This applies to companies large and small, as I find it hard to understand how I still get these approaches, regardless of the size of the company.
This isn’t so much to ‘have a go’ – it’s more about saving people/businesses (wasted) time and effort, when it comes to their marketing, at the most basic level.
Here are some things I often come across, that result in a message – presumably a message the sender really wanted me to see, and respond to – being lost, deleted, or ignored:
*Emailing me, as a ‘professional company’, from a Gmail account (or any other generic email address).
You might be completely legit, but the fact that you haven’t bothered to simply register an email address that links to your business, says ‘amateur’ / ‘bedroom business’ or, at worst, ‘dodgy company’ (anyone can set up a Gmail account… which means your business is harder to trace should anything go wrong)
*Calling me from a ‘withheld number’ or a ‘private number’ – why? Is there something you’re trying to hide?
Do you not want me to be able to call you back? If not, why not? These numbers also scream ‘PPI call’ or ‘accident claim call’.
I don’t answer these calls. If the caller leaves me a voicemail, I’ll only call back if they leave exact details as to who they are, which company they represent, a direct number, and the specific reason for their call.
*Presenting anything to me (whether via phone, email, Linkedin, direct mail) as ‘a fantastic opportunity’ (particularly as an email subject line).
This immediately comes across as something salesly: you’re going to try to sell to me, get me to stop my current work to do something else (unrelated to what I do), or phone me and do my head in.
*Opening with ‘I came across your business online’, without knowing a single thing about my business, what I do, how your product or service is targeted specifically at copywriters. This approach comes across as what it is: a general email aimed at anyone whose email address you have, in the hope that you pick up a client at random.
*Anything which asks me to undertake a survey about the sender’s business/industry. Why? What’s in it for me? I’m in the middle of my busy working day: why should I take time out to give you free feedback to help your business? Are you going to, in return, help me write a landing page for my client?
*Any communication that only prattles on about the sender’s business: ‘We do this…. I offer this… we’ve been in the industry for 15 years…’
Why should I care? Would you be interested if I sent you a load of waffle about me, without asking about you/your business?
*Ridiculous statistics which don’t seem feasible, or are clearly based on just one client case study; ‘We could help you to achieve 4,000% ROI in just 2 weeks…. your turnover will quadruple in just one month’.
*Any attempt at contact which uses the default/template message: ‘I’d like to connect with you’.
You’re that lazy, that you can’t even be bothered to tailor your note with just one extra line.
Am I being harsh? Maybe – but avoiding some of the above may well ensure that your marketing is more effective or your ‘hit rate’ increases.
Instead of thinking ‘sod that, this is what I need to send out, so I’m sending it out’, think:
– How will your email/call/message/direct mail piece be received by the other person?
– Would you respond to the same type of email/call/Linkedin message… or would you dismiss/delete it?
– Are you using an approach that thousands of people do, while kidding yourself that you’re different i.e I get between 40 – 50 emails, every single week, that start with the ‘fantastic opportunity’ line: does each person think they’re the only one starting their emails that way?
Have a think – don’t fall into that ‘instant delete’ category.