• Make your best online messages more compelling

Most online messages are too bland, too long and too routine to be remembered, says veteran marketer and strategic consultant Bernard Ross.

To make your online message memorable, try S.U.C.C.E.S.S.

• S is for Simple. StarJams.org greets prospects with, “Standing Ovations. Disabled Kids. Changing Lives.” Try the Hemingway test to tell your story in six words.
• U is for Unexpected. NewPig.com gets attention because nobody expected a B2B company to be funny – from its online Pigalog to its phone number, 1-800-HOT-HOGS.
• C is for Concrete. Today’s skeptical prospects want facts, figures and proof to judge for themselves. There’s no douting Blendtec products. Its WillitBlend.com videos prove its blender can pulverize anything, from iPhones to golfballs. Try videos or photos showing your plant, videos of your processes, factual testimonials, etc.
• C is for Credible. Bugsburger.com, a B2B extermination company, doesn’t roll out any old promise. It guarantees to refund up to a year’s service charge and pay the cost of another exterminator for any dissatisfied customer. That’s hard to ignore and difficult to forget.
• E is for Emotional. It’s easier for nonprofit and consumer sites to use emotion, but not many B2B sites add compelling emotion.
• S is for Stories. The average person can retell a five-minute long story with twists and turns, but can’t recall a 17-word corporate customer stories and testimonials.
• S is for Simple, again. Prospects make up their mind whether to stay on a site or go in four seconds.

Source: Bernard Ross, ManagementCentre.co.uk, The Bridge Conference, Washington, DC 8/09.

• Ask yourself: ‘Are customers day laborers or e-mailaholics?’

Customers who are “e-mailaholics” have little patience when waiting for a reply outside of business hours.

That’s one implication of a new study that found the world of e-mail users is split evenly between:

• Day laborers: These people use e-mail for professional and personal use during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. After that, they switch off.
• E-mailaholics: these people send e-mail anytime, day or night. They’re the customers who send e-mail at midnight or check e-mail from home before they do anything in the morning.

Strategy worth testing

Consider getting e-mailaholic reps to reply to e-mailaholic customers or prospects outside of business hours.

Customers would be ecstatic to get a response at 11 pm on a Tuesday.

Info: The Study is available at www.tinyurl.com/emailaholics