Customer Acquisition Versus Customer Retention Strategies
Don't confuse the two
Hank Stroll, InternetVIZ
The best reviews I read are from those who tell readers about their own prejudices. They admit the truth - their opinion is only their opinion. Your own mileage may vary. I want to follow this lead and tell you about my own bias in 2 areas: 1) newsletters that are about the company producing them, but pretend to be about the reader, and 2) small and midsize companies trying to emulate the big boys.
iSource Looked Great
I admit that I did not think in terms of a customer retention newsletter, when I signed up for iSource. I expected it to be a customer acquisition newsletter, and as such would not work well. I totally missed Ruth P. Stevens' first line in her rave review of iSource that specifically used the words 'customer retention'. So, I admit, as a customer retention newsletter, it is pretty good.
However, I enjoy being a contrarian and had some pretty good stuff written that I did not want to 'chuck out the window', so I decided to write this rant, not as much about iSource, but about my two pet peeves.
Back in Time
<Start of rant about customer acquisition newsletters>
So, let's use the 'way-back' machine and go back to when I thought iSource was a customer acquisition newsletter ...
After scanning Ruth's review, I thought that maybe IBM solved the 'personalization riddle'. That's the one where content over technology rules.
The concept of content personalization in newsletter marketing has awesome potential, but has been difficult to deliver. Not because the technology doesn't exists, but the content choices that humans put into the technology are sometimes not the best.
When I first went to iSource website to sign up for their newsletter, I was blown away! iSource lets me choose the type of information that I want to read. I must admit that I didn't understand why a buyer would ask to obtain a steady stream of IBM press releases, but I quit questioning people's reading habits after my wife pointed out that I re-read the same science fiction books for the past 30 years.
Looking through their 90 choices, I thought that I had found the ultimate newsletter site. I happily chose the topics that I thought would be more than rehashed marketing literature. I was hoping for thoughtful commentaries about different industries. I thought that maybe IBM is starting to share its own experience, strength, and hope about the various business problems they have helped its customers face over the years.
As you can probably tell, I am by nature, a cock-eyed optimist, and many times, I am rewarded. I had no reason to believe that this would not be the case. I made my choices and waited for the next issue to arrive. Not quite like a kid in a candy store, but pretty close. I was thinking that it would be nice to kick off eNewsletter Reviews: Rants or Raves on an up-note.
The weekly newsletter came today. As I read iSource, I realized that my expectations were rather high. Not that the subject matter wasn't about the industries chosen, but the articles were about how IBM brought a technical solution to a problem for a company in an specific industry versus events or issues that companies in the industry face.
Bias #1
This old joke came to mind - "Enough about me. Let's talk about you! What do you think of me?"
Being a man, I naturally gravitate to 'what-is-the-solution' to a problem. I fight this impulse with every fiber of my being. I have made too many wrong decisions by going for the solution instead of understanding the problem. Since technology is mostly a man's world, the solution to business problems is to buy more technology. There is a reason why there is a technology slowdown, and why proving technology Return on Investment (ROI) is more important today than ever.
Most business buyers are beginning to understand that the answer is not always about technology. There are people and processes in the mix, as well. I look for information that will help me manage my professional life, not technology solutions. I need to trust that the solution to a problem is relevant and applicable to me and comes from a stable company. A well-written newsletter helps me with my everyday business problems, not just my technology ones.
Confused? Look at it this way - most of us like to know that we share the same business problems with others. We want to know we are not alone in our misery. We want to read about how others determined if they had a problem in the first place, before being given the solution.
There is so much information to filter through to find those nuggets of gold. How do you know if content is relevant to your professional life, without reading the article? Here is a guideline we use when finding best-of-web links for our newsletters
- any article with the name of a company in the title almost certainly is not relevant to your professional life. It will, however, talk about the company's latest product or partnership or acquisition. If you find that type of information useful, then my foot is in my mouth and please delete this article.
Bias #2
Large companies can afford to invest in great tools like content personalization. Few of these tools are cheap or easy to implement. They do exist, but hard to find. I won't get into them
right now, because the focus of this rant is that content rules! (However,
you can contact me for vendors, who I think are worth a look.) Too many companies focus on how to implement content personalization, but have no 'personal'
- or relevant - content.
Large companies sell product because of their brand. The old expression, "Nobody ever got fired because they bought IBM", rings as true today, as yesterday. However, building a brand like that is very, very expensive and takes many, many years.
When a smaller company tries to adopt that same 'branding'
mentality, they almost always fail. Not just lose some money, but go out
of business. Don't believe me? Look what happened to the dot.coms.
How much money was spent trying to sell (and build) their brands in a short
period of time? The classic example is the start up who took out an ad
during the Super Bowl. They are now 'out of business'. This is not
an isolated case. Take any industry and check out what is called 'Industry
News' - Try to find an article that is more than a marketing piece.
They're better off spending money finding and developing content that 'speak' to their prospects' everyday professional life. Not much more to say here. A well built house without
heart is not a home. See Bias #1.
</End of rant about customer acquisition newsletters>
Sometimes Company, Solution, or Product Information Is Relevant
Having ranted on about the above, there are times when company or product info is relevant in newsletters. Customers who have already made their buying decision may also want specific support and enhancements for their purchase.
A product or program specific newsletter is important to them. Customers, clients, resellers, and partners want to know more about the company and its products. This is the strength of iSource. For my taste, I still think the content is too IBM specific, but its hundreds of thousands of readers obviously do not agree, and readers of newsletters always rule.
My point? Don't confuse an excellent customer retention newsletter, like iSource, for one whose goal is to acquire new customers. For customer acquisition, a newsletter is best when it sets the stage for salespeople to work their magic, not try to do their job.
