During the many years I worked in Marketing & Communications in-house for global firms, the struggle to find the sweet spot for the number of, and frequency of, sending out communications to our clients was a constant issue. This was not limited to only one company I worked for; this was a common problem at ALL of the companies I worked for. With many thousands of employees in so many departments, in so many offices, and with so many strategic initiatives, the challenge in keeping the balance between staying front-of- mind with clients without overwhelming them with marketing content has never (in my mind) been settled to this day.
With today’s technologies and platforms, having a traffic cop serve undercover as a marketer might just be what is needed!
Between emails, social media posts, advertisements (traditional & digital),
and media (TV, cable TV, streaming TV, radio, etc.) we are often
over-bombarding our clients with so much information that they become
numb to our content.
Having been on the other end of a phone conversation with an upset client asking that they be removed from receiving ALL further communications from our firm, I not only empathized with them but agreed with them
When we marketers put ourselves into the shoes of the customer, these are a few of the ways in which we strain (and sometimes fracture) our buyer relationships:
BALANCING FREQUENCY OF TOUCHPOINTS WITH RELEVENCY OF CONTENT
One business can provide a single client with multiple items of information. The problem becomes determining a cadence of sending those varied communications within a reasonable timeframe so as not to overwhelm the recipient.
When we touch our clients or prospective clients too frequently, we cause them fatigue
with our business, potentially leading to their negative brand perception of our
product and in worst case, the loss of a client, group of clients, or a prospective client.
Example: While working as part of a marketing department for a large global company in one of their business lines, our team unfortunately stepped on one another’s toes (more than once) in sending our communications out to clients. In the same week I sent out an electronic invitation for an upcoming event, my colleagues in the content group sent out an educational piece on a new solutions offering we were launching soon, our CEO sent an email sharing her thoughts on the current state of the industry, and our finance team sent out monthly client statements. This lack of knowledge on all the many communications being sent out on top of one another made it appear to clients that our business priorities were not aligned.
Solution: A weekly Monday morning “scrum call” was add to the calendar and it was mandated that all team members with responsibilities in sending client communications must attend. In addition, a cross-LOB master calendar was created so that all departments could access it easily and see in real-time what messaging content was planned and on what dates.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
The American Psychological Association has defined information overload as “the state that occurs when the amount or intensity of information exceeds the individual’s processing capacity, leading to anxiety, poor decision making, and other undesirable consequences.” With many peoples’ inboxes reaching double or triple digits daily alongside information being sent out via social media platforms, phone/text, and media, etc., it’s easy for a brand’s message or product to get lost amongst all that noise. If a receiver is pounded with too much information from a business, they can choose to ignore, mute, or block them out of their lives.
Example: I was receiving daily emails from a clothing store that I shopped at once while visiting Las Vegas. They have no stores near to where I live and even though they were sending me messages offering discounts and price cuts, it was still too expensive for me to consider buying anything. After about a year of ignoring their emails, I finally blocked them. Now I will (hopefully) never see or hear from them again. They’ve lost any potential business with me in the future.
Solution: Companies should employ savvy marketers who use data to determine which audience segment(s) the company will communicate to.
By analyzing data about a buyer’s needs, behaviors, and purchasing frequencies,
a marketer can determine and prioritize the most relevant messaging for each
segment and identify which channel of communication (email, text, advert, etc.)
is the best way to reach the customer to secure their attention.
TIMING
Sending a message at the wrong moment can diminish its impact for the recipient.
Even if the content is relevant, bad timing can result in a missed opportunity. Awareness of factors like seasonality, holidays, school breaks, etc. should be an integral part of the communication planning process. Another example of bad timing is the lack of sending a communication or sending it too late. Some companies have been called out and boycotted against for either not taking a stand on current social issues or for being late in stating their views beyond what was perceived as acceptable timing.
Example: I have ordered photo prints from the same online company for many years. I have always been happy with their professionalism, quick turnaround times, and quality of my products received. As part of their usual outreach, they send mass email reminders ahead of big holidays suggesting their products for gifts. This has been a helpful reminder for me in the past, and I never thought anything of it. Earlier this year the company sent out an email with suggestions for Father’s Day gifts from their collection. A few days later, the same company sent another message for Father’s Day, but this time it was an apology. They received complaints from customers whose fathers had passed away and the company’s email triggered difficult feelings. In their email, the company apologized for hurting anyone missing their father over the holiday and will do better in the future to understand that some holidays are not joyful. I really admired them for sending that apology email, and I’ll continue to use them in the future in part because of their mea culpa.
Solution: Marketers should recommend communication outreach dates based upon real-time data and buyer actions like customer browsing behavior, previous interactions with their brand, or seasonal trends. A potential buyer’s receipt of timely communication increases the chances that a message is successfully sent and that it will more likely be received, acknowledged, and potentially acted upon.
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