying “Play with it for a week, see how you like it, and we’ll come get it later.”
We do a mapping session with our clients. They know some of the challenges that they have, but through the consulting and brainstorming that we do, we identify other problems. We take the approach of learning what challenges our clients are solving for their customers, and how they can interact with their customers even better.
What features do you use to market yourself with Emma? Emails and surveys? Social Sharing?
We really just utilize email. It’s more about awareness for us, and keeping our name up in front of the list that we’ve been building for years. We’ll use the newsletter to showcase new tools, technologies and strategies, because the digital market is really changing with social media and mobile marketing. We’re using email as a channel to say “Hey, have you thought about this?” and we follow up over the phone with folks that ventured to our landing page from the email.
Our lists are composed of all kinds of folks: current and past clients, prospects, folks that have been to our website, visited our blog, seen us in the news, or seen us speak at a conference.
Where do you draw inspiration to keep Solar Velocity humming successfully?
First off, any good company looks back at their clients as well as their employees. For me, inspiration just kind of hits me — when I go running or am away from the office — and it stems from wanting to be the best and never being happy where you’re at. I’m always having to hit a moving target. If you’re stagnant or if you’re always talking about what you’ve done in history, you must not be doing too much today.
What are your thoughts about March Madness? Who did you root for?
Well, I went to Florida State University so I always root for them. When FSU’s not in it anymore, I pull for the underdogs.
Things we love: Quirky holiday email greetings
Capturing our hearts.
In honor of Valentine’s Day this year, some of us at Emma returned to our elementary school roots and created mailboxes out of brown paper bags — and, yes, decorated them with glitter and stickers — so that we could share handmade cards and candy with one another. You could definitely say we got swept up in the nostalgia and excitement of rustling paper bags and candy wrappers.
Much to no marketer’s surprise, on Valentine’s Day and the days preceding it, my inbox was packed with heart-filled promotions, and, as I rifled through those offers, I came to this special greeting from one of Emma’s agency partners, Red Toad Media.
Red Toad’s message was short and sweet, and it linked to a downloadable PDF of vintage-inspired Valentine’s. (Click here to see the PDF, or view the thumbnail images below.) Upon downloading, you could print out, sign and deliver your very own Valentine’s greetings.
Red Toad Media shared old-school Valentines & showed what they do well.
I love that Red Toad took a unique approach to their Valentine’s email by showcasing their design skills and letting their subscribers in on the fun.
Of course, it’s never a bad idea to offer your customers coupons or discounts on holidays, especially if you’re trying to increase your revenue, but, for the next one, consider creatively highlighting one of the things that makes your brand unique. I bet it’ll really make you stand out in your customers’ inboxes, too.
In-store experiences and email working well together
How World Market used email to begin a lovely brand + consumer relationship.
Sometimes a good email experience starts on a random Saturday afternoon while you’re holding onto a rug and standing in a check-out line. World Market, known for affordable and stylish goods from around the world, does some savvy marketing that starts with the point of sale and heads right to the inbox. They use several best practices to build relationships with customers and keep them coming back for more.
When I was recently buying a World Market rug, the cashier asked me if I’d like to become a member of the World Market Explorer Rewards Program. She compared the program to a Kroger Plus Card program, assured me it was free and said I’d receive coupons if I signed up. So, of course, the bargain lover in me signed up: name, email and telephone number.
Simple enough. Expectations set. Bring on the coupons…
A day or so later, I got an email prompting me to set up my Explorer membership, confirming my interest with an official opt-in. After entering a couple of details (taking 15 seconds, tops), I received a 10-percent-off coupon in my inbox within minutes. (I already had my next rug purchase in mind.) What’s especially important to note here is that World Market reached out as soon as I joined the list while my memory of signing up was fresh. Lots of organizations forget to do this, and they lose the opportunity to get people engaged right away.
A few days later, they sent me a $10 off coupon. I knew I would receive coupons, but two in one week was a nice surprise. I was further intrigued when the next email invited me to go to the World Market Preference Center to indicate my personal interests in their brand. World Market will use those details so they can send me content that they know interests me.
With one swift interaction and a couple of emails, World Market made me into a repeat buyer.
Takeaways for your own email strategy:
+ Let your subscribers know what they should expect when they sign up for your list, and follow up with them quickly.
+ Follow through and meet — or exceed, if possible — those expectations.
+ Engage your customers through email, listen to what they have to say and tailor your messages accordingly.
Emma is a member of the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group.
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