Pinnacle Lists’ Blog

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I’m in a recession state of mind……

The more we are plugged into CNN or MSNBC, the more we are going to hear the mind numbing word, “RECESSION”.   My suggestion to you is to arrive at your own conclusions, and ultimately decide what is in your best interest.  It is very possible that hearing these messages over and over can actually help to ultimately lead us into a recession.  There is no doubt that the US economy is going through some very serious shifts – the failing auto industry that was not listening to the trends; the failing housing market that was due to shift; the imploding finance industry due to their far over extending themselves.  All of these events have occurred due to mismanagement.  Nothing magical has happened other than errors in judgement.  So, I offer you to turn off CNN or MSNBC for a while and tune into some more uplifting stations; and make up your own mind on how you are going to face this economic cycle we are presently experiencing.

Email Marketing won Barack Obama’s election!!

If it were not for email marketing and email reaching out, the Democrats may not have won the election.  It was through this form of communication that Mr. Obama’s team were able to connect with millions of potential voters and supporters in a very timely and cost effective way.  Not only were they able to pull volunteers from these email efforts, they were also able to pull millions in donations. 

Email marketing is a very cost effective, timely, and 21st century approach to communicating your message to your target market.  You are not spending hundreds or thousands on postage and printing.  You are not needing to wait weeks for any feedback.  You are able to obtain instant results and instant reporting on how your email reach went.  You can send out several blasts to several different targets to assess which target to continue to focus on.  Email marketing will continue to be the cutting edge method of communicating with the marketplace; alongside blogs, social networking, and online ads.

How will Obama impact direct marketing world?

Since the Presidential election, I have been contemplating how Barack Obama’s election will impact on the Direct Marketing industry.  I am wondering if he will have positive or negative impact.  The reason I am stating this is because his campaign has been very citizen focused vs. corporate focused.  So, if he honours his commitments to the citizens, then he may start to look more closely at privacy issues.  This would most certainly have negative ramifications on the industry.  If, however, he is looking for ways to stimulate the economy and inject some new changes, then he would need to look at ways to support our industry since we are an important component of the communication highway.   I would be interested to hear some other thoughts around this.

Welcome to Pinnacle Lists’ Blog!

This is a place where we can exchange specific marketing ideas or simply thoughts around what is happening in the world.  I welcome you to let me know what topics would be of interest to you.  Thanks for taking the time to come by!

No guarantees with targeted marketing

When a client signs off on an order form for a direct marketing campaign, the fine print very clearly states that there are no guarantees with targeted marketing.  If you purchase a list and send out one email broadcast for instance, we cannot guarantee how people will react.  All we can guarantee is that we will take the creative that you have provided, and will send it to the target audience we have confirmed.  This is what we can guarantee.

Thinking Outside the Box….

How is your year going?  How is everyone around you doing?  How many times have you heard: It’s a recession and no one is spending any money?  I have heard it almost everyday, and you know what?  I chose to continue to conduct business and continue to connect with my clients and prospects because that’s what it takes for my business to continue to operate.

How about you?  What are you doing to continue to move your business forward?  What are you doing differently during these different times?

I look forward to hearing from you!

President Obama is not wasting any time!!

This is a man of action!  This is a man of his word!  This is a leader who is doing what ‘real’ leaders are meant to do: lead us to a better place where all will feel like they are included in the outcome.  Well…..maybe not all; since the big lobby groups that had full control over the Bush Gang will not be happy with how the new administration is handling things now – how they will not be bought; how they will hnour their committments and stick with their game plan no matter how many millions are offered.  This is what I call integrity of the highest order.  I hope that President Obama will continue to stick with his plans & policies that he has spoken of for the past year.

The Best of the Season!!

On behalf of Pinnacle Lists, I want to wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season!! I’d be interested in hear from you on what you typically enjoy doing! Do you like to sit by the fire and read? Do you like to check out some new cafes? Do you like to go skiing? Do you like to go somewhere warm?

I will look forward to hearing from you!!

Cheers!

Grant

What do you think of our website?

We have just updated our website with a brighter background and a logo that is consistent with our letterhead, etc. We would love to hear from you! Thanks!!

Does Multi-Channel Direct Marketing work?

Good question!  It really depends on the quality of the list.  I have had numerous clients run a postal, telemarketing, and email campaign from the same vendor, and typically were not satisfied with the email outcome.  The issue is typically how the data was pulled.  If it was pulled from a survey or from a trade show, then quite often it is not current.  This is why I tend to prefer to go to one vendor for postal and phone data and to another vendor for opt-in permission based email because then you are dealing with vendors who specialize; and the data in their specific niches tends to be superior.  The other issue, is that with opt-in email, it is truly beneficial to run more than one broadcast.   I typically recommend at least 3 spread out over a period of 2 to 3 weeks.