 |
|
Online marketers have gone too far in dividing up information…
30 November 2006Hi fellow mediators and conflict managers,
A little bit of a rant today…
Is it just me or have online marketers gone too far in dividing up their content?
Marketing researchers “discovered” that if you break up content (educational and informative information) into small pieces people are more likely to absorb it and act on it.
In addition, the theory goes that if you break up the information into smaller pieces (e.g. separate emails) that people receive in increments it will help you establish trust over time with your prospects.
So far so good. Heeding this “advice,” when I put together my free special report “10 Biggest Mediation/ADR Business Mistakes“ it is sent out via autoresponder in two parts. One part with mistakes 1-5 one day and then a while later the second piece of it with mistakes 6-10.
I recently signed up for some free resources that took this principle too far.
1) One resource (which I have recommended to all of you) is a great resource but it is divided up into 89 emails! Every day for almost 90 days (3 months) I get a separate email. Not only is this incredibly annoying, it fills up my inbox, the bite size pieces are too small! Do I want to wait 90 days to implement the information I’m learning. NO! I like to speed read books, digest large amounts of information at one time, take notes on what I find valuable and apply as appropriate. This breaking up thing has gone way too far. I am less likely to want anything else from this marketer because they have annoyed me with the above. Can you relate?
2) The second resource I signed up for was broken up into 22 secrets which are emailed out everyday and there is an audio clip that goes with each one. Again, I have to go back and open up each separate email, replay each audio clip to take notes on the nuggets of information. Annoying and not conducive to me applying this information. (In this case, I have to go to the trouble because the information is really useful, but in other situations with my busy schedule, why would I bother?)
3) The third resource I signed up for is also a 10 “tips” or “mistakes” type report. I got the report all in one piece but then the marketer has followed up with, to date, at least 4 more emails with “bonus” tips. The bonus tips in and of themselves aren’t that informative and I would have much preferred the marketer compiled them all into one “bonus report.”
In any event, in my humble opinion these marketers have gone too far. When I opt in to receive valuable information I don’t want a cluttered inbox and the content hyper-divided. I think it defeats the purpose of providing valuable content since it is so dispersed it’s unusable (or requires way too much effort for me to compile it).
Does anyone like this super-divided approach?
Anyway, what I suggest for you is that when you create informational and educational resources for people, divide it maybe 1-5 times but no more than that.
Offering free reports and audio resources is a great way to generate leads and to provide value to your potential customers (thereby beginning to build trust and credibility) — just don’t take it too far.
If you need help in thinking of free content resources you could use in your practice to generate mediation and conflict mangement leads on-line and offline, let me know. I’ve got some great ideas and resources for you.
NEVER GIVE UP!
Your partner in peace,
Kristina Haymes
Mediation Marketing Queen ™