Posts written by Bill Powell

As a permission-based email marketing agency we follow the philosophy that Subscriber’s Rule:

• Serve the individual.
  
• Honor each individual’s unique preferences with regard to communication,
  content, frequency, and channel.
• Deliver subscribers timely, relevant content that improves their lives.

In fact, Inbox Orange in partnership with our customer, Bluegrass Hospitality Group, received industry recognition last month for doing so with BHG Rewards.

Below are two examples of tracking data pulled from recent email newsletters; one within the B-to-B industry and one within B-to-C. The email campaign that offered relevant content based on profile data, purchase history or the relationship with the sender, tracked greater open and click-through results with substantially lower unsubscribes.

Becoming a one-to-one marketer takes time.  Simply asking your subscriber about their interest and frequency preference is a great start.  Being creative with contests or polls is another approach.  Utilizing features such as Smart Capture for Landing Pages or the survey tools incorporated within the email service provider we recommend, ExactTarget, offer a seamless approach to collecting data and storage.  Both the ExactTarget Core and Advanced accounts allow for 200 attributes (data fields) – that’s a minimum of 200 ways to segment your audience!

rel·e·van·cy = the relation of something
to the matter at hand.

Relevancy drives loyalty. Loyalty begins with trust.  Trust begins with creating an exceptional experience.  Maintaining trust involves listening to your audience.  Listening leads to growth and understanding.  Communicating with your audience through the preferred channel with the right message drives engagement and loyalty.

To explore how Inbox Orange can assist with data collection, segmentation, campaign development and analysis, please contact us at [email protected].

The Bluegrass Hospitality Group (BHG) and Inbox Orange were recognized on screen Wednesday at the 2010 ExactTarget Connections Convention as a nominee for a Subscriber’s Rule Award. Best Buy took home the award but what a great honor to be in the same space!

Best Buy does an amazing job with sending relevant and targeted emails. If you are looking to follow a company that does it right, sign up to receive their email communication through Best Buy Reward Zone. Recently I purchased a new printer and within 24 hours I received a thank you email asking me if my questions were answered, directed me to the Geek Squad for assistance on set up and a link to a survey to evaluate customer service. Timely and relevant.

Best Buy is a proven leader in our industry and we’re proud to be a close contender!

Read our case study to learn more >

Yesterday I received this unique 15% off “gift” from my favorite store, Anthropologie, wishing me a happy birthday. I must say it stood out and has remained front and center on my desk since. I admire the uniqueness and relish the value of this customer touch point.

Not only was the gift timely, relevant and personal but it reminded me of the experience I enjoy each time I visit the store, and the satisfaction I’ve had with each purchase.

Next week Bill and I head to Indy for the ExactTarget Connections convention. I’m not a huge shopper, especially when it comes to clothing, however my plans for this weekend will include a visit to the St. Louis Galleria Anthropologie store. I need a new outfit for the convention and this unique gift has intrigued my interest to see what’s new. You can bet the color orange will be somewhere in the mix and I’ll be wearing my new Happy Birthday / candle necklace as an accessory.

Facebook rolled out ‘Places’ to users last week and so far, mark me down as not very impressed. I’m not sure what I expected, but Facebook Places leaves a lot to be desired. I’m not sure I get why they added it, when it doesn’t really add any value to the user experience–if anything–it adds to the noise in my news feed.

I have used, some more than others, location-based services (LBS) by Yelp, Facebook, Gowalla, Whrrl, Foursquare, BrightKite, and Rally Up. SCVNGR and Loopt have found a way on to my phone, but I have not used them.

With that being said, what makes a good LBS experience?

• I like the ability to check-in easily. (Partly because I am a freak when it comes to these LBS apps – using at least 4 of them for a while) After launching the app I don’t want to touch 5 screens to let people know where I am. I also would prefer not to “add’ a place, but as an early adopter I understand that comes with the territory. In my opinion, Whrrl has this down.

• I want to be able to take a picture and post a comment easily. That’s truly sharing an experience, why else would I post my ‘check-in’ to Facebook or Twitter? Maybe this is the marketer in me coming out and not the end-user. Whrrl also has this down, making it more of a way to scrapbook your experience.

• I want my other social friends to be using the platform. Foursquare almost has this down, but this is the only edge I give to Facebook in the LBS space. Unless they improve their other features quickly, most of the general public won’t see the point of why anyone would want to check-in anywhere.

• As much as I cringe to see myself typing this–I want some sort of scoring system. I kinda like how Foursquare has the points thing going. I also love the idea of badges. It makes much more sense to me than Gowalla’s items. And the mayors? That’s fun. Even my two kids get into the mayor thing. Asking me “hey daddy, are you the mayor of this place?” when the see me checking in on my phone.

If you can’t tell already, I love Whrrl. If you haven’t tried it, please do. Foursquare will likely win out, since it has a lead with user adoption. But let’s hope Facebook starts going places with it’s attempt at a LBS, because if it doesn’t it may just kill the public confidence in why one can be helpful for both social consumers and social marketers.

Don’t gag, but I have to share. We were so excited to be featured in the Valentine section of the February 2010 edition of the cool skirt! Lexington magazine. You can read the copy that accompanied the photo below:

Jackie and Bill, the marketing minds behind the Lexington agency Serif Group, have been wild about each other since their Wildcat days. The two met in 1994 as UK advertising students, married in 1997, and today share life, office space, two sons (ages five and nine) and a commitment to community, volunteering their time together at Lighthouse Ministries.

Jackie: “Bill is my knight in shining armor. His chivalry makes me feel special, and his interaction with our boys melts my heart. I’m so blessed to have found my perfect match.”

Bill: “Jackie is my best friend. I love spending time with her and I’m blessed that I get to work with her. I remember the first time I met her—it was love at first sight.”

And Kelli Patrick mentioned that first meeting in her From the Editor segment on page 10:

“Jackie Powell remembers the second time she met the man who’d become her husband and how she complimented his “photogenic” memory because he remembered her name (she was mortified the next morning to realize she’d meant “photographic”).”