Melanie
Welcome to the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast for all decision makers and action takers. Take it away, Esther.
Esther
And welcome back to another episode of the Monday Morning Marketing Podcast. Today, we're asking, What's in it for me? And Melanie is also wondering the same question because I just sprung this episode on her, this topic on her. But as consumers looking at other people's marketing, you have to wonder, what's in it for me? Why should I give them my hard earned money? Why should I give them my details? Why should I give them my name, email address, date of birth, all of those things that they're asking me for? Why? What is in it for me? So that's what we're talking about today. And now that Melanie's been caught up on the topic, we'll get right into it. So this came up, this idea for a topic came up because I recently celebrated a birthday. And for my birthday, lots of companies have gifted me things because I gave them my date of birth. So I got a free coffee from one place. I won't name any names because it's not fair in the other ones. Or if you don't have them in your country, maybe they'll get different things from different companies. I got a free piece of cake from another cafe. I got a free bag of sweets from a local supermarket. I got a £5 gift voucher from a craft store. Things like that. That's just nice to have. I even got emails from other companies that I haven't heard from in ages just simply saying happy birthday. And that is really nice. I really like my birthday. I like when people give me things. Hint, hint. But I do think it is Something extra that companies can do, thinking of the marketing side of it, when you're marketing to people, if you're going to ask them for these personal details, at least do something with them to show that you care. What's your opinion, Melanie?
Melanie
Okay, well, when I think of what's in it for me, it's how I'm conveying to the person I'm training the two sentences This is features tell, benefits sell. And I think a lot of people think when they're trying to say, You should do this because... I think that's the right way to think about it, because a lot of the time we're thinking, We need to sell something because I need some money. I need consistency, I need... It doesn't really matter what we need or what we think or feel. At the end of the day, the only reason why a business exists is because it has customers. And when there are no customers, it no longer exists. So we need to make sure that we think of those customers first and foremost at all times.
Esther
Yeah. So the business should be thinking what's in it for them, for the customers, and not thinking about it as what's in it for the business itself. What other examples, like when people sign up to a newsletter or, hint, hint, sign up to our newsletter, What should people get in return? Obviously, they don't want spammy, buy this, buy this, buy this, this is what we're selling. But what should they expect from signing up for a newsletter?
Melanie
I don't think it always It has to be something directly associated with the business. It doesn't have to be your latest book or download. It doesn't have to be any of those things. It can just be something that feels personal and thoughtful. A lot of the content that I share on my social media, my content actually doesn't do as well as perhaps some other bits of content that I share because I think of my audience. So I just do social media training, as a lot of you who've been listening for a while know. I don't do graphic design, I don't do website design. I share other businesses because I'm thinking of my audience and thinking, Well, they're not just interested in me. These are the other things they're interested in, and I want to be able to be seen as a way to facilitate and deliver information that's useful and pertinent to my readers or my viewers. That's That's why we have such a varied amount of people coming on as guests. I know it's all to do with marketing, but we've covered so many different areas. And it's because just knowing one thing isn't sufficient. So even if you're the best in the country at what you do, it's still really important to think the person that you're speaking to, that you're passing content to, they're more than just one purchaser of one product or service. They're a whole person. And maybe something about things to do with the kids over the weekend, it's coming up to maybe a holiday weekend or something like that, that might be really useful to them. But as long as it's your brand that's sharing it, it might be worth them sharing it to their friends or families or to other groups or that thing. So it's really thinking of the whole person and not thinking of just as your customer.
Esther
Yeah, because, well, obviously here in the European Union and Europe in general, there's the wonderful GDPR that we all love.
Melanie
Hey, it helps us as well.
Esther
It does, but it has made people more reticent in giving their personal information. It has made them stop and go, what are you going to be using my email address for? Why do you need my name? Especially sometimes now when they ask for first name and last name, I'm more, why do you need both? I mean, first name, I get it because you want to maybe personalise the emails that you're sending out.
Melanie
That makes sense.
Esther
But last name as well. That's verging on the I might not sign up for this if you're asking for my last name. And that's coming from a marketer who opts out of most marketing because it does get to the point where it just feels like it's just seal, seal, seal and promotion, promotion, promotion without there being the, oh, last chance to get your 50% off or your 10% off or whatever. We all like discounts as well. So if you're coming into my inbox, which is probably one of the more personal places also, people are WhatsApp marketing now. And we talked about that a few episodes ago, probably many episodes ago, but my brain just thinks it's a few. If you have somebody coming into your pocket, literally, you want it to be good quality. You want it to have something of value. And it can just be that. It can be informational gold dust that you're sending. It can be as long as it's not spammy or constant. Consider people's time zones as well, because I've had people message me, even on LinkedIn, at three o'clock in the morning. Obviously, my notifications are muted overnight. That's not the point. But when I wake up and going, what? And it's one of these promotion ones that's being blasted out to millions of people, probably.
Melanie
There's no excuse for that, because that thing can be timed. Especially with emails, it actually takes into account the likes of Mailchimp and MailerLite. We all have time zone elements. So there's no reason for that to happen at all.
Esther
Exactly. Exactly. And I look at my emails and if somebody is sending them before the working, typical work time of nine to five. I usually don't read them or they're the last ones to be opened unless it has a really nice tagline. Oh, happy birthday. Yeah, see more. But we do have to, getting back to the topic, think of our clients, think of our potential customers and what is in it for them that you need all this information. What are you going to use it for? Please never, ever, ever sell it onto a third party because that's just mean and bad on so many levels.
Melanie
And unnecessary.
Esther
Completely, completely. But when you're going to... So here in the UK and Ireland, there's a shop called Tesco. And Tesco's, as we lovingly call it, we add an extra letter on, they have a club card, okay? And they've had this club card now for apparently 30 years. They've only actually been in Northern Ireland for 25. Fun fact. But, so this club card, some people still go, I don't want to sign up for that because then I'll have all my details. Okay, yes, but then you'll have to pay full price for the stuff because obviously They're one of the scammy ones that are selling your details and that's what's making them money.
Melanie
A lot of this stuff actually is perfectly used for market research as well. They see which products are being used more often. Then they can buy it more in bulk and bring the price down.
Esther
Yes. Yeah. And they do. They can personalise your offers and your discounts and your coupons and all this. And they do. They do. And I find that valuable. I I know. I know that they're taking my details and selling them all off. But I also like the handiness of having the app and being able to see when they have increased the price of something or decreased the volume of it. Shrinkflation is real. But having the convenience might cost you your details. Having the extra discounts of the club card price or the price match that they do may cost you your email address. Other companies might not use it in the same way. They might not be as...
Melanie
There's other ways we can prevent us from being bothered by these things. We can unsubscribe. The amount of emails that we all get where you say, Where on earth have they got my details from? So you receive one email, and especially on your phone, you've got this unsubscribe button in the top part your phone. You just click Unsubscribe immediately. And you can even... I mean, a lot of them report. They can say, Why are you unsubscribing? So if you want to, you can say, Well, I never signed up to this in the first place, which makes them eventually look like spam. Yeah. And then there's the ones who don't, and that annoys me, the ones who don't give the option to unsubscribe. But you know what? I've just put them as junk, and in the end, they just stop coming into my main box and they just go into my junk feed.
Esther
Yeah, mark them as spam, and eventually your system will figure it out. But don't be smarmy. Don't be jumping into people's emails. Don't be buying lists from other people. That's, again, a big no-no, especially If they have European on the list because, again, GDPR. And as Melanie was saying, if it doesn't come with an easy unsubscribe, then people can start reporting those to the ICO, I think it's called. And your company could get in very, very hot water very quickly. So stay within the rules and regulations. Make it fun for the people receiving. Like I said, you don't have to give gifts or discounts for somebody's birthday. If you're asking for a date of birth, you may need it for your legal reasons to prove that somebody is over the age of 18 or whatever, for whatever you're selling. But do send something personalised. It's easy enough to set up on any system a filter to say, when this happens, do this. So when someone's birthday comes along, send this happy birthday email. That goes a long way for people like me who love their birthday to then remember that company and not exactly shout them out because I don't want to say that Lidl was the one to give me the sweets. Oh, yeah. Yeah, definitely. I mean, you don't expect a big supermarket like that to give free stuff for your birthday. The other thing is some of the places only give me four days to use it, whereas others have given me three weeks. So the place that only gave me four days is 45 miles away, and I may not actually get to use that one. But the one that has three weeks, then I will make an effort in those three weeks because I'll remember to go and get my free piece of cake or my free cup of tea. So give them something that just makes them smile. Give them something to cheer up their day. Give them something. You don't even have to give discounts.
Melanie
It could just be something that's a talking point. It's a conversation starter. They'll be saying, gosh, you wouldn't believe who I just heard from and what I'm getting. It could be a recipe for something that you've been holding on to for a long time. If you're like a cake shop or a food shop of some description, you could just give a basic recipe. It doesn't have to be a discount.
Esther
No, it just has to be valuable for the person receiving it.
Melanie
Yes.
Esther
It doesn't have to cost you anything. Just make sure that if it's informational, that it's got lots of nuggets of information. If you're asking people to sign up for an e-book, make sure the e-book has lots lots of stuff that will be useful for them, for example. You don't even have to go and invent something new. You don't have to go and write a new e-book or come up with a new product in order to get people to sign up for your email list or for your WhatsApp marketing list, whatever it is. Just whatever you decide to give people. And it can be the same thing every year because I'm pretty sure next year, because I know it happened last year, Lidl will give me another a free bag of sweets. And they are, one of their cheapest things in the shop, but it still made me smile.
Melanie
And it made you go.
Esther
Yes, well, I did.
Melanie
And inevitably, you'll end up buying other stuff as well.
Esther
Yeah, of course. You don't just go in for the freebie. You go in and you spend money anyway. So if you're in a business situation that you do have products rather than just services like Melanie and myself, then find what's what they call your loss leader, what or something that doesn't cost you very much, but can bring people in and they'll end up spending more money. It can be to your online store as well. It can be a percentage off. It can be free shipping. That brings people in as well.
Melanie
The other thing I've seen recently is I'm on an email list for something and they've said, oh, we've got a new course coming up. If you'd like to join this group, you'll learn more about it. So there was no money, but it information about a course that I knew I would find interesting. So I've now signed up to another Facebook group. But your call to conversion can be quite different. It doesn't always have to be money. It could also be an action that will lead to a conversion later, hopefully.
Esther
Yes, exactly. So have a think. Have a think what you can offer people in ways to get their information, but make it so that they can see what's in it for them.
Melanie
Yes. Well, that's all the time we have for for now. I hope that's giving you something to ponder and think about this week. Maybe your call to action for this week is, am I expressing enough in my posts, in my website, in my content in general, what's in it for my customer? And if you're not, this is your call to start. Have a great week and we'll be back next week. Bye for now.
Esther
Bye-bye.
I should spring these on you more often.
Melanie
That's really threw me. Totally. I was trying to keep a straight face whilst you were doing it as well.
Esther
And the fact it's all letters, it's like, what does it stand for?
