Connecting to Twitter Followers Through the Mail
Podcast Interview with Steve Tingiris: CEO, Enthusem.
Steve Tingiris is a serial entrepreneur currently working on Enthusem which is his third venture. Enthusem is a very interesting play on social media marketing. In fact, it’s a totally different twist on any kind of marketing. Steve’s premise for creating Enthusem is based on a revelation that came to him during his second venture at ProspectSmarter.
Steve understands that traditional marketing is about filling the top of the sales funnel to get results through the bottom. Historically, marketers attempt to get their message in front of as many targeted people as possible (the top of the funnel). Usually response rates in the 1, 2 or 3% range would produce respectable results. Steve noticed that even the most creative and compelling marketing campaigns have produced lower and lower response rates in recent years. The problem is (in part) we all get bombarded with so many electronic messages it’s hard for marketers to stand out.
Steve believes that, through the phenomenon of social media, it’s not a requirement to get in front of thousands of people any more. The power of social media allows individuals to get the word out for other individuals and businesses. The Enthusem model is based on the premise that anyone can reach anyone with a personal message.
Steve created Enthusem to turn the funnel upside down. Rather than marketing to many, Steve believes marketers can create relationships with select individuals met online by creating an offline message sent through a printed postal message. But, it’s not just any printed, postal message.
Here’s how Enthusem works. You visit the Enthusem website, sign in and select “send a card.” You can upload your address book or add an address one at a time. Once you’ve identified the person who will receive your card you select an image from the image library for the face of the card, or upload your own. Then, you type a personal message and attach a digital link (optionally). The image on the front of the card is very important. It’s the first step in personalization. The card is mailed in a translucent envelope so the image is visible through the envelope which makes it stand out. For example one of the most popular card images has an image of the Twitter logo and says “Following you on Twitter.” You can upload any image to place on the face of a card.
When someone receives your card, if they type the link retrieval code provided in the card, the sender receives an email alert informing you the name of the person who retrieved the digital link you included in your card. Many marketers are getting creative with these links. You can include a link to any digital file including URLs, documents, images and video. When I attend tradeshows, I take photos of people and selectively mail a card to them with an attachment link to their photo.
Thinking Outside the “Box”
One of Steve’s colleagues at Enthusem, Marc Fors sent a a card to the CEO of Box.net using an image of their board room which he found online. Through a creative personal message in the card, the CEO of Box responded to the digital attachment. A meeting was set up and within 60 days Enthusem inked a deal to offer Box’ 2 million users the ability to send a personal card through Enthusem directly from Box or from LinkedIn which has Box integrated into it.
Let’s summarize this…Enthusem sent a piece of postal mail to the CEO of a silicon valley company and within 60 days inked a deal. That “campaign” cost Enthsem $4, plus a round trip ticket to San Francisco to ink the deal. Sweet!
At the Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco, I showed a sample Enthusem card to Chris Brogan. He was very intrigued by Enthusem’s integration of social networking and postal mail. The following week, Chris called the Enthusem office to learn more about it in response to an Enthusem card sent to him. Apparently, other Twitter followers had sent those “following you on Twitter” cards to Chris.
Enthusem has been building a fast growing Twitter following. By walking the walk, Enthusem’s team selectively mails a card to some Twitter followers and many of them have responded to the digital attachment link. Some have even called Enthusem to become an affiliate or reseller.
Most people are used to getting bombarded by electronic messages, but they’re not used to getting a personalized postal card.
Find and Convert and Enthusem have launched a new joint offering which is called the Twitter Marketing Plan. We build a Twitter following for a client using best practices. As followers build up, we selectively send them an Enthusem card with a digital attachment. The idea is to take the contact offline. As attachments get picked up, a viable follow up can occur to explore a measurable relationship.
The Twitter Marketing Plan is popular because Twitter is popular, and this program allows marketers to use Twitter in measurable ways. The marketer can see a tangible result from Twitter by taking the online contact into an offline conversation which can be measured.
Steve’s insight for Enthusem is premised on the need for marketers to get smarter about engaging prospects. He believes marketers need to focus on true relationship building, not mail merge relationships. And, hitting people up with a sales message in social media isn’t very effective. Steve says “people filter out messages that are not relevant, not interesting and not personal. Marketers must communicate in more personal and interesting ways. Companies who do this well will be more successful.”
We have partnered with Enthusem for a special trial offer at http://www.findandconvert.com/enthusem-greeting-cards/.
To learn more about the Twitter Marketing Plan, call or email us.
Follow Enthusem on Twitter at http://twitter.com/enthusem.
Follow Bernie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniebay.
You just may get a “following you on Twitter” card one day…
9 Comments to Connecting to Twitter Followers Through the Mail
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Enthusem continues to be a great source of leads and communications for our TriMin Systems business. The individual tailoring by contact and company allows for very focus marketing activities and follow up. Our response rate has jumped significantly using the Enthusem program. Paul Halvorson, Director of Marketing and Client Relations, TriMin Systems, Inc.
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While we haven’t used Enthusem to connect with a Twitter following, we have used it to connect with our customers and to prospect for new ones. It’s working great! We have about 26 sales representatives across the country and they all use Enthusem independently for prospecting and for keeping in touch with their customer base. It’s polite and classy way for them to deliver product information and proposals, plus they receive an email alert when the attachments are viewed so they can follow up immediately!
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Our sales team has been using Enthusem for about 6 months, and it’s become part of their every day routine. They mostly use it when following up with prospects but also use it as a cultivation tool for our current customers.
We recently did a program to our top 100 list where we took screen shots of each company's website, put a ‘sticky’ note on the front addressing the recipient by first name and typed a personal message on the inside. It was a little extra work, but Enthusem made it much easier. They are just starting to hit now, and we are expecting great results!
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I just found a great squidoo article on twitter advertising i hope you all find interesting, http://www.squidoo.com/twitter-marketing-secrets
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Usually response rates in the 1, 2 or 3% range would produce respectable results. Steve noticed that even the most creative and compelling marketing campaigns have produced lower and lower response rates in recent years.
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I think this is a great post. One thing that I find the most helpful is number five. Sometimes when I write, I just let the flow of the words and information come out so much that I loose the purpose. It’s only after editing when I realize what I’ve done. There’s defiantly a lot of great tips here I’m going to try to be more aware of.
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Hey, just a quick question. Could you please tell me how I could stay updated about your future posts? Maybe an update list I could join? Thanks!
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