Simms Jenkins on email marketing organisation
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Simms Jenkins is a well-known voice in the email marketing field, writing and speaking regularly on strategy and tactics. Indeed, I often refer blog readers to his column over at marketing publisher iMedia Connection.
His company, BrightWave Marketing, helps clients with all aspects of email marketing: from strategy to execution and all things in between.
Describing his work, he says, "Everything we do is about using email to drive revenue and build relationships." So here's what Simms has to tell us about the changes and challenges that determine email marketing success.
The marketing media tends to put a lot of emphasis on technology solutions and problems when it comes to email marketing. Yet a common thread running through my conversation with Jenkins is the importance of the human and organizational elements.
He notes that the technology side of things "…is just one of the pieces of the puzzle" and, while important, can be a distraction (if this is your sole focus). Take the issue of deliverability, for example.
Jenkins says, "Sometimes people are giving a little too much mindshare to this when they could also focus on creating the message, enhancing their overall campaign strategy and doing other things that can have a positive effect."
His core message is that we should simply return to the kind of business basics that can often get lost in the rush to meet email production deadlines.
1. Set goals
"I'm surprised when I talk to a lot of companies and peers and ask them how they're doing compared to their 2005 successes or 2006 goals. Most people say, 'I don't know. I know our open rates are decent, but we don't have any specific goals for our email program'."
Jenkins says simply defining a set of long-term and short-term specific goals helps a lot, noting, "…if you don't know what you're trying to accomplish, obviously your campaign's going to struggle. Because there's a lack of focus."
"It sounds pretty basic, but are you trying to get revenue? Are you trying to drive traffic? Are you doing branding? A lot of people miss this big picture and this is really key in developing the actual message."
2. Build user-driven programs
But even when goals are there, Jenkins says many companies are too obsessed with meeting sales and marketing objectives, rather than building long-term user-driven email marketing programs.
Which is not to say these objectives aren't important, but if they dominate your approach then there is a danger that "…users are just not going to respond. Or they'll unsubscribe. Or they're going to tune out."
"Today's consumers, and especially the B2B folks, are smart enough to see that they thought they were signing up for 'helpful tips' and all they get is promotions."
3. Take a step back
Thinking in terms of user-driven programs means asking why a user would want to stay as a subscriber. What's in it for them?
This kind of review process needs time. Which isn't easy to find. As Jenkins notes, "A lot of people are trying to keep ahead of production schedules. So you're managing email campaigns just for the sake of deploying email campaigns, rather than to build relationships."
But it's worth the effort to take a step back and look at your email marketing with fresh eyes. For example, by reviewing the entire customer cycle that touches emails...
"Is our subscription form easy to use? Does it articulate how often you're going to get the messages? Look at the emails. How often are they being sent? Is the messaging clear? If I unsubscribe, does it work? I am referring to some basic things that a lot of companies don't look at and yet these are the nuts and bolts of an email campaign (not to mention part of CAN-SPAM compliance)."
Inevitably then, Jenkins says we shouldn't be seduced by the promise of advanced technology-supported tactics like dynamic messaging until we have the basic house in order.
"A lot of companies would do themselves a big favor by just going back to the basics first. I'm not saying not to use a lot of these advanced techniques, but walk before you run."
4. Define processes
Another example is the need to define rules and processes for developing, controlling and executing the email program. Like goals, processes are a basic building stone of email marketing, but tend to get ignored in the rush to hit the send button.
This is another reason for stepping back and reviewing the situation. Jenkins suggests continual self-assessment, "...asking why are we doing this? How are we doing this? Set up the required processes and constantly monitor best practices and industry metrics."
It's about giving all those involved with email marketing a clear idea of the hows, whys and whats of their work.
If goals and processes are clear, then your email program automatically gains a string working basis you can build on.
And Jenkins warns against underestimating the importance of getting the basic stuff sorted. After all, an email campaign is "...just as powerful as a TV commercial in many ways, and in some aspects, more powerful and certainly more personal. If it's good, it has a really strong impact. Every time you send an email, it's your brand and it's your relationship with the customer at stake."
5. Use the information you already have
While Jenkins exhorts us to remember the human and management aspects of email marketing, that doesn't mean ignoring the benefits of a technology-driven medium. Metrics being a prime example.
Jenkins notes that all the wonderful numbers you can pull out of campaigns rarely get used.
But digging into existing metrics gives insights you can put to immediate use. And doesn't require that much investment in time and resources.
He adds, "It's mind-boggling to me that more companies aren't using their clickthrough stats, for instance, for a follow-up campaign. Why not send a second campaign to the 564 people who clicked on the Buy Here link but didn't complete the purchase? That's one of the biggest low hanging fruits."
And he has another suggestion for an easy email marketing win if your metrics aren't improving...
"Why not do an online survey? Simple questions like, are we sending too frequently? Should we be sending less? Are our emails too promotional? Would you sign up for a newsletter if it had this information? Just basic things like that."
Why don't people do this already?
"Some of the companies don't want to hear the answers because it may counter their sales and marketing answers."
6. Consider organizational issues
In the long-term, though, it's the organizational issues that may be the biggest factor in your success. Jenkins cites organizational challenges as the most overlooked area in the industry.
One such issue is the lack of co-ordination between all those parts of an organization sending out email.
Jenkins notes, "You have maybe six different groups within the company using email. If six departments want to send five emails a month, then the user's maybe getting 30 messages. Which is way too many...we're cannibalizing ourselves by just blitzing emails out."
A solution is to have someone at the top defining processes and rules across the organization for outgoing emails, and thus controlling overall email output.
Someone who says, "…you each get your one email that we'll schedule accordingly. And then we're going to combine the rest into a biweekly newsletter that will have lots of cross-promotional content."
But the need for coordination at a senior level leads us to a related issue: top management's attitude to email marketing.
7. Get in-house support
Jenkins says even successful programs will struggle in the future, "…if your senior management doesn't understand or fully support it. Because they're going to end up throwing the money somewhere else."
Is this lack of support for email marketing common? Yes.
Jenkins says it's not unusual to hear marketers say, "I fully understand that we need help in this area, but the big roadblock is getting the boss to approve the investment in time and resources."
He identifies two misconceptions preventing senior management getting the email marketing message…that email marketing is cheap and email marketing is easy.
"Email is so cost-effective. So everyone thinks you don't have to spend much money on it. And sometimes the mentality, is 'Sending an email. How hard is that?'."
Throw in the fact that many senior-level marketers have no experience with email, or even with online marketing, and you have a support problem.
This lack of experience is also an issue with email marketers themselves: it's a young industry and many of the early pioneers left the business in the late 1990s as the dot com bubble burst.
You can end up with a vicious circle. If senior executives don't see the value of investing time and resources in email marketing programs, then they won't bother developing (or looking for) the appropriate talent.
So, says Jenkins, "...the education process is really important to get the buy in. It's often an uphill battle just getting people to devote the time, or see that you're not going to break-even after three months: it's a long-term commitment."
Of course, these issues will resolve with time, as companies and agencies realize "...that all these online marketing vehicles are here to stay. So they're putting more attention in there...you'll see companies investing more in expertise."
"The next generation of senior executives will be much more proficient in dealing with online. You'll see a new wave of trying a lot of things out in the next five to ten years. And we'll probably look back and think 'hey, we were all pretty basic and boring'."
Best business book ever read: Lyndon B. Johnson : Portrait of a President by Robert Dallek
"I was a history major but never held LBJ in high regard. My sister-in-law gave me this book and I dove into it on the plane home at Christmas. I was just inspired: he pretty much came from nothing and drove his way to the top of US politics by ambition and hard work."
"It's one of those things that really got me fired up. There are so many lessons I was able to pull out of it. For any part of life, but for business in particular. Here's a dirt poor Texan that was able just to climb the mountain. Pretty much because he wanted to."
Best business advice received: One of my grandfathers said Don't have credit card debt and have nice shoes. It goes a long way on both fronts in the business world in particular."
"My other grandfather was a very experienced businessman. He sold companies and had a lot of different roles in different industries. He said, Grow slowly and do it in a calculated fashion. Don't grow for the sake of growth."
"Back in the dot com era, I thought I'd be a failure if I wasn't rich by the time I was 30, because all you did was read about 26 year olds who were worth $14 million on paper."
"But my dad (who's a conservative stockbroker) told me, Success doesn't come overnight. I thought he was old-fashioned, but that's a pretty wise and accurate statement. And a good thing to keep in the back of my mind as I slowly grow my company."
Best way to celebrate email marketing success: "It's not as exciting as seeing your TV spot during the super bowl. But if we can we'll go visit the client. We had one client that owned a luxury resort in Fiji: I was able to go visit them. I'd like more clients that I can celebrate with in the South Pacific."
Why he does what he does: "There's so much growth and it's constantly evolving. So it's hard to get bored. Every client we deal with has a completely different set of circumstances and challenges to contend with."
"There's not a lot of similar companies out there. Even the bigger interactive marketing shops don't have a particular strength in this area. I don't want to sound altruistic, because at the end of the day we're in this to make money, but it's nice to be able to fill a need that's truly there."
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