Email marketing campaigns require a well-maintained email database
My consulting marketing career has taken me to several regions of the Earth on assignments for SMEs, associations and micro businesses. From the advent of software and companies specializing in email marketing campaigns, I have observed that there is a common failure and fundamental reason for success of every campaign that I have created or managed. A well-maintained database is critical to the success of any campaign.
The reasons for success and failure are not cultural or technical. The problem lies with management and knowledge of marketing and modern communications with clients and prospects. Many managers and owners of small and medium sized enterprises that have engaged my services tend to overlook the value of an email database. There remains a tendency to think of marketing as promotion and advertising rather than communications in all ways - online, offline, immobile and mobile. How can a buyer ever be presented with a product or service by a vendor if there is a communications vacuum? In the absence of communications, how can a vendor close a sale?
If you were to believe everything that anyone has said to you over the past day or week, let alone years, everything we do is great! According to the English language, we are all the same in actions and deeds. We have been assured by friends, family, colleagues and employers that all we do is bathed in greatness. We must all be great. I must be great; and, so must my work.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster, the adjective great suggests great work is above average and of superior quality, and I am an important, distinguished and superior person.
Remarkable, perhaps the next step is divinity, immortality is assured!
Using corporate social responsibility to boost a brand is risky business
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) appears in business in many ways. A small business that contributes to helping with community sports teams, or volunteering expertise on community projects might be demonstrating good CSR. A company that has moved as close to a paperless enterprise as possible can be recognized for helping change consumer behavior while conserving natural resources. It gets harder when a small business tilts toward full engagement in sustainable development, but it is possible to thrive in such a business environment. A company using CSR solely as a marketing tactic for boosting a brand to increase sales, or change an opinion is taking a risk.
When engaged in international consulting marketing, it is not unusual to live in a hotel room for weeks. Life becomes routine in a hurry, especially when English is a second or third language and you are not accustomed to cultural nuances. Hotel staff become familial and the walls begin to close in. Metaphors of imaginary life behind bars start tripping through the mind and most of the dishes on the menu have been had. Unwittingly, I have become a student of the 5th P of the marketing mix - people.
AGL Marketing Limited combined strengths, creativity and resources with the CA14 Team to bring a new level of service excellence on a global scale to a wider range of clients. Combined portfolios ensure high-level strategic marketing and communications solutions for micro and small to medium-sized enterprises.
See the CA14 brochure that summarizes the CA14 team and the services that help many companies improve their market share.
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