After reading an article in the New York Times which discussed the recent layoffs at MySpace.com I began to wonder how some of the other social media sites are feeling about their place within the social mediasphere.  For example Mark Zuckerburg of Facebook turned down more than a billion dollar offer to sell Facebook and more recently Twitter turned down a $500 million offer from Facebook. 

Not so long ago MySpace was the go to social portal with an ever increasing user base and the accompanying soaring valuations.  How quickly this has changed - with the announcement of a 30% workforce cut and a user base which is shrinking and less engaged, MySpace seems to be making the slow march towards obsolescence.  We have seen this before with other once hot Internet companies, AOL being a prime example – will MySpace serve as a warning to companies like Facebook and Twitter?  Twitter already has some questionable user statistics which show that many of its users are not engaged or even tweeting after their initial visit.

Are sites like Facebook and Twitter unrealistic or short sited to think that their social medium will not be overtaken by the next, new thing?  The fact that they have still not been able to figure out how to monetize the medium must make the decision not to sell that much more difficult.

I am not saying that I do not believe in Social Media as a medium – it is definitely a big part of the future of the web and valuable for business and users alike – or even making the point that Zuckerburg should have sold Facebook, but more asking the question of how long is the life of a social media portal?  At which point does the popularity offset the niche, cool factor that initially attracted its users?  Facebook and Twitter seem to think that growth is never ending and that they cannot be replaced by a newer, better application.  Recent history of the Internet tells us this is not the case.

I was recently reading an article on Marketing Sherpa which was discussing their latest email marketing summit.  The article had a number of great insights on steps companies can take to improve their email programs.

The article served as reminder of how easy it is to become engulfed in the day to day or routine of your email program and how important it is to take a step back and examine the program as a whole.  Taking the time, even if it is quarterly or annually, to ensure that the email communications you are sending are both relevant and timely to your customer is imperative. 
Let’s take a look at a company within the retail industry; company A.  For years they have sent weekly emails to their customer list.  The weekly email is always composed of three offers.  Open rates are varied within a certain range, but are not showing any improvement as the program matures.  One cause of this lack of progress may be that the company has never taken a step back to evaluate who they are communicating to, why their consumer wants to hear from the company and how often this consumer would like to hear from them.   By answering these 3 fairly simple questions the company can begin to make program improvements.
1. Who are you communicating to?

This question is key to any successful email program.  It allows you to begin the process of segmentation at a base level.  Many times this data is a part of the enrollment process or may come from your CRM; some examples: is the customer a man or a woman, what is their age range, what are their interests (related to your products), do they purchase for themselves or for others, are purchases based on events (birthdays, anniversaries, etc), there are multitudes of questions you can ask which will help you to learn more about your customer. 

2. Why does the consumer want to hear from you?

Different customers are looking for different experiences with your brand.  Some may only want promotional communications – they only want to transact with your brand.  Other customers may be less interested in promotions and more interested in related lifestyle information.   Creating these differing communications and allowing recipients to choose which message they receive empowers the user and should improve both the short and long term stats of your program.

 

3. How often does the consumer want to hear from you?

How many lists is your customer signed up for?  How many emails are they receiving daily?  One way to ensure that you are not the list they unsubscribe from due to irrelevant and untimely communications is to give them the option.  Ask the consumer how often they would like to receive communications from you. This puts them in control.  When they receive a message from you, whether it is weekly, daily or monthly they have asked for that email and expect it.

By tackling the three issues above you can make great strides in your email program.  The main takeaways here are to know as much as you can about your customer – tailor your communications based on this information and to put the in control – allow them to “opt-in” not only to being on your list, but also to the frequency and types of communications they will receive.