Margie Dana

Don’t Make These 6 Mistakes at Your Customer Event

Plan events like a Virgo would

For about 10 years, I produced dinner events and conferences for print customers. They took place locally and in Chicago. Their focus? Educating professionals about printing technologies and how to work with the print industry.

With zero experience in the event business (unless a ton of public speaking counts), I just…well…jumped in. (It’s one of those things where it’s better not knowing what you’re getting into, or else you might never take the plunge.)

Every time I planned an event, I corrected something. Maybe it was the format, or the content, or the promotional strategy. I based it on my previous events as well as experience speaking at or attending other events.

There’s nothing like learning from your mistakes.

Because private customer events can be immensely beneficial for a printing company, I thought I’d share these 6 mistakes you should avoid when you’re planning your next customer event.

Your event is all-work-and-no-play. Make sure you build in enough time for your guests to socialize with one another. For my early events, I was so concerned with providing educational value that I jam-packed them with sessions scheduled back to back. My advice to you: Relax! Print customers will attend your event not only to learn but also to meet their peers. Give them time for this. Naturally, refreshments will help.
You forget to provide handouts and other materials. Sounds nutty, right? Yet I’ve attended conferences where this has happened. As you’re planning your event, think about what attendees will take away – literally. Are there important (not tacky) corporate promotional materials to give them? Do handouts of speaker sessions make sense? How about an attendee list? Are there other business-related gifts you want to offer, whether from your company or from sponsors? Sending guests on their way with something in hand will add to their fond memories of your event.
You schedule your event on the wrong day. One of the very first things you should do when planning your event is to pick the date carefully. Naturally, you’ll avoid . Also avoid religious holidays, especially but not limited to Christian and Jewish holidays. Be mindful of school vacation weeks, if they’re applicable to your guests. If your area tends to get clobbered by snow, avoid certain months of the year. Finally, always do a search on other industry-related events. Don’t schedule your event when similar events are being held.
You neglect to ask attendees for feedback. We crafted our attendee and sponsor feedback surveys well before every event we produced. It’s so incredibly easy (these days I use online surveys by Surveymonkey). Send out emails with your survey link within 48 hours of your event. You’ll have to email attendees at least twice if not thrice. This feedback is pure gold. Attendees will tell you what they loved and what they didn’t. Get ideas for future events. You’ll even gather great testimonials (just make sure you get permission to use them). The key is collecting feedback as soon as possible. Attendee interest will fade with each day that passes.
Your signage stinks. The great and knowledgeable gave me this advice before my first print buyer conference: Make sure your signs are good! It’s one of those niggling details that I left till the last minute and planned way too quickly. He was right. Signage at customer events makes a huge difference. If you’re hosting customers in your sole conference room, there’s no worry. However, if you’re having a larger event in a bigger venue, be sure to have excellent signs that guide attendees to rooms, dining spaces, restrooms, sessions, coatrooms, and so on. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about lousy signage (this usually means nonexistent) while at trade shows. It leaves a terrible taste in your mouth and generates anger and frustration. Who needs that?
You don’t act like a Virgo. Thankfully, I am a Virgo, making me super-organized and worried about the tiniest event detail. When planning your customer event, prepare for the “what ifs,” even if nothing goes amiss. Here’s what I mean, in no particular order:

What if your speaker’s a no-show?

If you have an outside speaker, what’s the contingency plan if he or she doesn’t show up?
Have you confirmed all of your AV needs and tested out the equipment?
Do you have enough staff on hand, and are they trained to answer questions?
Do you have enough handouts? How about pens and paper?
Do your guests have driving directions to your facility?
Did you send all confirmed guests a reminder email on the day or two before your event?
Do they have an agenda of what to expect?
If you’re serving refreshments, is the order complete and the delivery confirmed? Did you check ahead of time to see if food allergies apply to any guest?
Are you using nametags, and are they ready?

Isn’t your goal to have your attendees say your event rocked? Well, I promise these 6 tips will help as you plan your seminar, open house, educational seminar or conference. Your event will be more successful, garner better reviews, and your attendees will count the days, or months, till your next one. Happy planning!

How to Get Your Emails Opened

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Raise your hand if you’re being bombarded by content from all around you. I thought so. Me, too.

Hundreds of times a day I get alerts about new Facebook posts, new LinkedIn posts, new Google+ posts, new voicemail messages, DMs from Twitter folks, and of course, a hardy diet of emails – the good ones (that I want to read) and the bad (spam and other unwanted junk).

So it was with a steely determination to learn how to improve my emails that I attended Nancy Harhut’s 2014 NEDMA conference session on “The Science Behind Emails that Persuade.”

Nancy is the Chief Creative Officer at the Wilde Agency here in greater Boston. I always get new ideas from her sessions. Once again, she did not disappoint. (Every agency needs a Nancy. Just brilliant.)

My background may be in print buying, but my heart is in marketing – especially with content – so today’s post focuses on email marketing tips. I’ve written this weekly email blog since 1999, so naturally I was most intrigued by Nancy’s session.

Here are the top 7 tips I learned that day.

1. Pay special attention to subject lines.

Subject lines drive opening rates, which is why they matter so much. Ideally, they should be about 35 characters, tops. Nancy said about 54% of first opens occur on mobile devices, so be concise.

2. Use eye magnet words.

They really do “jump out” and attract the human eye. We “skim and scan” these days, so use words that have the power to draw in the reader. Some eye magnet words are “New” or any variation, like “introducing), “Finally,” “Soon,” “Now,” “Secret,” and “Free.”

A definite “eye magnet” word is a person’s name – which is why personalized direct mail also increases response rates. Nancy said using personalization in the subject line gets a 12% lift to the email’s opening rate. Our own name is very dear to us. It’s the “principle of liking” that’s at play here. We’re more likely to do a favor for someone who has our name or a similar name. I know it’s true for me.

3. Position your email message for a fast response.

Something called the principle of urgency comes into play here, so use terms that create urgency. Some examples Nancy used are “deal of the day,” “while supplies last,” “ends tonight, and “last chance.”

Nancy Harhut

4. Take advantage of the ripple effect of the “Consistency Principle.”

I learned the first small “yes” we give to someone easily leads to more “larger” ones, because once people commit, they’re in it for the long term. Nancy used Groupon as an example. “Because you bought…” is commonly used in their emails. Likewise, once you register for a product or service on a site, you’ll get effective emails that use phrases like, “You’ve registered…now enjoy XX!”

5. Using “Social Proof” helps you sell more.

We tend to do what other people do – especially if they’re anything like us. If we’re hesitant about a decision we’re about to make, we may look at the actions of others. If people we know/like/identify with are doing it, we’re much more likely to. Think about a “don’t walk” street sign. Imagine there’s no traffic in sight. Though we initially obey the sign, once others cross the street, we’re more likely to follow.

6. Negatives are more powerful than positives.

We’re “2x more motivated to avoid pain than achieve gain.” So put this powerful principle to use in your emails. For example, “You’ve NO idea what you missed!” and “Only 10 seats left!”

7. Use journalists’ secret: 5W’s and 1H.

It’s funny, I had started noticing how many blog posts open with “Who, “What,” “When, “Where, “Why,” or “How,” – and Nancy made a great point of their power. I use them more and more. Also, use numbers and lists to get your emails opened. Literally use numbers rather than spell out the words (“13 Ways to Improve Your Emails” is easier to scan than “Thirteen Ways to….”)

These are just a handful of the tips Nancy shared. They work as well for blog posts and, I imagine, for a lot of direct mail. Start paying attention to all the emails you get, all the blog posts that pass by your eyeballs, and postcards or other direct mail you receive, and make note of the ones you actually read. What was it that made you look?

Dear Target

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Dear Target,

Your email stinks.

Had I shopped at your store before, maybe I’d have seen what crummy shape your customer emails are in. Perhaps I’d have pitched my email writing services to you.

All I wanted was a simple & colorful gift card to be mailed to my niece, a brand-new, first-time mom. How hard an order is that to fill? Do you literally manufacture every gift card when an order is placed? I think not.

So how can you explain this clunky email that arrived in the middle of the night? I thought it was a fake. Evidently, it’s not.

My email from Target at 2 am this morning:

Subject: There‚s a delay on your order.

hello Margaret,

We just found out about an unexpected delay that affects your order (Order#XXXXXXXXXXXXX) placed on 03/15/2014. We’re sorry, but we may not be able to deliver your item(s) by the estimated delivery date you received with your original order. New estimated delivery date(s) are included below.

You will not be charged for any items until they ship. If items need to be shipped separately, your shipping charges will not increase.

The delayed items will be automatically shipped to you if they become available before the new estimated delivery date.We’re sorry for the inconvenience and we will get the items to you as quickly as we can.

Thanks for shopping at Target.

Team Target

May I suggest you go get a refresher course on basic use of punctuation? While you’re at it, try and add some space between your paragraphs. You also might want to use a space between sentences. And who came up with that weird subject line?

Buy something at Amazon and see what well-crafted emails you get from them.

Don’t thank me for shopping at Target, Team Target. When I called customer service (first having to hunt down a telephone number on your site, thanks for that), the rep suggested I get a Target card so that my orders get shipped faster. Nice touch. I don’t blame her, though; she didn’t write the email.

I’ll let you get back to manufacturing my gift card.

Margie

PS: If you must deliver bad news to a customer, try sending a well-written email. Make sure you test it, proof it, and are confident that every i is dotted and so on. I know the emails are automated, but still…

Category Archives: Email Marketing