Get me off your #$IO# mailing list

 http://www.iflscience.com/technology/journal-accepts-paper-reading-get-me-your-fucking-mailing-list

There is a story going around the interwebs about an article that was "published" in an on-line science journal that basically repeats the same thing in the abstract, introduction, material and methods, results, discussion et al which is "Take me off your effing mailing list".  While the article points out that these new online science journals will take anything for a buck and should be considered disreputable, the premise of the article is solid.

Let me go.  Don't make it hard for me to unsubscribe from your content.

The internet is really a give and take thing - I give you some awesome content you think you need and in return, I demand your email address so that I can send you marketing materials.  Just giving someone your email address is really low currency when you compare it sites that basically demand to know everything about you and your business before allowing you to download their content.  I can't imagine that everyone fills out the information the same way every time, nor do they do so truthfully.

Ask me too many questions and I may end up stretching the truth.

As a marketer, you really don't want that.

As a marketer to B2B you may want a little more information about me so you can have your sales person suss me out, I respect that.

As a person, I ask that you limit the number of questions you ask about my occupation and my goals.

As a busy person, I ask that you make it easy for me to opt-out of any related marketing schlub.

As a busy marketing person, I ask that you don't consider my name and information as a lead until I engage you again. I hate for you to be disappointed.

As a busy marketing person who hates waiting in line and trying to remember why I am getting information from you, I ask that you remind me why you are sending me something.

As a potential lead, I ask that your content be engaging, concise and sincere enough that I'll consider reading past the first paragraph and perhaps click on the link and read further.

Try harder and check your work.

As a person, I ask that if you eff-up when you send me email, that you admit to your mistake and apologize.

Me and Sylvester Stallone. 

As a person I ask that you consider that my gender may not match my name and to spend a little time making sure your marketing automation tools are filling in the blanks.

As both a marketer and a consumer, I demand that you make it easy and clear how to unsubscribe from your literature.  Please don't ask me why I'm leaving, because if you have to ask..... Please do not send me a follow up email to confirm my removal from your list.  Please do not have me sign onto the website to update my preferences.  Just set me free.

My opinion of you and your product may not just be based on your quality or content, it is also based on my ability to decide to leave at will.

Converting the Customer - Airbnb - you rock.

Note - This post was written a few months ago for a marketing class. I thought it was worth sharing with a larger audience.  Thanks a million @airbnb and @FourSeasons for making me love you even more and making my colleagues really happy.


I'm not slouch when it comes to social media. I understand the power of the voice of the consumer and how marketing is used to make me want something now or change my behavior for the long run. Sometimes I think social media marketing and outreach is a little like dating - or stalking.  There is a little flirting, then some digging and then a call to action - a proposition.  You are at the mercy of your target.  She may spurn you if you don't get your act together.

June 2013, we went to Hawaii for a few days.  On the way through Honolulu,  I started a conversation with the resort's social media person (we follow each other on Twitter) about National Donut Day.  We bantered back and forth about the lack of donut shops on the island and how sad it would be not to celebrate this event.  Fast forward, three hours and we're sitting by the pool, waiting for lunch and and what should appear with my wrap - a plate of donuts.

The resort's social media manager arranged to make my Donut day.  Yes, I did tweet about it.

Later that month, I engaged in an hour long travel chat on Twitter.  Airbnb asked me what would get me to leave a resort to stay in an Airbnb property. I  replied (jokingly) that until they offered me donut delivery at the pool, it wasn't going to happen.

The following week, I was summoned to our reception area. Two dozen donuts had been delivered to me by @airbnb with a note to the effect - "We can't offer you pool side donuts, but we can bring deliver them to you at your desk" -  Regards,  your friends at Airbnb

Airbnb identified me as someone to convert from a resort going travel savvy consumer to someone who might be willing to try out their service.  They had someone from their Marketing department seek me out on LinkedIn, find out where I was working and to arrange to have two boxes of donuts delivered to my office. Did it impress? Certainly. Did they convert me? Well, not quite.  I downloaded the app and searched for apartments for a few stays I had planned overseas, but have yet to pull the trigger on booking a reservation.  Do I think that if I had a problem with a Airbnb property, I would feel like they are listening? Sure. They went the extra step.

In both cases, the resort and Airbnb, they both went out of their way to flirt (engage), dig a little deeper (look at my profile, my habits, my position), and act in an attempt to win me over with a call to action that took some effort and creativity. Social marketing seems easy to some, but in other cases, it really is about going that extra mile.

Woo Woo What? and missing your target

Klout, WTF? 

I spend my days wondering if anyone will ever read what I write.

Truthfully, I spend about six minutes wondering if I should hit the share buttons and even posting to Google Plus to see if I can increase my reach. I don't always execute on my intentions because the people I follow or care about are usually on more than one of my networks and I hate bombarding people with the same content or whines.

There are a million places, apps and opportunities for people to share content, but picking the right one is critical to building your audience. Are the folks you engage with the most  on Twitter? Do you love to curate collections and have a million followers on Pinterest? Are your photos envied and emoticoned by more than your best three friends?

Should you pick just one?

I recommend that you and I should spend some time testing hypotheses, measuring reach, and trying different approaches before developing your outreach mix.   I crack up every time I see this ad for Adobe Marketing Cloud.  It is a great example of brands and maybe you, jumping on the latest thing without thinking things through.

Jumping on a bandwagon - Cashing in the Q4 budget and buying some followers. 


Until next time, WOO WOO on or until you mama joins up.