Do engage in Online Marketing. It’s ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIEDNLY. ; )

Today I got an email from Netflix and boy was it a surprise. If you’ll recall, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings put himself and the company in a huge debacle over some less than forthright practices. Unbeknownst to millions of customers, Netflix underhandedly passed off a new bill with separate charges for it’s delivery dvd service which had originally been apart of a monthly package. Needless to say people weren’t too thrilled with the surprise billing statement. I’m sure Netflix customer service reps received mp shortage of calls for that entire month following the new bill.

I’ve pasted parts of the email apology for you to read over because I think this is a great time to discuss damage control. I really enjoyed reading Reed Hasting’s letter and I find it to be a great case study for a properly constructed online business apology letter. He definitely had some professional help with this and I decided to break down the strengths of his apology letter.

1. Keep It Personal 

Reed starts his letter addressing the person it is sent to and not to “Netflix Customers” or some other all encompassing group name. This letter is personable because Reed understands that his business has hurt individuals not a nation of customers.

Reed writes:

Dear Cassady,

I messed up. I owe you an explanation.

It is clear from the feedback over the past two months that many members felt we lacked respect and humility in the way we announced the separation of DVD and streaming and the price changes. That was certainly not our intent, and I offer my sincere apology. Let me explain what we are doing.

2. Address the Problem  and Take Responsibility Where It is Due

Reed goes on to simply state the problem we all know about without dwelling on it too much. He goes in detail about the company’s reasoning and how much the decision, although a bit faulty, was made with the customer in mind.

“For the past five years, my greatest fear at Netflix has been that we wouldn’t make the leap from success in DVDs to success in streaming. Most companies that are great at something – like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores – do not become great at new things people want (streaming for us). So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices. It wouldn’t have changed the price increase, but it would have been the right thing to do.”

3. Remind them of Why They Love You

If your apology letter only contains a bunch of boo-hoo “I’m sorry’s” you will only remind your customers of how upset they were about their service to begin with. You have to remind them of why they became a customer in the first place. Trust me, in times like these customers want to know why they should remain a customer.

“Many members love our DVD service, as I do, because nearly every movie ever made is published on DVD. DVD is a great option for those who want the huge and comprehensive selection of movies.

I also love our streaming service because it is integrated into my TV, and I can watch anytime I want. The benefits of our streaming service are really quite different from the benefits of DVD by mail. We need to focus on rapid improvement as streaming technology and the market evolves, without maintaining compatibility with our DVD by mail service.”

4. Introduce A New Solution

What I like about Reed’s letter is that it’s solution comes in the form of almost a new product or feature. He let’s his customers know that the change will come with a gift.

“So here is what we are doing and why…..

One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games. Members have been asking for video games for many years, but now that DVD by mail has its own team, we are finally getting it done. Other improvements will follow.”

5. Put Your Business Apology in a Blog or Vlog & Allow Comments

This is just really going the extra mile. Sending one letter personally via email and another in open public form allows you to get feedback via comments about how the letter was received. It also allows the media *ahem* to link back to you. Reed’s video is just the icing to the cake. While I don’t think this was necessary for his relatively small mistake, a bigger boo-boo by a larger company might need to get in front of the camera. Seeing the CEO’s face when apologizing shows great humility and earnestness.

“Respectfully yours,

-Reed Hastings, Co-Founder and CEO, Netflix

p.s. I have a slightly longer explanation along with a video posted on our blog, where you can also post comments.”

Even though you may not think you have big budgets like Netflix to invest in maintaining your online business reputation, you have to keep in mind that the online ad space is one of the few places in which all businesses are equal.

Looking for someone to manage your content or campaign? Check out my business site at http://www.seocontentqueen.com

So yesterday I sat thinking about new ways to market a client working in home services. I’ve decided - and please spare me you stones- to use direct marketing mailing lists as a part of our overall marketing strategy. I know my client, although eager to invest in marketing (God, I love those clients) is a bit strapped for cash    (Damn, I hate when that happens). Immediately my mind goes into resourceful mode, thinking up ways to cut marketing cost corners. So for fun, I came up with the following plan. Only I’m not so sure it will work. Lol. What do you think? 

                                                MY PLAN

1. Instead of buying mailing lists, I’ll use Google Maps.

2. I’ll take one of my client’s customer’s address as a starting place.

3. I’ll enter the address in Google maps and find other homes in a 5 mile radius.

4. I’ll collect all possible addresses in a spreadsheet to use for the mailers.

5. I’ll continue doing steps 1-4 until I’ve created one hefty mailing list.

That should work……right?

Well, don’t judge me. You never know what you’ll come up with when you need to save a buck.

*SEOContentQueen in no way admits to actually spamming or endorses the act of spamming. Seek the guidance of your local legal system regarding spam laws. ; )

If you’re in the service industry and are looking for new ways to gain marketing leverage you will love this post. So, lately I’ve been on a roll with giving out all these money saving marketing tips. Must be the inner frugalista in me. This one actually came from working with one my clients so it has been proven, tested and is a significant winner.

If you provide a professional service and would like more clients you should definitely consider putting up an ad on Craigslist.org. I LOVE Craigslist and it has gotten me everything from a roommate to antique furniture and cars. But it also has sections on the site for “professional services”. After crafting a great craigslist ad my client was able to reap the benefits of a 12% increase in sales within one month! That may not be a lot but it sure is pretty significant. The reason Craigslist ads work so well is because they actually rank very well on Google’s SERP. Think about it, Craigslist is a cesspool for user generated content. Why wouldn’t Google love anything from ol’ Craig? There are only a few things you need to do to make sure that your post is optimized and ready for debut:

1. Generate a keyword list of about 100-150 related words and phrases. (yes, that many is necessary) The great thing about it is that Craigslist actually allows you to put these keywords in the bottom of your post for publish.)

2. Use an SEO title and body of content. So if you are a plumber:

“Certified Plumber in Seattle” 

3. Use PICTURES. Trust me, they don’t have to be professionally done. Simple candids will do as long as they exhibit good work. Ads without pictures are almost 80% less likely to get a call.

4. NO ADS. Do not use this opportunity to write an ad filled post. You can certainly offer your price (and I highly suggest it) but please, please don’t waste this on: “$15 Facial!!!” “Get it while it lasts!!!” Craigslisters will pass you by. Remember this is a community site so people expect to hear from real people who have honest intentions on providing good work.

5. Reconsider your pricing. Craigslist is for the customer who needs a deal. They have great potential to become repeat customers once they’ve tried you out but you don’t want to scare them away with your non-discounted peak holiday pricing. Don’t work for free but certainly a small break on your price is worth repeat sales.

Alright happy Posting! 

Other Posts You Might Like:

“My Mailing List Alternative”

“Choosing A Business Domain Name”

The awesomely social media mobile application Instagram has made almost instant success among the young and camera phone pic friendly crowd. I also use Instagram but I haven’t given it much attention lately. Instagram allows you to take your regular shoddy phone pics and turn them into stylized works of mobile phone art. You can then share these photos with your Instagram friends, of which you should easily have plenty since Instagram truly is the people’s choice these days. Anyway, Instagram hasn’t even reached the peak of its popularity and already they’ve created a great partnership with an online picture canvassing company.

Now Instagrammers can pay about $30 to have their phone pics turned into canvas art. The quality is just as great in print not missing in clarity at all. You can get started with creating your prints by visiting the canvas pop shop here.

Want More Online Marketing Tips?   Try:

Marketing For Service Industries: 1 SEOtip You Will Steal 

SEOContentQueen lives and breathes Marketing and Los Angeles smog. She wouldn’t have it any other way. She also loves mentions @SEOContentQueen.