Leading Nowhere: Why More Leads Isn't Always Better
TL;DR
- Building a large contact list does not equal building an audience.
- Develop a solid understanding of what constitutes desirable results before examining the metrics.
- Review the last 90 days of email opens to identify truly engaged contacts.
Typically, the response to a campaign is telling. A campaign launches and receives little-to-no engagement.
A contact list is simply a collection of names — an audience is what ultimately drives objectives. Your contact list may hold your potential audience members, but only if you develop trust and provide value to maintain their presence.
When does Volume become a Liability?
There is a natural draw towards “big” numbers. Large lists appear to prove success and high follow counts indicate momentum, even though the underlying platform is not yet fully developed. Brands therefore chase larger numbers. More forms, more free products, more campaigns, more advertisements. Larger amounts of entries in your CRM.
These types of tactics work directly against the foundational principles of trust dividend marketing – the ROI (return-on-investment) generated by continually establishing confidence within your target market leading to lower acquisition costs, higher retention rates and greater advocacy. As you force volume, you bypass the process of establishing trust with your target market therefore making your contact list useless.
In reality, you begin collecting all contacts from any previous touch-point. Without a systematic approach in place (i.e., welcome sequences, reasons for continued reading ect.) they will become inactive before you can properly engage with them. You review your contacts and believe you’ve established an audience. However, if 80%+ of your contacts have been inactive from opening an email from you over the past 8-months; you’ve created a spam-list. List fatigue becomes a serious concern. Methods that support permission based approaches protect your brands integrity much more so then forced acquisition methods.
At some point, I felt similarly disillusioned regarding managing a massive, unearned contact list. Managing such a list quickly became one of the most rapid paths to burn-out. Constantly feeling behind and owing something to people who do not recall signing-up for your communications and do not genuinely care are two common side effects.
How's Your Blood Pressure?
Once you recognize that the quantity of the number is not the ultimate objective but rather a signifier (like blood pressure); the focus shifts to understanding when things are going well versus when they need improvement. If your blood-pressure levels were extremely low and now are reaching normal ranges – that is something worth monitoring. However, you would not desire your blood-pressure levels to continue increasing. The goal is to remain consistent. You monitor those numbers to understand that things are working versus to discover how far you can drive those numbers before they fail.
An active, growing list comprised of individuals interested in hearing from you will contribute more to your business than a large inactive list comprised of people who never progressed beyond confirming receipt of an email. Attention is a limited resource. When someone grants their attention willingly, they are providing you with their time and that requires honoring that gift with value aligned messaging. Consistent repetition in front of the right people will improve your skills in communication and will eventually allow those people to develop sufficient trust in you to take action based upon your recommendations.
Start Auditing What You Already Have
Review your existing lists. Take the last 90 days of opens and determine which contacts are actually still engaged. This represents your true contact list. Use these contacts to build your next e-mail. Focus on getting re-engage these contacts. Once you have gotten these contacts re-engage; consider how you can continue to grow this contact base.
If this article has helped spark a thought process or changed how you see things, please post in the comments section. Some of the best articles we write lead into some of the most interesting (and informative) comments.
And if you're currently trying to navigate a marketing or design issue - That is exactly what I am here for. Do you have questions regarding developing your company's branding? Do you need a Content Plan that reflects your business? Or simply a fresh perspective on something you've been staring at for so long? Let's Talk. No obligation. Just an open conversation about where you are now and where you would like to be.
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Lionel Lowery
Marketing Strategist & Creative Lead
Lionel works with small and mid-size businesses and nonprofits across the Triad, including Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and beyond, to clarify their message, strengthen their brand, and build marketing systems that actually hold up. Through LIONEL.MKTG, he brings together digital marketing, social media strategy, and graphic design for organizations that are done guessing and ready to move forward.
