GetResponse, an email marketing company, recently posted a blog on emails with an insightful infographic.

From its blog post, author Hanna Andrzejewska shares "We analyzed 21 million messages sent from US accounts in the 1st quarter of 2012 to determine top open and click-through times. We also analyzed the recipients’ top engagement times — all to test our thesis: sending times matter, and message results depend on reader engagement routines, not just a little but a lot."

Key Takeways:
- Emails reach the best results within 1 hour after landing in the inbox.
- 24 hours after delivery, the average open rate is close to zero
- 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. are the top engagement times
- If your recipients are occupied with other activities, they won’t be able to engage while it’s still fresh, and your message will be crowded out by more recent messages
- To optimize the engagement rates for your message, you should schedule it to hit the inbox no later than 1 hour before the top open times, when its chances of getting noticed are the highest.
- If your emailings go to worldwide lists, make sure you use solutions that optimize delivery times in different time zones, such as GetResponse Time Travel.

Yahoo recently published an article, "Body Language Signs to Watch During the Debates." 

This particular paragraph sums it all up nicely:

"The mistakes the presidential candidates have made over the years are numerous. Poor body language has been a common blunder. As much as candidates focus on perfecting the substance of what they say before the cameras, a large number of Americans are really most interested to see how they say it," CNN contributor and history professor Julian Zelizer wrote for CNN.

The article goes in depth on various body language tendencies of both candidates. And the article ends with a brief discussion of six non verbal cues:

1. An itchy nose

2. Hands in pockets

3. Crossed arms

4. Touching the neck

5. Finger pointing

6. Frequent eye blinking

LinkedIn is transitioning away from gamification of connections or the perception thereof.

In the beginning, the friendly competitive/personal incentive to have more connections served LinkedIn very well. The results are astounding.

- Over 1,000,000 people join every month, which is more than two per second.

- More than 175 million members worldwide.

- "Operates the world’s largest professional network on the Internet"

- "Sixty-two percent of LinkedIn members are located outside of the United States" [Dominating the U.S., LinkedIn aggressively expanded Internationally and the statistics show its success]

It is no surprise to see the under-the-radar announcement, "Your Network Statistics - No Longer Supported."  Here's text:

At LinkedIn, we want to provide a simple and useful experience for everyone. So from time to time, we take a closer look at how our features are being used by our members. Sometimes that means we decide to eliminate a feature, so we can better invest those resources in building new, great LinkedIn products. This is why we've decided to discontinue support of the Network Statistics page.

We're currently working on new and improved products to enhance your LinkedIn experience.

One of the greatest aspects of the Washington, DC area is the international flavor. Embassies, organizations, multi-national corporations all dot the landscape. We are exposed to hundreds of cultures, languages, and traditions.

When it comes to selling and building relationships, you have to “think locally,” no matter where you are in the world. 

This email arrived in my inbox a few days ago. To be blunt, everything about this email screamed “from another country.” Based on the words, visuals, name of the company, and its website, I was surprised to find it was owned by a local business owner. Since the company has been in business since 2006, most of the items noted below should have been avoided.

For U.S. business-to-business markets, there are a few key areas to be keenly aware of:

a) Words:  How we message. The language is assertive, short, and should be results-centered
b) Visuals:  Must immediately demonstrate professionalism. To be effective, your graphics, pictures, charts, colors, etc. must be synched to the message
c) The Ask:  Be subtle or be bold. Do not be presumptuous. 

 

As I review this email, I’ll share with you some suggestions based on these three areas. 

The image below is a screen print (low resolution) of the email with numbers that correspond to a review and tips.

1. The email is addressed to “Helpdesk” and the Subject is “Introduction - Years 2012 Promotion Rates for Payroll and Accounting Services.” Please personalize the To and use a compelling subject line. The subject line is responsible for as much of 80% of the reasons people open an email

2. The company’s logo (blue smudge) is here. The placement seems like an afterthought. The brand and colors are all out of synch

3. Year 2012 Promotion. The visuals and quality of the graphics should be very professional. This email presents a cacophony of colors, shapes, fonts, and font sizes. 

4. Is Proud to announce... Why would you be proud to share your what most would perceive is a discount? Plus, it is September, nearly 3/4 of 2012 is over. There is a mismatch

5. Five (05). Lawyers and people from other countries use both words and parentheses for numbers. 

6. Seven small boxes of services and items are presented in four colors. Plus there are 10 other colors being used. Confusing.

7. Contact Information:  The membership associations are unimportant at this stage. Grab our attention, get us to visit your website…then share the associations. Why is the cell phone number in red and in a larger font? In the U.S., the word Toll means pay. 

8. The signoff states, “Thanks for the time in reading this email. We expect your business with us.” Ouch. You expect! Now that's presumptuous. Should someone have actually read down the email this far, most would delete based on this line alone. 

9. Text is way too small.

10. Email contact address is helpdesk. Again, we are not your customers. We don’t need a helpdesk, yet. If we are interested, we want to connect to a person about your services and products.

When The Chief Storyteller team does work (and when we travel) with individuals and organizations from other countries, we conduct extensive research on the organization, culture, brand, sensitive issues, language, country culture, and more. To be successful in the U.S. requires the same diligence, whether you live here or are doing business from another country.

 

While Nike didn't advertise on official Olympics' television, Nike was busy launching a variety of advertisements that were Olympic-styled. And they were effective.

One in particular titled "Jogger," stars 12-year old Nathan Sorrell. Nathan is from London, Ohio. During the video Nathan can be seen jogging. What you don't see in the beginning is that Nathan is 5-foot-3 and he is overweight...200 pounds. In fact, in an interview he shared that he threw up while shooting the video.

Published on July 31, that's just 28 days ago, the video on just the Nike YouTube page, has amassed 1,254,539 views.

Here's why it works...and think about what you can do in your advertising and messaging to connect to your audience's heart and mind.

- Journey Story. Nearly everyone is concerned about our weight. And we can empathize with the star. Nathan is an average, kid next store. Not a pro athlete...not an athlete at all. In fact, this might even be a David and Goliath metaphor. Where Nathan is battling his weight and is determined to beat it.

- Intriguing.  It starts off in such a way that you are intrigued. You are not quite sure what you are viewing. You can tell someone is running...you have to watch to figure it out.

- Voice Over.  The voice over is full of great messages and is narrated by a powerful voice

- Short.  It's 1:09. 

- Generates Action. Makes you think. If Nathan can do it, so can I. It's the archetypal Nike message. It's on message. On brand. On emotion (my phrase). Tweets, articles, interviews, parodies, blog posts, and more keep appearing. People are responding in words and with action. That's what advertising is supposed to do.

 

- Nike Commercial

- Interview on ABC News