Tuesday 2¢ – What NOW?

Maybe cold marketing emails are an easy target, but this week, a particularly poor execution of the craft has me asking why and what now?

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I’m working with a client, and they plan on attending an exhibition, so I’ve been emailing the organisers. I’m using a new email address, and it seems the organisers have decided that sharing my name and email address with a list of marketing vendors is fair game.

This is actually not my thought for this week; I’m just setting the scene. Like you, I have an inbox of cold-calling emails – the difference is that I know how these folks got my details.

Which is also not the point of this Tuesday thought.

My point is, what is their point?

Maybe a quieter inbox, a new client, or a need to understand what is going on in a new category has me opening more of these emails than I would normally. But reading a few of them, I sometimes wonder:

What do they want me to do?

Here is a recent email from an agency of some kind referring to the event I’ve been discussing.

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Hi Ian,

The introvert in the corner at a party often fades into obscurity, and in a world saturated with content and fierce competition, simply pushing messages won’t cut it.

[ EVENT NAME ] is your opportunity to truly stand out and leave a lasting impression, and [ COMPANY NAME ] are here to offer you our expertise. Our team of 140 experts is dedicated to providing you with the tools you need to maximise your experience, all at a fraction of our usual rates. Click on the link below, have a review and we would be more than happy to jump on a call to discuss further.

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Remember, this isn’t an email from the event folks; this is an agency.

That opening line is poetry.

They conclude by offering me something cheap, a fraction of their normal rates.

But what?

What tools do I need to maximise my experience of an event?

I’ve been to lots of events. I don’t recall needing tools to maximise my experience beyond knowing which coffee stand has the shortest queue and the best spot to get a seat for lunch.

Oh, OK… maybe convincing the salespeople to get off their phones and just put the fucking leads into the CRM. 🙂

Aside from being the introvert in the corner at a party (I really often am), what problem will they solve for me?

Think of the plight of the modern email. It’s an Indian Jones entering the temple of tomb type story, the torturous journey of being planned, sent, and ducking the blows of Apple, Google, and Outlook trying to punt you into junk, unimportant, or not focused on. And then, finally, that moment when it survives all that, it gets opened and read. It has its moment to shine and its offering to maximise your experience, all at a fraction of our usual rates.

Maybe, we’ve all been there.

We’ve all been in meetings where the goal is to do a thing: send an email campaign, attend an event, have a TikFace strategy or some random act of marketing. As I’ve shared often when managing a marketing team, we need to ask why, and we need to ask it often.

This marketer’s goal was not to send the email but to get me to do something.

And I think if you can articulate why you are doing something internally during the campaign’s planning phase, you will be better able to make that ask during its execution.

I use the phrase “make that ask” because I’ve heard a few times recently that one of the differences between good and bad salespeople is the ability to ask for business.

So….

Why?

Why do I care?

Because you can help.

Why should I act?

You showed me how to get your help and asked me to do it.

What’s the worst that can happen?

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