It does not make a difference if a marketing campaign uses television ads, direct mail, SMS texts, social media or web based mediums to spread information.
The ultimate goal of any campaign is directing the public towards a call-to-action.
Whether resulting in a sale, signing up for a newsletter or simply getting consumers on a mailing list, a call-to-action is the definitive outcome of all marketing efforts.
During a recent shopping expedition in town today I decided to stop in my favorite café for a cool drink and bite to eat.
After having placed my order I happened to notice my neighbor Karen sitting in the corner looking like she had lost her best friend.
Gathering my purchases I walked over to her table and asked if I could join her.
With a desultory wave of her hand, Karen welcomed me to sit with her.
Karen is lovely young lady who is always there when someone needs a shoulder to cry on.
Today it seemed she needed mine.
Looking her straight in the eyes, I asked her what was wrong.
Karen Housely had set up the perfect marketing campaign to sell her all natural, bio friendly cleaning products.
Her website had an impressive landing page, the direct mail piece was in the hands of the community, and her social media sites were all abuzz with chatter.
People were enthused with her product and her strategies.
Karen couldn't wait for the orders to start rolling in.
Weeks later Karen sat around looking at the stock sitting in the warehouse.
Dust was beginning to cover the boxes.
The orders weren't coming in after all.
On the other hand, Chris Connors at the ChemItAll Company was so busy filling orders he had to hire additional staff.
Chris's product was inferior to Karen's, his customer service was non-existent and his pricing brought new meaning to the word gouging.
So what went wrong? It seems Karen made the mistake of many businesses and their call-to-action.
When placing her find out more form on her website, Karen had a long list of compulsory fields a customer was required to submit.
Turns out in her quest to gather information about potential clients, it threw up a lack of privacy red flag and hindered sales.
Instead of opting-in, visitors were walking away.
Karen forgot that while it may be effortless to share data on a personal social networking site, it is another thing to have it requested by a business.
On the whole, people are reticent to share information of a personal nature.
Businesses should learn to have respect for their customer's privacy.
When a visitor to a website chooses to opt-in with a call-to-action or request more information about a product or service, they should not have to write War and Peace to get it.
In most cases requesting something as uncomplicated as an email address goes a long way in making a potential customer feel comfortable and want to expand your business relationship.
So the next time you set up a marketing campaign to tout your newest/best/improved product or service, remember Karen Housely.
Sometimes less is more.