One of the stand-out insights from our survey of 400 senior executives in the US1 is how important email is as a means of getting your content seen. Of the 200 respondents who were able to name a memorable piece of thought leadership, nearly 40% had read that memorable report as a direct result of an email from the consulting firm.
Given the value of each person on your email list, it’s a shame that:
- We see emails to support specific pieces of thought leadership that are bland and uninspiring. Even if it’s the best report you’ve ever published, few people will click that important link unless you quickly convince them that they can’t afford not to.
- It’s not always easy to sign up to consulting firm email lists. As one of our colleagues recently discovered when he attempted to provide his details to a range of firms, some firms seem quite demanding about who they will ‘allow’ to be placed on their database – only those curious and creative enough to find the relevant page, or those able to answer ten questions correctly need apply.
- We don’t see much in the way of targeted messaging. Sure, there’s a risk in asking for too much information at sign up, but are you doing everything you could to glean information about those on your mailing list? Do you know what sector they work in or even their role? Do you know who has bought services from you before and who is new? As with the reports themselves, the more tightly targeted the messaging the better the chance that it will hit its goal.
References:
1. In July 2014, we surveyed more than 400 senior executives based in the US. Respondents work in organisations with 1,000+ employees and are employed across a range of sectors.
