Pinnacle Lists’ Blog

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Archive for November, 2008

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.

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.

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!