Weekly Hot Takes: How's Your Inbox?

Weekly Hot Takes, Sunday Edition. Today, I'm discussing the issue of overbearing email marketing, using the summer season to your marketing advantage and grassroots marketing. Without further delay, let's get into it.

Feels Like Spam
So, I get a lot of emails from different companies, especially about sales. While I know that I did opt in to receive these emails and I did give them my address, it's still something that I can't help but to find annoying when I receive a half a dozen emails about the same 30% off discount and -- as can be expected, there's always one last email about how it ENDS TONIGHT, and/or an extension of the sale of having just one more day where you can shop for that special discount that will absolutely never happen again (of course, until the next time that it does).

I feel like there has to be a better way for email marketers to let customers know about sales like these. For every time that receiving an email more than once actually leads me to seeing what I think is worth making a purchase, the other ten times I'm on a mass deletion spree with my inbox, not even glancing at anything that mentions a sale in the subject line. 

I think that one thing that would help is for there to be the occassional worthwhile content. Especially in my case where I'm following a lot of crafting/beading related sites. Send me tutorials and articles about using different products and you're a lot more likely to get me to shop there during your sales. It comes down to providing value in the end.

Summer Summer Summertime
What are your plans for summer marketing? Will you be talking to your followers about going to the beach, referencing the warm weather and how they can cool down when it's blazing or enjoy the nice days when it's not?

I always think that marketing during the summer is one of the easiest times of the year, especially in this day and age of technology where people are able to be connected with no matter wherever you go. Even while they're out going through their day, you can still engage them. Just in simple terms of providing content, you can give ideas on things they can do with their day, be local-specific and let them know where they can go or events that they can enjoy. You can ask them to make posts and tag you with their daily events, have special summer-related promotions. One of the biggest things to happen during the summer months are the various fests and festivals, especially in the larger cities. Don't hesitate to take advantage or get involved if you can, sponsor something if it's a community-tied event.

While not filled with as many endless ideas as other big holidays, summer from June through August is a special time to take advantage of. Quality over quantity wins every time.

Consider what works with your brand and make some plans.

Grassroots Marketing
I love grassroots marketing. It's the sort of thing you can't fake. It's all about making a plan, something that has possibly not been done before, and taking a chance. With the right marketers who understand how to use grassroots marketing and how to be ready for when things needs to be course-corrected, you could have a dream strategy on your hands. All it takes is the right message to the right people, done in exactly the right way. 

I also believe that grassroots marketing is very authentic, which is a thing that I've talked about more than once in many of these weekly blogs. You need your grassroots marketing to show your intended target audience that you want to build a genuine relationship between them and your brand. This is something that's especially important to the younger generations -- Millennials and Gen Z -- and multicultural consumers. And if you're attempting to catch those who interesect and match both criteria, then it becomes doubly important.

Looking to read a bit more on grassroots marketing? It's one of our top topics of conversation. 

What did you notice or have thoughts on this week? Comment below.