November 25, 2013 Gotcha! Why Companies Have To Move Away From The Gotcha Marketing Mindset Leadership Share this post: It’s a tough world out there capturing new clients. Managers around the world will talk about business in warlike terms: killing the competition, grabbing market share, digging up reserves… It is no surprise that, after years of “war,” many executives have a difficult time reconciling their ingrained lessons learned from years of successful management with the new requirements and skills such as listening, empathy, coaching and collaboration. This is no more clearly apparent than in the fight for email newsletter databases. Customer centric One of the hot topics in board rooms around the world is customer centricity. If your company is talking about it, you are not alone. In a poll in the UK, 46% of the 300 companies surveyed by Incite Marketing cited customer centricity as one of their top strategic priorities in 2013. Yet, what does being customer centric look like? Is it possible to say that someone like Steve Jobs was customer centric when you know that it was always “his way or the highway?” In terms of Jobs’ ability to understand completely the user experience, one can safely say that he created some of the world’s most customer-centric products. But, for most companies run by leaders and mere mortals who often struggle to balance the need for short-term results (warding off shareholder pressure) and the desire for loyal, long-term clients, the challenge and necessary change can be herculean. Trust me…! One of my observations is that many executives seem to leave their “personal” selves behind when they go through the office doors to make business decisions. The email sign-up process for newsletters is a case in point. Let’s start with a quick poll for you: To what extent do you like to be automatically signed up by a brand or company for their newsletter? (i.e. without your permission)? (0= hate it, 10= love it)? Please click on this link for a speedy quiz! (Just one question!) <![CDATA[// ]]> Customer Corner Meanwhile, in a study last year, conducted the folks at Baymard Institute (link to podcast with founder Christian Holst), 81% of the top grossing eCommerce sites had a policy of automatically including people in their mailing lists. It’s crazy that the very same individuals who, typically, don’t like to have other companies sign them up automatically are prepared to inflict such treatment on their own customers. Even Amazon does it, only giving light to its underhand manner in the small print in Conditions of Use. CRM – with C for customer in the middle Building newsletter email lists is one of the vital arms in a marketer’s repertoire. The newsletter is a real asset that can be considered “owned” media. However, as free and easy as an email might be send, companies and marketers, in particular, have an unassaible tendency to abuse it. There seem to be very few self-imposed controls. The marketing manager, keen to perform in front of the boss, makes the email sign up automatic and no one in the organization steps up to defend the customer. It’s gotcha marketing, as if the intention is to ensnare. Too often, the consumer feels more as they he/she is being cornered rather than having someone in the brand defending the consumer’s corner. The question for you is: who in the organization is fighting in the customer’s corner? NEWSletter Subscribe to Minter’s Bi-Weekly NEWSletter and receive a free copy of the exclusive and updated 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation Your Gift For Signing Up 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed! Baymard, Baymard Institute, Christian Holst, email newsletter, email subscription, gotcha marketing, leadership, opt in, opt out Minter Dial Minter Dial is an international professional speaker, author & consultant on Leadership, Branding and Digital Strategy. After a successful international career at L’Oréal, Minter Dial returned to his entrepreneurial roots and has spent the last ten years helping senior management teams and Boards to adapt to the new exigencies of the digitally enhanced marketplace. He has worked with world-class organisations to help activate their brand strategies, and figure out how best to integrate new technologies, digital tools, devices and platforms. Above all, Minter works to catalyse a change in mindset and dial up transformation. Minter received his BA in Trilingual Literature from Yale University (1987) and gained his MBA at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1993). His newest book Heartificial Empathy, Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence, bowed in December 2018 and won the Book Excellence Award 2019 as well as being shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2019. It's available in Audiobook, Kindle and Paperback. He is also co-author of Futureproof (Pearson, Sep 2017) and sole author of The Last Ring Home (Myndset Press, Nov 2016), a book and documentary film, both of which have won awards and critical acclaim. Minter has a new book on leadership, You Lead, How being yourself makes you a better leader, published by Kogan Page, that released January 2021. It's easy to inquire about booking Minter Dial here. View all posts by Minter Dial Previous post Next post
Gotcha! Why companies have to move away from th... February 16, 2014 at 6:49 pm […] Managers around the world will talk about business in warlike terms, such as "kill the competition" and "capture clients." This can lead to what I call gotcha marketing. […]
Gotcha! Why companies have to move away from th... February 16, 2014 at 6:49 pm […] Managers around the world will talk about business in warlike terms, such as "kill the competition" and "capture clients." This can lead to what I call gotcha marketing. […]
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