Observers of the Net have long considered e-mail the medium's killer application. The Eng@ged Customer, by Hans Peter Brondmo, shows why this may be even more relevant for e-commerce endeavors of the future--and sets out various ways that it can be utilized to develop "profitable, loyal and engaged" consumers today. "Whether you're sending individual customers their stock portfolio update at the end of each trading day, writing a gossip column on the music industry, sending special offers or promotions, publishing an industry newsletter, sending a purchase confirmation, or running a gift reminder-and-product-suggestion service, e-mail marketing can do the job," writes Brondmo, founder of a firm that has helped design and implement such programs for companies ranging from Amtrak to Victoria's Secret. A section illustrating how e-mail can foster the "age-old principles [of] personal service and communication" to more fully engage customers, and one with speculations on the future implications of the practice, are sandwiched around the meat of Brondmo's book: specifics on using e-mail to acquire, convert, and retain real business. The highly detailed advice, consistently delivered with the necessary sensitivity to spam, privacy, and other concerns, should prove instructive to executives and managers at every level. --Howard Rothman --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
In this valuable guide to niche marketing, Brondmo, the head of an Internet direct marketing firm, leads readers step by step through preparing for and launching an e-mail campaign. To his credit, he addresses both strategyAhow a direct mail campaign should fit into a company's overall marketing effortsAand specific tactics for implementing it. (For example, it's best to first ask potential customers if they want to hear about a product, to avoid flooding them with messages if they say yes and to customize the e-mail as much as possible.) He even shows the reader sample marketing copy as well as how to determine exactly how successful a campaign has been. While Brondmo's writing tends to be flat, he provides enough potent images to keep readers engaged, as when he encourages Internet marketers to try to replicate the approach of the old-time shopkeeper who truly knew his customers. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Brondmo is an expert on Internet direct marketing and heads his own consulting business. Direct mail advertising has always been a mainstay of direct marketing. Now e-mail is being used by Internet businesses to reach potential customers with greater precision. And, just as direct mail spawned unwanted "junk mail," e-mail has begot "spamming." The use of e-mail as a marketing tool also raises significant concerns about privacy. An enthusiastic advocate of the use of e-mail to reach customers, Brondmo addresses both issues. He suggests that there are ways to target e-mail messages so that customers will complain when "they don't hear from you." Brondmo also provides an overview of the current "e-mail landscape," illustrates applications of e-mail marketing, identifies 12 best practices in the use of e-mail, and suggests ways to integrate e-mail into a company's overall strategy.David Rouse
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
-- Andrea Butter, Ex-VP Marketing, Palm Computing, as quoted in The New York Times
"When I first saw what Post was doing, I remember coming back and telling my colleagues, 'I've seen the future of direct marketing.'" --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
-- Geoffrey Moore, President, The Chasm Group; Author of Crossing the Chasm, Inside the Tornado, and The Gorilla Game
"Hans Peter Brondmo is the undisputed visionary in his field." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
In the age of the Internet, how do you keep your customers coming back--again and again--when your competitors are always just one click away? How do you turn casual, anonymous surfers into profitable, "engaged" customers?
The answers to these questions can be found in The Eng@ged Customer, written by Hans Peter Brondmo, one of the Internet's best known and most successful direct marketing experts. In this new marketing classic Brondmo introduces readers to the new rules of Internet direct marketing and shows them how to use email to build service rather than marketing relationships.
A visionary in both the technology and marketing arenas, Brondmo has shown more company executives than anyone how to build lasting, profitable, one-on-one relationships with customers on the Internet. His client list includes such household names as Palm, Hewlett-Packard, Victoria's Secret, Amtrak, Wells Fargo Bank, OfficeMax, Wegmans Food Markets, as well as such Internet leaders as CDNow, E-Trade Women.com, Petopia.com, Sparks.com, and eBags.com.
The Eng@ged Customer makes Brondmo's expertise available to executives, managers, and marketers in both Old and New Economy businesses. The book combines a strategic perspective with tactical guidance, showing where and how to invest in order to build an Internet direct marketing program, and how to plan, develop, and implement your program for maximum success.
While sending email messages to customers may sound like a simple process, retailers and marketers all over the world have discovered just how difficult it is to do it well. Let Brondmo show you how to
- design email communications and marketing programs that have your customers complaining if they don't hear from you
- understand and manage customer information so that you can "get to know" each and every customer--even if you've got millions
- avoid spam and the potential nightmare of privacy violations
- anticipate the organizational impact of customer-focused Internet direct marketing
- define, measure, and track your success.
Whether you are an executive or a manager, The Eng@ged Customer will show you:
- how to keep your customers coming back
- how to rise above the increasing Internet clutter
- how to become the trusted voice that your customers rely on.
Book Info
Brondmo introduces readers to the new rules of Internet direct marketing and shows them how to use email to build service rather than marketing relationships. Softcover.
About the Author
Hans Peter Brondmo is a successful entrepreneur and the founder of Post Communications, acquired in April 2000 by Netcentives (NCNT). Post is the leading provider of customized email marketing solutions. Educated at MIT, Brondmo is a widely recognized authority, thought leader, and frequent speaker on the subject of Internet marketing. He has been profiled in the New York Times, Fast Company, DM News, and Salon.com, among others. He lives on top of a hill in San Francisco.