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The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Outbound Marketing

Posted by John McTigue on Wed, Nov 18, 2009 @ 06:54 AM
 

So we're constantly badmouthing outbound marketing and pushing inbound marketing. You know what I'm talking about - the relentless TV ads, direct mail and spam that gets delivered to your door 24/7. It's not all bad though. Some of it makes us laugh, and the rest, well...

The Good

babies make great outbound marketing materialOK, so it's not the e-Trade baby in the picture. You want me to get sued? You know the ad(s) - unbelievably funny. Kid talks smack with fellow golfer after a serious "Skins Beat-Down". "Dude, grab the reins. Get some analytics..." I howl every time I see that ad. I'm a total sucker for the talking baby gimmic. No, I don't use e-Trade, not since 9-11, but what the heck, this is advertising money well spent. Bring the ads, e-Trade.

The Bad

People who finish each other's sentences in TV ads drive me nuts. IBM does this all the time, as does Microsoft. C'mon man! Do something original. And Apple, OK we get that PC's suck. Why not show us some good stuff from your new Mac's or at least do something different. These ads hurt my head and make me wish I had a TIVO.

The Ugly

Every since the founding days of Nigeria I've been getting these e-mails asking me to open a bank account for some guy who supposedly lives there and can't do it himself. OK fine, I did that once, so why am I still getting these e-mails? I'm beginning to think it might be a scam.

Marketing Take-Away

If you're going to do outbound marketing, at least make it clever!

What are your favorite outbound marketing good, and ugly nominees? Maybe we should have a poll, or like me are you sick and tired of polls too?


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Comments

Nothing is worse than bad outbound marketing. And with social media, it easier than ever for every amateur in the world to push their product /service /restaurant. "Get 10% off if you say you saw this on Facebook!" "Twitter special only!". And these amateurs seem genuinely surprised when they are un-friended and un-followed.  
 
 
 
There is a rule of thumb that there's a 12:1 ratio on content. Put out 12 pieces of enlightening and interesting content to every solicitation you put out. There would be less un-friending and hiding and un-following if this guideline were followed. 
 
 
 
Social media is about developing RELATIONSHIPS and CONVERSATIONS with others. 
 
 
 
John, you are one of the most generous content posters I know, and I thank you for that. I spread your word among many others as an example of how things should be. 
 
 
 
Thanks for making the web a better place. 
 
 
 
Susie Sharp 
 
Cleveland, Ohio
Posted @ Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:02 AM by Susie Sharp
If I traded, I'd e-trade. I start laughing when I READ about that baby talking golf trash to his friend singing "Take These Broken Wings" (the golden pipes...) And, yep, sick to death of the Apple thing. Let the Apple guy talk. Generally, my mood is one of saturation. The muscle most developed in me -- the one that goes for the mute, the off button, that turns away, that screens...
Posted @ Wednesday, November 18, 2009 11:21 AM by Amanda McTigue
I think it comes down to providing value to the consumer. And if you are going to interrupt me to deliver your message, the required value goes up, at least in proportion to the degree of interruption. Put it this way: If you are going to bang on my door like Publisher's Clearinghouse you better have a check in your hand for a million bucks.  
 
There are plenty of TV/cinema campaigns out there that deliver value to the viewer - they just have to work so much harder to do it.
Posted @ Wednesday, November 18, 2009 2:54 PM by Ron Stack
@Susie - thanks for your support and kind words. I consider you one of the best advocates of white hat marketing as well! Let's keep it up in 2010. PS, I like the 12:1 ratio. 
 
@Amanda - I would attribute our common disdain for bad ads to genetics, but nah. Everybody hates that stuff. 
 
@Ron - I think you've got it. Our time and attention is worth more to us than ever. If you want to interrupt us, you'd better bring it in spades.
Posted @ Thursday, November 19, 2009 6:42 AM by John McTigue
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