Kris Dougherty

I recently re-read "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell, and thought about how it relates to email marketing.  Early in the book, Gladwell talks about the concept that "80 percent of the work will be done by 20 percent of the people."   He then defines the types of people that are essential to information distribution.

• Connectors - Those able to bridge different groups and have large social networks.
• Mavens - Those who are passionate about a topic (or product or service...) and enjoy sharing what they know.
• Salesmen - Charismatic individuals able to get others to follow or agree with them.

With each description, I thought of examples of my own.  I have a few good friends that definitely fit the role of the "Connector".  They're the ones who -- when I meet someone new at a social gathering --I find that it traces back to "I met Erin at a Colts game and she told me about this."

Likewise, I know that if I'm looking to buy anything A/V related, I should at least run it by my friend Brody. While I'm not going to try to keep up with his system, he's always willing to (gladly) talk about the differences between response time, refresh rate, contrast ratio, viewing angles... Passionate doesn't quite capture his enthusiasm for this topic.

And Salesmen?  Good or bad, I find myself saying "You know, that does sound like a good idea" around my friend Brad (and sometimes it isn't, but it always does fit nicely in with his plans.)

So, how does that relate to email marketing?  Your recipient list likely contains some of each.  And if you are able to connect with them, and send them something valuable/interesting/relevant, they'll help you spread the word. I see a number of marketers that don't seem to acknowledge that the recipients they're communicating are different.  They don't take advantage of the information about who opens, clicks, forwards, or purchases based on previous emails.  They simply send the same thing to everyone regardless of past behavior.

Our system makes it very simple to create a segment of those who are highly engaged.  Use that information to connect even better with those who respond to, purchase from, or help share your message with the rest of the world.

Kris Dougherty | Deliverability & Operations