Already Marketing To An Owned Audience? Avoid These 6 Mistakes

From Disney to Nike to AOL, everyone is now creating a direct connection with their customers and reducing their dependency on the walled gardens. Every smart marketer out there is realizing the potential of owning an audience, but people hardly talk about the next right step. Owning the audience is just one piece of the pie. The actual accomplishment lies in keeping them delighted. Read on to know the top 6 marketing mistakes marketers tend to make. 

In 1990, McDonald’s saw an amazing spike in growth. With this sudden hike, they started giving more attention to the supply side of its business. They doubled down their efforts in building new restaurants and buying up other food chains. They were expanding their business, no doubt. But they slowly started drawing away from the demand side of things. The new generation of consumers wanted to see more vegetables and less meat on the menu, and there was no one to hear them out. Now, they did not see coming. And just like that, they saw a decline in profitability. Ouch. 

Yes, sometimes we get overwhelmed and get carried away with things. Even when it comes to owning an audience, marketers start focusing on bringing in more subscribers, and not on retaining them. And that, is like pouring water into a bucket full of holes. 

Owning your audience, the 2nd best thing after pizza

Who doesn’t like to be in control; to know every step the users make, to know their interests and what makes them tick? Owning an audience helps you reach out to them whenever you want with relevant timely updates. Not depending on other platforms, not getting the chills when Google or Facebook roll out a new update or make an algorithm change. Phew! You have the audience all for yourself, to reach out to, to pamper and delight them.

But sometimes you realize the need for owning an audience the hard way. Here is a story behind what made Kolkata Knight Riders build their own audience -Disclaimer - The story isn’t a pretty one. 

Already owning your audience? But the battle is just half won

Owning your audience can help you breathe a sigh of relief. These are the users who lay their trust in you, and users who have given you permission to reach out to them. That must feel great! 

Some marketers commit marketing mistakes because they are overwhelmed and blindly start pushing out notifications. There is a reason why they subscribed. Don’t break their faith in you. 

Don’t be a churn machine - Keeping your brand’s most valued asset happy

It comes across as a surprise when users start unsubscribing. I mean, they voluntarily subscribed, didn’t they? True, but have you been taking them for granted? 

Remember, only when the users are happy can you be happy. While there are many reasons for unsubscriptions,  with these 6 marketing mistakes, all hell breaks loose. 

Top 6 marketing mistakes marketers do while reaching out to their audience 

1. Not taking timezone into consideration

The other day I got a notification at 08:00 in the morning, that talked about how you can sleep like a baby! I was about to get ready for the office and then suddenly, I was not anymore. I am speaking for myself here, but I can’t afford to miss office like this. 

When it comes to sending a notification, time zones have to be kept in check. You don't want to send them an irrelevant message, god forbid it offends them after a point of time (It is bound to, by the way). 

A lot of unsubscriptions also happen due to this reason. And this is a lane you don't want to take for making one of the silly but drastic marketing mistakes. 

Here is what you should do - 

Identify where your users are from. Create different copies if needed but make sure that it reaches them at the right time, according to their timezone. 

2. Mass push - No Segmentation and Personalization

It is like wishing everyone a happy birthday on the same day. So absurd. One of the marketing mistakes that you do not want to commit!

Imagine receiving a notification that says that there is a new collection of skirts added to the store when all you shop is from the men’s section. Or if you get an update on the Sensex, when you hardly understand or are interested in stocks. You are just adding on to the number of notifications they receive a day (from other websites as well) and on top of it, it does not provide them any value.

Here is what you should do - 

Segment users based on their interests, demography, and behavior so that you reach out to the right users with the right message. Here are 50+ e-commerce segments that you can make use of right away-

3. Playing around with the frequency of notifications

Don’t reach out to them with multiple updates just because you can. The end-user might be subscribed to other websites and receiving so many notifications is not a pleasant experience. When uses get bombarded with messages, they tend to unsubscribe blindly. You don’t want to be at that spot.

Here is what you should do -

It is observed that e-commerce marketers do not send enough notifications, which makes it difficult for users to recall the brand when a notification is sent after a long time.

On the other hand, a lot of publishers get so excited and blindly shoot out updates. Since we get a lot of questions around the number of notifications they stick to, we recorded a video- 

4. No follow-ups - Set up a drip campaign

How many follow up does it take for you to get the job done, be it at work or at home? 

Mostly more than once. When you know how we humans behave, why stick to just one notification when it comes to retargeting users?

Here is what you should do -
You need to remind users they have a product in their cart a couple of times (we consider 3 as a lucky number) so that the users are reminded and encouraged to buy.

5. Redirection of Notifications 

Remember the times your parents would fool you saying you were going someplace else and then take you to the dentist? Or the times you told your dog you are going to the park and then take it to the vet? 

Well, no one likes surprises. 

But this is what some marketers do (knowingly or unknowingly) while sending out a notification. The notification reads something else, but once clicked it redirects the user to the homepage or some other page altogether. Argh! One of the marketing mistakes I do not want to be at the receiving end at. 

Here is what you should do - 

The users need to be sent to the exact page they were promised on the notifications. Double-check the URL, see if it matched to the copy you are writing and you are good to go. 

6. Marketers do not set the expiry time to notifications 

Imagine you are running a sale and you send out a couple of notifications to build the hype. Which means there are multiple notifications that are being sent. Now imagine that a user has opened the laptop the next day. Ouch! One of the marketing mistake you don't want to commit! Forget the bombardment, the notifications are not even relevant anymore. There is no sale going on. What is the point of the information?

Here is what you should do - 

Make sure to set an expiry time for all the notifications that you push out. Make sure you do not reach out to users with outdated information. 

Good to know

Add brand logo on the notifications

For maximum recall, it is advised that you add your brand logo as the icon. This also helps users differentiate your notifications from the rest. 

Send a welcome notification

Make use of welcome notifications to assure the user that they have successfully subscribed to your website. Welcome notifications work well to give the users immediate gratification. A wonderful opportunity to make a lasting first impression. 

Add relevant visuals to the notifications

Adding visuals compliments the text of your notification. It gives users more context and encourages users to click on it. 

Think we haven't covered all the marketing mistakes? Let us know what leads to unsubscritions in the comments below.