Act Like You Know

Welcome to The Beat by Rockstar CMO. I’m Ian Truscott, a CMO, trusted advisor, strategy consultant, and Chief Bottle Washer at Rockstar CMO. In this newsletter, I’d like to share a mix of what’s caught my eye, topics from our podcast, and our street knowledge blog.

Hi there!

Some email marketers suggest that it’s best practice to ensure that your email list predominantly consists of people who engage with your content. And, if people don’t open or click through, then be ruthless and remove them from the list.

The argument, I believe, is that having a decent engagement rate boosts your reputation and deliverability, as, of course, hitting send is only the start of an email’s journey as it battles to find its way into an inbox.

But deliverability is not the topic of this week’s newsletter; I am just setting the scene for a story, about making assumptions or acting like you know - as I pluck the subject line of this week’s newsletter from an early 80’s funk classic from Fat Larry’s Band - Act Like You Know.

When I interview people for my podcast, the guests sometimes add me to their newsletter; although I am often not their ideal audience, I get signed up. A few years ago, one of these interviews that came with a free newsletter sign-up was with a couple of very entertaining email marketers.

I got added to their list, and while I wasn’t interested in the online courses, free downloads, and consulting services that the links in their emails promoted, the emails themselves were entertaining.

They knew how to hook you with a subject line, and the short email would make me smile, partially at the craft of it and their language, the funny little personal story they’d share, and how they used personalization.

The emails reminded me of these smart email marketers, who, aside from me having them on my podcast, I’d previously recommended them as speakers for an event, and I would probably mention them if you’d asked me for a recommendation for people who know their email marketing shizzle.

Then I got a break-up email—which I would normally welcome from anyone who decides to assume my attention in my inbox without asking—that said something like:

"Because you haven’t clicked on any links, you will be removed from our list.”

There was an ultimatum: I could signal my interest in this email by clicking on one of their links (to something I am not interested in), or this funny little email would no longer be in my inbox.

Well, that funny little email is no longer in my inbox.

Why?

Well, I guess what they did was best practice.

Kinda.

Sure, purge your database of people that don’t give a damn - but was I one of those?

Because nobody trusts open rates anymore, they did not see (or believe) my signal of interest as I opened and read—they just assumed that I was not interested because I didn’t click.

As B2B marketers, we are obsessed with reliable data. We can’t just put something out there and imagine that someone gave it some attention; we have to see and measure that attention.

Coincidently, as I was forming this point for today’s newsletter, a recruiter contact I’ve known for a couple of decades posted on LinkedIn about business relationships and shared that someone was on their database for two years before they acted and used their services.

As these folks have excluded me from their list, it’s unlikely that will happen here.

Now, I am no email marketing expert, as proved by this email, which uses song titles for subject lines.

But…

I believe email plays a top-of-funnel role of being a brand reminder, even if it’s unopened (I mean, really, not just you assuming it was unopened).

If someone has not unsubscribed, you have an excuse to give them a wave and remind them that you, your product, or service exists for the moment they might need it.

Maybe a topic for another day, and maybe a broader topic about how, like assumptions, data can make an ass out of u and me - and maybe don’t act like you know, but do enjoy this classic tune!

Cheers!

Ian

Ian Truscott | Chief Bottle Washer Rockstar CMO

Say hello, reply to this email or find me on LinkedIn or my personal website.

This week’s podcast…

If you listen to the podcast, I’d love to know what you think of me splitting it into two - is that working for you?

The week’s street knowledge….

Get your Monday Marketing Mojo Working

Could this be any more early 80’s?