My buddy Mark has been sober for ten years and counting. That’s cause for celebration.
Every time we go out, I play dumb and ask, “How long has it been?”
He knows I know. But he plays along. “Ten years,” he says proudly.
He should be proud. That’s why I ask the question.
The last time we went out, a few people in our party ordered a bottle of wine. I ordered a beer. Mark ordered an Arnold Palmer.
He has no problem sitting with others who drink.
But he had a problem with the waiter.
“May I pour you some?” the waiter asked Mark after bringing the wine bottle to the table.
Mark replied, “No thank you.”
The waiter persisted, “Are you sure? It’s delicious. Matches perfectly with the pasta you ordered.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Mark grumbled.
(Sigh!)
The waiter had good intentions. But come on, man! Don’t pitch wine to an alcoholic!
Seems pretty obvious, huh!? But businesses do this all the time. They pitch their “perfect” products to everyone without regard for what prospects want or need.
It happened to me with another restaurant this summer.
I joined the restaurant’s email list when I stopped in for a quick lunch.
I didn’t order any wine that day. No martinis either. Just a bowl of chowder and a sandwich.
Since then, I’ve received two emails.
The first promoted a month-long discount on wines.
The second pitched a one-night event (“celebrate our 11 year anniversary”). The hook? Discounts on sparkling wine from 4 to 7 p.m. and discounts on other bottles all night.
Don’t like wine? Been sober for 10 years? Wondering whether there’s a special menu or food discounts? Nothing to see here. Move on.
I like this restaurant. Tasty food. Nice selection of beers. Friendly service. Reasonable prices. That’s why I go.
I don’t go for the wine list. Nor would Mark. Same goes for many others on the email list.
So if you keep sending emails that pitch nothing but wine, we’re going to tune out. We’ll stop opening the emails. We may opt-out altogether.
Sending everything (i.e. narrow pitches for wine) to everybody, regardless of their interests, is the greatest mistake email marketers make.
Next Wednesday, I’ll dig deeper, share some examples from businesses that get it and offer some tips about how to engage email subscribers more effectively.
Tom
MarketVolt