The Funnelholic

Decent article from b2b online on email marketing strategies. It is a myth/reality article with 5 “myths” being refuted by Randy Ilas, the director of product and marketing for direct marketing firm Harte-Hanks.

Here are the myths, read the article for Randy’s “realities.

Here are my responses:

• Myth: Never e-mail on the weekend or before a major holiday.

• Funnelholic: Everything is worth testing. Certainly test with your house list not a rented one until you know it can work. i have avoided this in the past, but am excited to try. Its true, you are soo rushed during the week, I dont read anything…but, when I am sitting there bored…I might read. Try this! let me know what you come up with

• Myth: You’ll get the same results from all your lists as long as your offer is a good one.

• Funnelholic: This is a joke right? No one says this by the way. The list can make all the difference in the world! House lists are the best, targeted lists are second, and then some the rest….you can offer $1000 and you won’t get the same relevant conversion rate.

• Myth: You need to tell the whole story in your e-mail or you’ll miss out.

• Funnelholic: Joke too? I hope so. Personal experience should tell you people only read the first couple sentences. Alot of people delete if it just looks long!

• Myth: Always put your offer first in your subject line.

• Funnelholic: Not anymore. All of us direct marketers have ruined that one.

• Myth: Discounts matter more than branding.

• Funnelholic: Its true this was hot at one time. For B2B, this has ZERO relevance.
  

Written by Craig Rosenberg - The Funnelholic
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Remember, I don’t propose to be the smart one here — The Funnelholic’s joy/job is to search the web and find people smarter than he is and just present it. I have met the author of Mironov.com….really smart guy who writes some real thoughtful content.

The link to his articles: Mironov.com

Anyway, I’ll comment on some specific articles soon.

Written by Craig Rosenberg - The Funnelholic
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This is one of our “oh, come on” articles. Basically, the crux of this article is to let people know that leads need to be followed up on. Ok, I am being harsh…Bottom line, any marketing programs/lead generation manager is doomed for failure if follow up on leads is not enforced. The system breaks down in this lead-to-sales process hand-off quite frequently.

You HAVE to get buy-off that leads will be followed up on. As most people who know me know: I believe wholeheartedly in the idea of human-powered lead development team that takes on the process of contacting and setting up next steps with only Qualified Leads. Sales guys are not good at follow up and frankly the minute they start working on some deals will have no desire to do so. Lead Generation Programs have a higher success rate when human follow-up teams are in place.

I realize this isnt the ONLY way to deal with it, but it must be dealt with.
B2B Online: Lead-generation programs demand follow-up

Written by Craig Rosenberg - The Funnelholic
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