9. Some Truth about the black holes of Email and Search Engines.
a. Back in the days of dinosaurs, everybody in business talked on the telephone, because that it was all they had and there were rules. Everybody answered their phone. People were used to getting calls from strangers. There were no answering machines and no caller id, so if they wanted to talk on the phone, which everybody did, they had to answer. People only had one telephone number (5 digits).
i. Telephone equipment was not consistent in the quality of the voice transmission, so if you talked on the phone a lot, you learned to slow your talking down, talk a little louder than normal and enunciate more emphatically and to use a “telephone” voice, similar to a radio disc jockey.
ii. You were not allowed to do “business” on the phone. The only thing you were allowed to do on the phone was to get an appointment so you could do business face to face.
iii. You could find out most anything you wanted to know in three phone calls.
iv. The first person you talked with typically knew very little about your topic that you were researching and gave you the name of someone who knew more than they did.
v. The second person you talked with typically knew a lot more than the first person
vi. The third person you talked with told you what you really wanted or needed to know
vii. Everybody always said, “now the person you really need to talk with is so-and-so. Here’s their number. Or I don’t have his number; he works at XYZ Corp. Tell him I told you to call him.”
vii. You were taught do not leave messages if no one answers, because when you leave a message you give up control of the sales/information sharing process. The rules were that if you leave a message, you had to wait at least one business day before calling back, or you would be perceived as impatient or worse.
b. The Online world of email, Google and Facebook doesn’t work this way. Duh!
i. Email is nothing but an answering machine on steroids.
ii. Email—everybody does it, when at least 80% of those connected to the internet (190M in US) but not everybody manages email the same way. Somewhere, somebody has real statistics on email behavior. Not me, (Google and Yahoo know but they are not telling everything). What search engines do tell is postured to attract advertisers who are their primary source of income. Using the old "80/20 rule", I can guess pretty close what they are. Among people using email,
a. 20% have their email on the whole time they are at their computer.
b. 20% check their email two or three times a day,
when they come and when they go out.
c. 20% check once a day.
d. 30% check two or three times a week.
e. 10% fall in all other categories.
iii. People as a general rule reply at the same pace,
more or less, as they as they check their email.
iv. However, most everybody also, prioritizes their email, into three categories,
a. Reply immediately
b. Reply when I get to it, soon, in a little while
c. Reply later, perhaps much later
.v. Email response times are significantly faster as familiarity with the sender increases, which is to say, if people know you and like you, they will respond to your email faster.
vi. Email response times are significantly slower as the receiving person’s interest or comfort level is decreased which is to say if your email doesn’t interest the reader or makes the reader uncomfortable they will postpone their response.
vii. Most importantly, the culture of email does not require or expect a response. Email is a one-way conversation. This new world culture is similarly reflected in people who screen their phone calls because I just do not want to talk to them right now. Doesn’t matter if it’s your sister calling and your mom had a heart attack. Today it widely agreed you don’t have to take the call. And it is even more true that you are not obligated to respond to email.
viii. A significant number of people have multiple email addresses including a special one they use when surfing the web and they want to be anonymous or want to avoid repetitious junk email followups.
ix. A significant number of businesses, especially large ones, have filters set up to screen out email not applicable to the company’s business. Only about 80% of unsolicited email is actually delivered.
The sum of this illustration is to create a reasonable set of expectations about email in general, before you get fully invested in email marketing to support your WebBusiness.
Once you understand this, you will quit asking yourself why you have not received a reply. If you match the math in 8bi1 and 8bi5, a 1-5% response to unsolicited, potentially interesting email between parties with low levels of intimacy, what you should expect.
More importantly, once you understand that you can only have a one way conversation with your customer then it should radically change the way you do everything in WebBusiness.
And it should go without saying, the whole challenge is to move people “across the street” where you can have a two-way conservation in an environment you control.
c. Search Engines index the encyclopedia of the web, but never forget that Search engines are going to prioritize according to their rules not yours. What if Google had a filter that let the viewer select “show information only, filter out sales pitches disguised as information” or “filter everything I already know”?
1. Search engines by their design think “wide” not “deep”
2. Search engines are full of entertaining, informational distractions
3. Search engines lead you sideways especially when you don’t quite know
what you are looking for.
The good news is that your prospects and your customers are all in the same boat with you.
The challenge with SEQ is how they find you when they don’t know they are looking for you.
Moreover, a coordinated and well planned marketing program running alongside your integrated WebBusiness will optimize your results. Think quality not quantity.
a. Back in the days of dinosaurs, everybody in business talked on the telephone, because that it was all they had and there were rules. Everybody answered their phone. People were used to getting calls from strangers. There were no answering machines and no caller id, so if they wanted to talk on the phone, which everybody did, they had to answer. People only had one telephone number (5 digits).
i. Telephone equipment was not consistent in the quality of the voice transmission, so if you talked on the phone a lot, you learned to slow your talking down, talk a little louder than normal and enunciate more emphatically and to use a “telephone” voice, similar to a radio disc jockey.
ii. You were not allowed to do “business” on the phone. The only thing you were allowed to do on the phone was to get an appointment so you could do business face to face.
iii. You could find out most anything you wanted to know in three phone calls.
iv. The first person you talked with typically knew very little about your topic that you were researching and gave you the name of someone who knew more than they did.
v. The second person you talked with typically knew a lot more than the first person
vi. The third person you talked with told you what you really wanted or needed to know
vii. Everybody always said, “now the person you really need to talk with is so-and-so. Here’s their number. Or I don’t have his number; he works at XYZ Corp. Tell him I told you to call him.”
vii. You were taught do not leave messages if no one answers, because when you leave a message you give up control of the sales/information sharing process. The rules were that if you leave a message, you had to wait at least one business day before calling back, or you would be perceived as impatient or worse.
b. The Online world of email, Google and Facebook doesn’t work this way. Duh!
i. Email is nothing but an answering machine on steroids.
ii. Email—everybody does it, when at least 80% of those connected to the internet (190M in US) but not everybody manages email the same way. Somewhere, somebody has real statistics on email behavior. Not me, (Google and Yahoo know but they are not telling everything). What search engines do tell is postured to attract advertisers who are their primary source of income. Using the old "80/20 rule", I can guess pretty close what they are. Among people using email,
a. 20% have their email on the whole time they are at their computer.
b. 20% check their email two or three times a day,
when they come and when they go out.
c. 20% check once a day.
d. 30% check two or three times a week.
e. 10% fall in all other categories.
iii. People as a general rule reply at the same pace,
more or less, as they as they check their email.
iv. However, most everybody also, prioritizes their email, into three categories,
a. Reply immediately
b. Reply when I get to it, soon, in a little while
c. Reply later, perhaps much later
.v. Email response times are significantly faster as familiarity with the sender increases, which is to say, if people know you and like you, they will respond to your email faster.
vi. Email response times are significantly slower as the receiving person’s interest or comfort level is decreased which is to say if your email doesn’t interest the reader or makes the reader uncomfortable they will postpone their response.
vii. Most importantly, the culture of email does not require or expect a response. Email is a one-way conversation. This new world culture is similarly reflected in people who screen their phone calls because I just do not want to talk to them right now. Doesn’t matter if it’s your sister calling and your mom had a heart attack. Today it widely agreed you don’t have to take the call. And it is even more true that you are not obligated to respond to email.
viii. A significant number of people have multiple email addresses including a special one they use when surfing the web and they want to be anonymous or want to avoid repetitious junk email followups.
ix. A significant number of businesses, especially large ones, have filters set up to screen out email not applicable to the company’s business. Only about 80% of unsolicited email is actually delivered.
The sum of this illustration is to create a reasonable set of expectations about email in general, before you get fully invested in email marketing to support your WebBusiness.
Once you understand this, you will quit asking yourself why you have not received a reply. If you match the math in 8bi1 and 8bi5, a 1-5% response to unsolicited, potentially interesting email between parties with low levels of intimacy, what you should expect.
More importantly, once you understand that you can only have a one way conversation with your customer then it should radically change the way you do everything in WebBusiness.
And it should go without saying, the whole challenge is to move people “across the street” where you can have a two-way conservation in an environment you control.
c. Search Engines index the encyclopedia of the web, but never forget that Search engines are going to prioritize according to their rules not yours. What if Google had a filter that let the viewer select “show information only, filter out sales pitches disguised as information” or “filter everything I already know”?
1. Search engines by their design think “wide” not “deep”
2. Search engines are full of entertaining, informational distractions
3. Search engines lead you sideways especially when you don’t quite know
what you are looking for.
The good news is that your prospects and your customers are all in the same boat with you.
The challenge with SEQ is how they find you when they don’t know they are looking for you.
Moreover, a coordinated and well planned marketing program running alongside your integrated WebBusiness will optimize your results. Think quality not quantity.
Upcoming:
The Culture Clash between Business and Facebook
The Culture Clash between Business and Facebook
