In all seriousness though, these emails must work…otherwise they wouldn’t use them.  On average, you can expect a return of between 0.5% and 10% on a cold email list, so the more people you spam, the more people buy.  But that doesn’t help the average, ethically-conscious company who has an important message for their customers.

So what are our top tips if you’re using email to reach your customers?

1. Don’t just use email because you think it’s a cheap way to contact people.  It must fit into your marketing strategy and bring you a return on investment.
2. Send to people who ask to be included on your mailing list, rather than collecting business cards and sending your email to as many people as possible – you’ll just upset people doing the latter.
3. Keep the content in the email – it’s proven that most people don’t open attachments.
4. Use a great title – that can make the difference between people opening the email…or not.
5. Beware the use of photos.  They look great, but many people have their email clients set to leave photographs hidden for security reasons.
6. Keep the content simple – allow people to scan the content and pick out what they need.
7. Personalise the content as much as possible – I want to know your email is to me.  Not to 3000 other people.
8. Ensure the content is interesting… with the best will in the world, I don’t really care if you have a new building, or if Jenny from Accounts is having a baby.  All your customers care about is what’s in it for them.
9. Keep it relevant.  By segmenting your customer data, you can send relevant information and promotions to the right people.
10. Monitor your results.  Test and measure and find out what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t.

And… if all else fails, consider reverting to post.  This good, old-fashioned marketing method is staging a comeback amidst all the email traffic.  And a great envelope and mailer can still stand out from the crowd.

As a Chartered Marketer, you have to prove at least 35 hours of CPD (Continuing Professional Development) every year.  I’ve always achieved more than double that amount in terms of personal development and learning and also giving back to the local community by way of our free marketing seminars and mentoring for Cumbria Community Foundation and Lancaster University.

I had everything crossed when I applied to become a Fellow earlier this month and I found out today that my application has been accepted.  To put the accolade into context…there are just 2000 Fellows of the CIM across the whole world and only 300 of those are female.  So I’m incredibly proud of this achievement and what it represents for our company.

As a result, I’m off to open a bottle of bubbly and will be back tomorrow with some more tips for you… x

Both Next and John Lewis posted great results a couple of months ago but, more recently, Poundland has also returned an increase in their annual profits.  Whilst this paints a confused picture, it seems there may be some patterns:

• Consumers are looking for value, but they only want to buy once.  So, they’re turning to brands such as Next and John Lewis and buying fewer, quality items that they know will last.
• For everyday staple items, such as cleaning products and toiletries, they are seeking out value.  Interestingly, the spokesman for Poundland said they’d seen the largest increase in sales of branded items – so people are still looking for the brands they trust – just at the best prices.
• Whilst people are spending less on meals out, the cinemas have been thriving.  The supermarkets have also been able to adapt to this trend with their ‘Eat in for £10′ offers and sales of the ‘Finest’ ranges within the larger food retailers have been strong.  It seems people are happy to spend a little more and treat themselves at home if they aren’t going out as often.
• There’s also an argument that customers feel slightly guilty for spending money when they perhaps should be saving, or for buying something frivolous when others are struggling.  As a result, it’s expected that promotions may shift to emphasising the ‘deserved treats’.

The key thing to remember is that customers are buying.  Many are better off as a result of the drop in interest rates, so they are spending – it’s just a case of where they’re spending.  And, if they’re not spending with you, perhaps now’s the time to look for some marketing advice.

The feedback from our network and trainers is that Twitter is also where the real business connections are being made.  Facebook seems to be used for personal connections and friends, but business is happening through Twitter and people met through that social media tool.

So…isn’t it time you got started?

You simply need to visit www.twitter.com and sign up for an account and then there’s no stopping you.  But please beware… you need to treat Twitter as you would a networking event.  If you overtly sell to people without building a relationship first, your followers will decline.  And there’s little point tweeting if no-one’s listening to you.

Good luck and please share your experiences with us.

And the essence of marketing still lingers on when you visit your local market…

• Product – you receive instant feedback as to whether your product is in demand.  The way you display your products is important and you’ll sell more if it’s appealing.
• Price – instant feedback again – are people buying or not?  If not, you can change your price instantly.  The fruit and veg sellers are fantastic at this and will alter their price throughout the day; knowing they have to move as much stock as possible whilst it’s at its freshest and can demand a higher price.
• Place – Some positions on the markets are hotly contested…it’s all about location, location, location.  Where is the highest footfall and which streets attract more of your ‘target audience’?
• Promotion – I love the bustle of a marketplace.  Sellers promoting their wares and trying to catch your attention with shouts of ’10 for £1′.  As the promotion is verbal, it can be changed many times throughout the day and the regular traders will know which ‘promotions’ or headlines work best

I usually visit the local market wherever we travel in the world and have been impressed by the presentation of products in Spain and France, but the noise and bustle of the marketplace is more exciting in the markets of England and Africa.

This really is marketing back to it’s roots and its worthwhile revisiting what you do in your business – and whether things have become unnecessarily overcomplicated.

The secrets to the success include creating likeable characters, entertaining adverts and the designers have also managed to cleverly repeat the brand name several times – without being annoying.  What’s even better is the follow-up to the campaign – it’s not just a TV advert; the meerkats have their own web page and Aleksandr has his own Facebook profile.

Whilst the campaign’s a huge amount of fun, you know I’m always focused on the profits from marketing – so what about the results?  According to a recent edition of ‘The Marketer’, the results speak for themselves:

• From January – August 2009, there was an 83% increase in traffic to comparethemarket.com’s website
• Direct traffic rose from 30-50%
• Aleksandr Orlov’s own Facebook page has 600,000 fans

If only all advertising could be so effective – and so entertaining!

• Are you missing any telephone calls?  Perhaps when you’re in meetings, or on another line, or away from your desk?
• If so – do you have an answering machine?
• Do you divert your calls to a mobile?
• Do you have two (or more) lines, if you receive a lot of calls?

If people can’t get hold of you, that usually stops them buying – even if you’re an online business.

You have to make it easy for people to buy – otherwise, they’ll go somewhere else.  To help your customers, do you:

1. Make it clear exactly what you do?
2. Have your phone number visible on all your marketing materials (including your website)?
3. Answer the phone in a timely and professional manner (ideally with a pre-written script)?
4. Have an efficient message-taking service (i.e. not your 3-year old)
5. Have a sales system that makes it easy to sign up – and pay?
6. Use contracts, to protect you and your customers?
7. Offer a guarantee, to shift the risk from your customer back to your business?
8. Follow-up customers and prospects in a timely manner?
9. Call customers to ask if they’d like to go ahead / renew / buy from you again?
10. Give great customer service and keep in touch?

Let me give you an example I experienced yesterday that sums all of these things up:

About two weeks ago, we received a letter about the renewal of our motorcycle insurance policy.  I knew I had to deal with it, but hadn’t got around to it.  Yesterday, we received a call from Yamaha Insurance Services asking us about the renewal and following up the letter.  They ran through the quotation with me and managed to save me a little more money on the premium.  (This meant I decided not to shop around and instead decided to renew with them.)  When I didn’t have my debit card handy, they waived the credit card fee, to ensure I’d renew that day.  Very smart marketing – and they made it so easy, it was brilliant.  They saved me time, effort and the documents arrived by email the very same day.  Very simple and very brilliant. Excellent customer service – well done Yamaha.

Could you replicate that model in your business?  Most of us could – but we don’t.  We think we’re too busy doing other things – but sales are the lifeblood of your business.  This is where you absolutely should be spending your time.  It’s the very first thing we look at when working with a marketing consultancy client – there is no point chasing new customers and new leads if you aren’t looking after those you already have!

I can’t share all of the tips – you need to see Nigel speak for that, but the one that stuck in my mind was related to marketing.  Nigel’s third tip for super success was this:

The first thing super successful business owners do every day is the most important, most critical thing for the success and growth of their business…

…it’s marketing

Naturally, as a Chartered Marketer, I would think this is a great tip.  But Nigel made a crucial point – do you look after your marketing first thing in the morning, or does it slowly progress down your ‘in-tray’, under things like customer call backs, HR issues and invoicing?

If generating customers is the lifeblood of your business, surely you should be looking after your marketing first?  Before you do any other work?

This year presents another major opportunity; thanks in no small part to the volcano and British Airways.  The exchange rate is still poor for people travelling abroad – and we’re having amazing weather here.  What’s more; many people who holidayed in the UK last year realised what a beautiful country we live in, and decided they’d like to see more.

The concern is that these trends tend to be cyclical – so how can you make the most of this year to ensure your business continues to thrive through the winter and into 2011?  Our top tips are:

• Capture your customers’ data.  Ask how people heard about you and how you can contact them.
• Keep in touch – give people special offers and incentives to come back to your venue
• Make the most of the internet – many people book accommodation and vacations online these days – if they can’t do that for your venue, they may go somewhere else
• Maximise the sales with customers when they are here.  Offer people extra nights’ stays, desserts and top-ups of their drink.  An extra £2-3 on each sale will add up at the year end.
• Look after your customers.  We’re not always great at customer service in the UK but it makes a huge difference to your profits.

If you work in hospitality and want to know more, we’re speaking at a seminar on Wednesday (7th July) with Cumbria Tourism.  The event takes place from 10am-1pm or 2pm-5pm at Kendal College and costs just £10 for Cumbria Tourism members and £15 for non-members.  To book, call 01539 825048 or visit www.cumbriatourism.org/profits10

As I’ve only heard one side of the story, I won’t jump to conclusions, but there are a couple of really crucial lessons in this story and they link to the way business – and marketing – is changing…

1. Once a story has appeared in the ‘news’ it really is open to anyone to discuss, talk about, tell other people about…  This may be verbally, but it may also be online, as more and more of us have conversations with people using the technology we now have at our disposal.
2. If you’ve sent a story to a newspaper, you obviously want the promotion – so let others talk about you online to their hearts content.  Especially if they include a link to your event, story or site.  By working together, you’ll all reach more people.
3. We now live in a different world – collaboration is king.  Online people work together in a very different way.  They share more information and they work together for the greater good.  If you don’t understand that, you need to learn about how social marketing could boost your business.
4. The more people are talking about you – online or offline – the more successful you’ll be (as long as they’re talking about you for the right reasons).  So make it easy for people to share your news with their networks – you will all benefit in the end.
5. Stop being precious about ‘your’ content.  Very little in the world is new these days, so you need to work with others and share more openly.  Just look at the success stories of recent years, such as YouTube and Twitter, to see how much sharing is going on – and how much you’re losing out on.

If you live in the North West and want more details about social media, look out for our post about the ONE Event – we have a great trainer coming along to talk about optimising your website and talking to people online.  (Visit www.onebusinessnetwork.co.uk/one2010 for more details.)