@InnoGage

I recently received an email solicitation from a sponsor of an online conference that I attended.  Now I understand that sponsors need to be able to reach out to attendees and try to get a return on their investment.  I’m sure that somewhere in the fine print of my registration I agreed to be contacted by these guys.  No problem.

The email solicitation was actually very well done.  They had an image from a video “commercial” on their email with a big WATCH NOW button.  Good calls to action, guys.  All this was done RIGHT.

The email was so good that I actually clicked on their video commercial to see what it was all about.  I was taken to their website where I prepared to watch the commercial…but the video didn’t play.  Instead a Sign-up form popped up and demanded that I fork over all my information.  They REQUIRED me to give:

• My Name
• My Email
• My Company
• My Title
• My Phone
• My State
• My Zip code
• My Industry
• MY REVENUE!

What is so insane about this is they are requiring me to give them all my information so I can Watch THEIR commercial!

OK folks - this is how the “GIVE / GET” game works… I GIVE YOU my information when I receive something of VALUE.  You then GET my contact information and a warm Lead.

Things of value include Gift Certificates, Entrance into a Raffle, a Statistical Study, White paper or other Proprietary information not available in the public sphere…etc.  The example above completely violates the Give / Get principle.  These guys are trying to use a GET / GET principle.  They GET all my information and then the GET me to watch their commercial.

Did they get my information?  NOPE.            Did I watch the commercial?  NOPE.

So instead of Win/Win we wind up with Lose/Lose.  What a waste of a great email marketing execution.

Tagged as: @InnoGage, email marketing, getting people to sign up, Oops!!, prospects, sign up, the wrong way, warm lead, waste of effort, waste of time

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