For Many Brands CRM Emails Are On Autopilot ➟ Bland, Boring, Monotonous

Insight  ⇒  Brands Struggle as Publishers as Content Marketing Grows

According to 2014 research from the Content Marketing Institute, issues center around producing engaging content and enough of it, plus a lack of time and budget resources.

Insight  ⇒  Content is Hard for Brands Because Effective Content Must Entertain and Educate

No consumer wants to be sold … they want to be entertained and educated.  Conversely, marketers are trained to sell from the minute they enter the field … the exact opposite skill set needed for effective content marketing.  The same missteps are apparent in many email CRM efforts

• Content that tries to sell … bland, boring product information (brochureware as it is aptly named)
• Sending everything to everyone … no customization or segmentation matching of the content to audience interests/activities
• Lack of any kind of offer or the same offer over and over … an offer can be more than monetary,  it can offer relevant information
• Reuse of the same email template for years, plus poorly designed, boring templates (looks like IT designed it)
• And most importantly, no interactivity … not engaging the user to participate in an interesting  activity with the brand

Do This  ⇒  Put Yourself in Your Customers Place … Simple Steps to Improve  Engagement 

1. Research indicates people want coupons and offers in communications from brands.  If you have them, use them …  but vary your content constantly or they will tune out coupon-always sends
2. Be creative and integrate interactive engagement opportunities into your content
   • Polls, Gamefication, Q&A, Reviews, Contests, Sweepstakes, Commenting, Uploading activities, etc. … make it interactive 
3. New news … consumers love to be the first in-the-know on new products or enhancements
4. Video and visuals raise awareness and retention up 50-90% … a picture is worth a thousand words
5. Break the boredom … use different templates designed to catch the eye and create interest
6. Real, objective information that educates them and helps them navigate their path-to-purchase … even if  sometimes it is not in your best interest
7. Get outside help … the majority of brands are not publishers

Not That  ⇒  Try To Do it All Inside

• Brands have a skewed view of their own reality (we all do) they believe consumers desire to have a relationship based on their products’ attributes
• Sell … I have to repeat it because 75% of all content marketing tries to sell something
• Email it in … corporations put CRM email programs on autopilot with little resources … so they can check off the box that it is getting done

Zig is a Social/Mobile consultancy that drives brand engagement by creating interactive user experiences.  We programmatically reach in-market buyers, at the lowest cost, and move them to conversion.  You can see our work by clicking on the link ⇒ http://www.zigmarketing.com.