Strategic Elements

Scope the Program: Everything starts with the end result.  What do you want the recipients of your e-mail to feel, think or do? If this is a one-off effort it will need to work differently than if its part of a newsletter, club or continuity program.  If this is going to a specific segment or a house list, it will be received differently than if it’s a wide scale mass acquisition effort.  If it’s a new product or service launch versus a special offer on a well known brand, response will vary greatly.  The scope will reflect the goals – who, what, when, how often and what needs to be accomplished and measured.  Clarity on the front end will make measurement and analysis much easier on the back end.

Build/Align the Channels: An e-mail is the front end of a multi-dimensional response system.  Before you blast out e-mails you must decide where you will direct the response, usually expressed as clicks or calls, and what experience the responder will have immediately after making a click or a call.   This involves designing landing pages, embedding additional links, video, audio, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations, 800 numbers and measurement tools.   It also demands that you anticipate the most likely emotional and rational responses to your message and prepare the requisite answers and materials.

An e-mail starts a hoped-for chain reaction.   At the outset of a program, you must anticipate each step in that chain and marshal the creative, technical and analytic resources necessary to capitalize on those clicks.   If you mail before these are in-place and tested you squander the effort.  If you do this smartly, you are rewarded with the results you desire.

Work on the List: Who you address directly influences what happens.  Every list is flawed.   Assume that 20-30 percent of the names on any list you buy will bounce.   And assume that most house lists, even those carefully maintained, will lose 3-5 percent of address after each mailing.   The provenance of the lists is also a key indicator for response.  Names carefully opted-in by brand loyalists will perform much better than random names gathered by lead generation sites or list compilers.  Smart players, and virtually all bulk e-mail programs and services, offer list cleaning, merge/purge and integrity tools that everybody should use.   In this market, negotiate a “net name” deal which will give you credit for the names you buy that can’t be delivered.

Craft a Compelling Offer: We have trained everyone to expect a deal in an e-mail.  Your offer has to speak directly to your target audience and present something that they have to do right now.  Limited quantities, discount prices or time limitations drive some urgency but most of us can discern a real value from a passing promo offer in a nanosecond.   So think long and hard about what you are offering. How sensible is it your customers and how can you make it feel like something they must have right away?  Also think about how the offer will impact subsequent brand perceptions. Will the offer cement your relationship with customers or could it signal that the brand is slipping in quality or customer focus?

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Also referred to as alliance marketing, this kind of cooperative style of linking is very effective not just for the business, but for the consumers as well. Many times we entrepreneurs think we have to do things alone, but it is amazing how much traction we can gain from collaborating or aligning with partners. Fusion marketing can allow you to take your business to levels you never dreamed were possible.

Fusion arrangements can come from different avenues such as combining your mailing or email list with your partner’s list to do a joint mailing. You can offer an incentive to your alliance partner for each purchase of your product on their site and offer the same incentive to your partner through your site.
Here are few quick steps you can take to set up your fusion marketing arrangements:

Step 1: Define who you want to align with. Who will your alliance partners be? An alliance partner is someone who has similar prospects as you, but isn’t in the same business as you, so you aren’t in competition.

Step 2: Get together with your alliance partner and work together to figure out what your offer will be. Maybe you give a two-for-one offer while your alliance partner offers 25% off. Work together and come up with a joint offer that makes sense.

Step 3: Write up a general letter of agreement between your two businesses. This is not an expensive legal document you need to have attorneys review. The goal is to have a general letter of understanding that will help you communicate. This assures who does what and gets what. It can be a simple e-mail exchange if need be, just make sure what you are agreeing to is written down.

Step 4: Market your joint offering. Write up the ads, email, and copy for your offering and then send it out to your prospects. Combine mailing lists and communicate to both sets…be creative. Don’t worry about who has more or less prospects, your goal is to reach as many prospects as possible.

Step 5: Make sure the deal you’re offering is easy for the customer to take advantage of. The easier it is for the customer, the better chance you have of success. When you get a communication from a customer, ensure follow-up happens as soon as possible and that results of the communication are tracked. Always close the loop and make sure the customer is 100% satisfied with your business.

Fusion marketing is cool and can take your business to heights you never thought possible. It also helps you connect and benchmark with other similar businesses that you are not in direct competition with. Use this synergy to reach new levels of performance for you and your business.