It’s a dilemma we’ve all faced: sales are hurting for the month, and you’re in danger of missing your goal. You know that if you send one more marketing email to your list (or any campaign for that matter), you’ll hit the target. After all, you’ve calculated your averages – a 15% open rate, 30% click-through rate, and 2% conversion rate, therefore you’ll generate X dollars in sales, right?
Will it work? Yes. Will it work next month? Maybe. Will it still work after this tactic of desperation has been used for months? Absolutely not.
When the cost of an additional marketing endeavor is virtually nothing, the directive from management will always be the same. “Do it more!”
But more is a paradox. It works well in the short term but fails miserably in the long run.
The alternative to more is better. Better requires thought, planning, and relevance. More simply requires more of the same. More is easier than better, so it’s often the weapon of choice.
Permission marketing is all about trust. Every time you send a campaign that is irrelevant, you lose a bit of trust. Every time you over-mail your list, you lose trust. Slowly but surely, you’re crying wolf. And like the boy in the fable, one day you’ll really have something important to say, and no one will care to hear it.