Always Be Closing
04:30 PM Jul 31, 2006
You got the prospects coming in. You think
they came in to get out of the rain? A guy don't walk on the lot lest
he wants to buy. They're sitting out there waiting to give you their
money. -Glengarry Glen Ross
In its continuing project of marketing through white papers, D.C. consulting shop M+R Strategic Services offers a new short report, "Want to Cultivate New List Members? Skip the Small Talk!"
While M+R's last big release, the eNonprofits Benchmark Study, delivered disappointingly few meaningful data points, this new memo (at a compact three pages) is well worth perusing.
The gist of it is that in playing around with the sequence of
communications to new members, M+R reports a much greater openness
among your list's brand-new enrollees to immediate action and
(especially) donation requests. It must be allowed that it's
essentially reporting on only a couple of tests consisting of pretty
small panels, so hold off any grand conclusions.
But it suggests
some skepticism for that "ladder-of-engagement" model that we sometimes
assume for cultivating mailing list members. One of the weaknesses of
the "relationship" metaphor is that it counsels caution in asking for
the other party's commitment, and especially their donations. Money's
a touchier subject than religion; most folks would want to be on
intimate terms to ask a personal acquaintance for money.
The
e-campaign expression of that is, send a welcome message when they
subscribe; send periodic updates with news, wade into action alerts,
identify what motivates them, and when they're fully acquainted with
your work, risk an ask or two.
But relationships come in all
shapes and sizes, and one needn't treat an e-mail subscriber like one
treats one's next-door neighbor. They've already proven that they want a relationship with you by asking you to e-mail them! The month an organization spends "building the relationship" probably isn't experienced like that by the recipient, who's meanwhile sifting scores of bulk e-mails from other organizations, finding new issues and causes to care about, and absorbed with innumerable external personal and professional matters. By the time you get around to asking, they may have forgotten all about you.
At least, that's a just-so story that's as plausible as any other. As is often the case, the only true wisdom is knowledge of one's own ignorance.
M+R's numbers suggest -- and when you think about it, it makes sense --
that your prospect is never more open than at the moment s/he signs up.
Two figures jumped out at me most in this report:
- The huge response rate in actions taken when the call to action is sent as the welcome message.
12.5% converted is amazing. In fact, even the hair under 10% generated
by the soft welcome message that also contains an action alert is
impressive. This e-mail presumably hits people when they're already
thinking about your issue and they're expecting to see a reply. That
initial message is some valuable real-estate. So, the next logical
step here is to test a fundraising ask in the welcome message, no?
- While the numbers for a fundraising ask in week one as opposed to
one built-up to in week three (following other messages in the first
two weeks) are slightly better, it's the lifetime giving results (the
actual "lifetime" span is not defined here) for a different test panel
at the bottom of page three that stand out. It'd be great to see this
grid with the initial fundraising ask excluded from the last column to
see very clearly what the relative propensities to give look like
subsequently.
Again -- beware small sample sizes; the last has panels of only 2,600 supporters apiece.
As
always, the most important lesson of eyebrow-raising reports like this
-- though probably not the one M+R would most like to encourage -- is
that expertise in online campaigns is a remarkably democratic field.
Undiscovered nuggets of strategic innovation are just waiting to be
scooped up and turned into tomorrow's conventional wisdom by anyone
ready to think creatively and experiment liberally. And as always,
your results may vary.
Add a comment
web designing in Dubai
web designing — 11:32 AM Aug 23, 2021
I like the gainful knowledge you give in your articles. I'll bookmark your site and check again here habitually. You did a great job and i am very happy to see this because it is very useful for me. Thanks for sharing. <p><a href="https://www.redspider.ae/dubai-web-design/"><span data-sheets-value="{"1":2,"2":"web designing in Dubai"}" data-sheets-userformat="{"2":14851,"3":{"1":0},"4":[null,2,16776960],"12":0,"14":[null,2,2236962],"15":"Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif","16":9}">web designing in Dubai</span></a></p><br />Good
Mike — 09:51 AM May 16, 2021
<a href="https://www.adwebstudio.com/">Web Design Dubai</a><br />Resurge Supplement Review
— 01:26 AM May 03, 2020
I was very pleased to uncover this website. I wanted to thank you for ones time for this wonderful read!! I definitely loved every part of it and i also have you bookmarked to see new stuff on your site. <a href='https://fitnessbond.com/resurge-reviews/'>Resurge Supplement Reviews</a>Leptitox Supplement Review
— 01:26 AM May 03, 2020
It’s hard to find knowledgeable people about this subject, however, you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks. <a href='https://fitnessbond.com/leptitox-review/'>Leptitox Supplement Review</a>