Lean Marketing Blog


Archive for April, 2010

Real World Social Media Case Study

Friday, April 30th, 2010

So social media is the buzz word for 2009-2010 and we’ve been beaten over the head with it for a while. Yes, I can go into long detail about this “great paradigm” shift in consumerism or marketing strategy, but no, I’m not going to do that. Below is a “plain English” case study of a recent social media campaign we did for a client. Easy to read, jargon-free.

Client: Blueair, Inc.
Location: Chicago
Product Mix: Consumer Air Purifiers

1) Identify Objective

The client came to us with really one need: “We need to use social media.” After some discussion, the objective turned toward that fact that users of Blueair Air Purifiers had great stories about their success. Our client hears these stories everyday in customer service phone calls, but they’re rarely shared.  Wow…new objective:  “Get Blueair product users to share their good experiences.”

2) Creating A Game Plan

Building the Facebook Fan Page
After identifying a better defined objective, we discussed the building of a Facebook Fan Page. At that time, 2 weeks ago, it was a “fan page.” We added a few photos and a couple tabs to the fan page. to integrate some additional “engagement opportunity.” Ideally, we are trying to inform and educate people who are concerned about indoor air quality. There is always room for additional educational tools on the Fan page, but this was a start.

Driving People to the Site
The main question that every client has is: “How do I drive people to the Facebook page?” With the Blueair campaign we did 2 fast actions:

1.) Designed banner advertising that ran on “Housewares” specific websites.

2.) Designed an email campaign that reached 13,000 customers and prospects.

3) The Promotion

We built a promotion around Earth Day 2010. We suggested the giveaway promotion tie-in with the Blueair ECO10 Air Purifier, ultra high efficiency air purifier unit. The “engaging” part of the giveaway requested that contestants write on the Facebook Wall about their experience with Blueair.

3) The Outcome

OK guys….here are the real world results of a shoestring social media campaign. The email campaign and banner advertising media buys occurred 2 weeks before Earth Day. We drove people directly to the Facebook Fan Page. The email had a 27% open rate(# of people who viewed the email) and 5% click through rate (# of people who visited the Facebook page).

Overall, the client:

1.) Picked up over 100 great comments about how users are enjoying their Blueair Air Purifiers.

2.) Added over 200 new fans.

3.) Lastly, the Facebook received over 2,200 views during the one week campaign.

Actual Comments & Fan Photos

We love our Blueair purifiers. My whole family has allergies and once we plugged in our purifiers we all stopped sneezing. They are amazing.

We live in Wisconsin, where we are stuck in the house for almost half of the year during winter. My two kids have colds very often during the season. I bought a Blueair air purifier to help remove the airborne particles to relieve their cold symptoms. To my surprise, since I had the Blueair, they only get 1 or 2 times cold throughout the winter.

The Conclusion

The client was happy with their first dip into social media. We now have great comments posted on the Facebook wall and we’re growing that online community by engaging those people. Simple and easy. The next step is to keep in communication with our new social media “friends.”

Email Marketing – Is There a Perfect Subject Line?

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

It could be argued that there’s no quicker path to success or defeat in the marketing world than the email subject line. Is there a perfect subject line? In short, no. A powerful and effective subject line is something that while specific to the product or service, should follow a few simple rules.

1) Get Through the SPAM Filters

As spammers get more inventive with their emails, more and more legitimate messages get caught in the spam filter trap. Certain words such as “Free,” “Click,” “Cheap,” “Cash,” “Save” and “Discount,” or symbols such as “$,” “%” and “!” can act as triggers for spam filters along with many others like them. In some cases, these words and symbols may not trigger a response but placing it as the first word or the addition of ALL CAPS may be enough to send your message into the abyss.

2) Don’t Forget the From Line

As important as the subject line, the from information can make or break an email. Generally, a best practice is that the from and subject should work together and the from line should clearly communicate who you are as the sender. If you’re a sales representative for a company, a from line using your name may engender familiarity while a general marketing email is probably best sent in the company’s name.

3) Keep It Short

A subject line is like a highway billboard. Your customer is moving 70+ mph and only has time to catch a few key words before their attention is lost. Many people get hundreds of emails a day and have a hard time separating the spam from legitimate emails. If you’re adhering to CAN-SPAM laws, the customer will have opted in to receive your email. Make sure you’re using a familiar from line to grab their attention and then deliver a clear, straightforward message in the subject. Try to limit it to less than 50 words and always put the most important information first as many email readers truncate longer subject lines.

4) Avoid Pushy Language

Keep your content specific and relevant to the customer, avoid sounding pushy or salesy and avoid flashy promotional phrases and exclamation marks. Your subject line should specify a benefit for the customer. They signed up thinking they were going to get something they were interested in. Be sure to give it to them or you’ll see a steady drop in your numbers.

5) Urgency Can Sell

Does your offer have a deadline or a limited availability? Don’t waste a great opportunity! Let the customer know this information in the subject line and get ready for a measurably higher response rate.

6) Review Past Performance

Do you have a large history of sent emails and performance history for them? Don’t let that information go to waste! Periodically review your subject & from lines in comparison to open and click rates. Did something work well for you in the past? Create a new riff on that email. Also, think about using split testing to test the effectiveness of your subject lines.

In the end, your past email performance should give you an indication of what topics have generated the most activity. This information should drive your email marketing strategy moving forward.