Here’s a good example of how not to do an email marketing campaign. This is an email I received earlier this week from a local events venue. I’ve blurred the name of the guilty party so as not to embarrass anyone, but there’s a lesson to be learned here.
Notice the big red button inviting you to See What’s Coming Up. Clicking this button takes you to the venue’s website to view the upcoming events—adding an unnecessary step to the process. A better-designed email would’ve simply listed the upcoming events and, with one click, I could get more info or purchase tickets for any event that interests me. Never require two clicks when the job can be done with one.
To be fair, minutes after I received this email I received a second email that was formatted exactly as I just described. But why send two emails when the job can be done with one?
For more tips on improving your email marketing efforts, check out this recent article from HubSpot about improving clickthrough rates.
Whiskey drinking—bourbon especially—has been steadily increasing in popularity over the last several years. If you’re a whiskey distiller, this is a very good thing—or so you would think. But at least one distiller is choosing to water down its product in response to increased difficulty with meeting demand.
In an email sent last weekend to its enthusiasts, Maker’s Mark explained that it will be reducing the alcohol content of its whiskey by 3%.
By the way, if you have any comments or questions, as always, we invite you to drop us a line at rob@makersmark.com or bill@makersmark.com. Thanks for your support. And if you’ve got a little time on your hands, come down and see us at the distillery.
Maybe I’m missing something here but this just seems like lunacy. Fixed supply plus increased demand should equal premium pricing, right? Granted, you can make the reasonable argument that Maker’s Mark doesn’t want to alienate existing enthusiasts by increasing the price, but is it worth the risk of being perceived as compromising on quality?
UPDATE: Maker’s Mark says, “You spoke. We listened,” turning social media disaster into brand goodwill. This is what using social media for business looks like.
What happens when you use guerilla tactics to produce a custom direct marketing piece targeted and delivered to people you’re asking to drop north of $100K on a car? A 32% response rate, that’s what happens. And you thought direct mail was dead.
Coca-Cola recently unveiled Content 2020, their plan for “how the Coca-Cola Company will evolve its approach to the creative agenda on its key brands.” There’s a lot to digest in these two videos, but they’re certain to make you think. Plus, the live sketch presentation approach is both well done and fun to watch.
In a voyage that included France, Kenya, Egypt and numerous other countries, Neistat and Joseph are pictured doing everything from riding bikes to cliff diving. While it may not have been what Nike had in mind (or was it?), the YouTube video has the potential to be one of those viral greats that come along far too infrequently.
Now the obvious question – Did Nike know what they were getting into before they gave Neistat the cash? It’s possible. But the end result is fantastic nevertheless.
Agreed. The video is great. Round The World in 10 Days is an adventure most people would love to have, so the premise alone is likely to strike common chord and get a ton of video views.
The setup is pretty clever, too—that Neistat took a pile of cash from the man, said eff you and took his friends on a trip around the world. However, the result is exactly what Nike had in mind, otherwise we wouldn’t be seeing this video and Neistat would be getting sued for breach of contract.