Over-Marketed in 2010 and I’m Not Going to Take It Anymore!
2010 will go over as the last year this virtual assistant will be over-marketed.
Email is my primary method of communication. I monitor several email Inboxes boxes, which quickly fill-up with marketing messages faster than I can hit the delete button.
Email Marketers use numerous tactics to increase their chances that I will open their email promotions. But the practice has backfired as many of these email marketing ploys have ended up in my delete box.
You see, marketing messages do not excite me anymore. It’s just too much hype.
I have been over-marketed and I am tired.
There was a time when I was motivated to read an article entitled, “9 Deadly Mistakes to Avoid…” or “Killer Marketing Methods You Can’t Afford to Pass Up” or “Smokin’ Hot Tips”.
But then EVERYONE started with ‘killer-this’ and ‘deadly-that’. By mid-year, every CD, eBook or Teleseminar was “Smokin’ Hot” and ‘Chock-full” of something or other. (I exaggerate to make a point.)
And so the thrill was gone.
Just tell it like it is.
Squeeze Pages Gone Wild
Squeeze pages or marketing pages no longer intrigue me. I once thought these sites were rather clever with their colorful fonts, lots of white space, enthusiastic text, ‘…if you click this button now you will receive direct to your Inbox, “10 Killer Tips (yep, ‘killer tips’, gag!) Which Will Make You Six Figures Richer in Six Months”.
And that was fine for a while, until I began to loathe the term ‘Six Figures’. Nearly every email marketer was using this self-despised term which I coined as ‘snake oil’ sales promotions.
The ‘six figure’ phrase preys upon the vulnerable so it is a shady term in my marketing book
I am not saying that creating ‘six-figure’ financial goals is wrong or that making ‘six figures’ does not happen for entrepreneurs. Many, many folks have made six-figure-plus fortunes.
But the term is overused. And when the promotional verbiage is no longer a unique selling tool, the credibility factor decreases.
It would be my wish that Marketers could be truthful and use a definite, realistic dollar amount claim instead of using an imaginary, general term which conjures up nothing more in my mind than ambiguity.
But the reality is this…consumers do not want the truth. They want to believe they can make ‘six figures’. And who is to say that someone will more likely open an email that states, “Make $50 More Per Week” versus “Make Six Figures in 12 months”?
And those contentious squeeze pages!
These are Marketing Emails which contain miles and miles of text with no clickable way ‘out of the website mire’ EXCEPT to buy the product or sign-up for a newsletter loaded with more self-promoting ads.
I feel trapped when I click on a squeeze page. But I know that they are a valuable tool for Marketers and if one is to make ‘six figures’ then marketers will employ every online tactic available.
Oh, no…not another Hover Ad!
Hovering ads over text on site pages are Everywhere! My knee jerk reaction is to click the X to remove these messages.
At one time, hovering ads were ‘polite’ and clever marketing ploys. Hover ads would appear in the corner of the viewing screen and quickly fade away. Now, a hover ad comes at me as if to pop out of the screen and wrap its beady little corners around my face.
It takes several minutes to find the X to close these gigantic ads, which are ever more hidden in the background colors. Hover ads refuse to ‘go away’ quietly.
I am reminded of one instance where I clicked on an article link and was taken to a website. Without warning, an ENORMOUS pop-up ad came out at me which can only be described as ‘shocking’. It took me several minutes to find the X to close the ad that I totally forgot why I even came to that page! I did, however, find the X to close out the entire site all together so nothing was accomplished for that marketer.
As a marketing virtual assistant, I know that if a hovering message appears 100 times a day prompting one individual to sign on, this may mean another online sale for the advertiser. But how many others are turned away with such ‘in yer face’ ads?
What’s In Your Email Subject Title?
Getting the recipient to open an email message is the most important objective in email marketing. If the receiver does not open the message, then nothing within that message will be read. So Marketers create email message titles which must insight a user to open.
But some of these marketing message titles simply border on vagueness and possible deception.
Earlier this year I read an article entitled, “Why No Business Should Be Involved In Online Social Networking”. The title was a great hook but the article was really about businesses being involved in social marketing and not necessarily social networking. After reading the article, the difference between the two terms was not significant. Many readers voiced a negative opinion to the author about the vague title more so than the contents of the article.
This backfired for the author.
So as I begin a new work year, I surmise that reading junk email marketing will find a smaller place in my work day.
I’m watching more videos now and listening to podcasts while I work. I am also signing on for more teleseminars and viewing more PowerPoint presentations. This is how I am receiving my marketing information and I feel more in control of how I spend my time.
Client holiday gift planning and buying is a carefully crafted process for me. I take my gift-giving quite seriously because I buy, box, wrap and ship the gifts myself. I know that ordering online would be so much easier but I just find it to be so impersonal for what I want to accomplish this time of year. I have at least fifteen people on my gift list whose business relationships have meant so much to me. Handling the entire process myself is really a big portion of my gift to my clients.
