Have you delivered happiness to your fans?

On Monday June 7 Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, releases his book titled “Delivering Happiness“. I was lucky enough to get an advance copy to read before the official on-sale date and it should be required reading for everyone in the sports business world.

The first half of the book is about Tony’s experiences with entrepreneurship, his rise as a dot com founder, his struggle to find purpose after selling his company to Microsoft, and then how he eventually found his way to Zappos.com. For an entrepreneur like myself, the stories and insights into the success and failures he has had throughout the years was great. If you have or plan on starting a business of your own, or work in a start-up environment, you’ll love this part of the book.

But the real gems for those involved in the sports marketing and business worlds come in the last half of the book. You’ll learn how Zappos.com evolved over time into being known as one of the #1 companies in the world for customer service. Tony gives some great tips on how to instill customer service into all parts of your organization, and use a high level of customer service to build your brand.

There are so many good takeaways that sports organizations can use in how they communicate, interact, and serve their fans.

Like a good playoff game where the best plays happen in the closing minutes, the last chapter of the book teaches you how to build your own “happiness framework”. To paraphrase Tony, the parallels between what makes people happy and what makes for great long-term companies are obvious.

Pick up a copy of Delivering Happiness today and share it with your colleagues. You’ll learn how to get yourself, and the rest of your organization, on the path to happiness in life and in business.

Google explains their interest-based ad program here:

Interest-based advertising: How it works
Many websites, such as news sites and blogs, use Google’s AdSense program to show ads on their sites. It’s our goal to make these ads as relevant as possible for you. While we often show you ads based on the content of the page you are viewing, we also developed new technology that shows some ads based on interest categories that you might find useful.

Here’s an example that hit me square between the eyes recently. On April 26 I read this article about a $.69 iPad stand. It was really a business card holder from Office Depot that someone was now using to sit their iPad upright on their desk.

The post had a link to the product page on OfficeDepot.com which I clicked through to take a look at and eventually left without purchasing.

Fast forward 14 days and look at this ad I saw today on a completely non-office product related site:

Just wow. If you do any type of online advertising your head should be swimming with the possibilities.

Imagine the ability to reach people who you know have checked out your website and your products, and follow them around for days and weeks on the web.

Google explains the ability to do this from the “category” level (ie: someone likes gardening tools, you show them gardening tool ads). But the example I show above takes it all the way down to an SKU. And its not the only instance I’ve seen of this. I’ve got a beverage cooler/cart that I’ve been eyeing following me around the web too.

Some might say this is annoying, and if you’re in that camp you can adjust your preferences.

But for a marketer like me its fun and interesting to see this and think of all the possibilities to use this.

The possibilities are only limited by your imagination.

But basically…  (and this is oversimplifying it greatly) they changed from having people “Become a Fan” of your page or business to having them now say they “Like” your page. Seems like a small change that should not have much of an effect on the amount of people taking the action, or at least it would seem.

Facebook changed forever on April 19, 2010

But my own stats for one of my Facebook pages tells a different story. I’m sure Facebook tested this concept before rolling it out across the entire site and all their widgets. You would think there’s no way they would make a change like this and testing it to make sure there were no ill effects.*

The graphic below shows you stats for one of my Facebook pages which shows how many people visited and how many people “Became a Fan” of my page. For the couple weeks leading up to April 19th, you can see things are pretty consistent. But look what happens right after the 19th. Both visits to the page and the amount of those visitors now “Liking” the page drop significantly. I should note that absolutely no other site changes were made, and site traffic stayed consistent.

facebook Like button stats

Big difference huh? I’ll keep my eye on the numbers over the next couple weeks to see if this persists. If it does, I’d say the “Like” button is a colossal disaster for both Facebook and fan page owners.

Maybe its just taking some time for people to get used to the change. They’ve seen “Become a Fan” buttons all over the place for years and now they see “Like” and aren’t sure what to make of it.

Or maybe its the demographic that my site/fan page is targeting. They tend to be a little older (50+) and maybe the new “Like” feature does not jive with them. Who knows.

Curious though if anybody else has experienced this sudden drop in “fans” or “likes” on their facebook fan page.

* I don’t think Facebook would do this purposely, but…

What if page owners who are not “liking” the drop in fans decide to spend money promoting their pages on Facebook? Could be some big profit in that for Facebook, no? I have to think this would cause more harm to Facebook than the profit would justify though.

Home, Sweet Ow! My Head! Home
Wham! Ouch! *&%#!

You’re seeing birds and stars flying around your head. You’ve just been the victim of what I like to call “small housing”. Anyone over 6’8” who has tried to walk through a doorway without ducking – and missed – knows just what I mean. Fortunately, many advances have been made in the way of new home construction and remodeling that can be implemented to provide more comfort at home to those of us who have been vertically blessed.

Think it might be a bit vain to expect your home to be a better fit for your tallness? Nonsense, we all deserve to be as comfortable as can be especially in the confines of the place we call home. It has been reported that Shaquille O’Neal, 7’1”, who was recently traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Miami Heat, purchased the former home of ex-Heat center Rony Seikaly, 7’2”. I’m sure the fact that the house was ready to accommodate someone of great height was a key factor in his decision. Join me as I highlight several ways you can design your new home, or even remodel your current home to be more height friendly.

Doors Let’s start with the doors. Many homebuilders are already offering 8’ front doors as standard. If your builder isn’t, it shouldn’t be too expensive of a request. The next step is to upgrade all of your interior doors to 8’ as well. Again, some builders may be including this as standard. If not, this one may cost you a bit more to accomplish, depending on the amount of doors in your home.

Ceiling Space Ceiling height is also an important issue when designing your new palace. Shoot for at least a 10’ or 12’ volume ceiling or vaulted ceilings. A good rule of thumb is if you can touch the ceiling with your arm extended upwards standing on your tiptoes, your ceiling is too low. These changes are easiest applied in new construction. Changing the height of your current ceiling and doorways is not for the faint of heart. Just ask your contractor.

Room To Cook Depending on how well you cook, the kitchen may be the place you spend the most time in or the least amount of time in. Even if your culinary specialty is an open-faced grilled cheese in the toaster oven, these tips can make your time in the kitchen more palatable. The first item is the wall oven, a definite must. These are already pretty popular, but perhaps one appliance you don’t have yet is a raised dishwasher. These two appliances can save you from the repeated bending up-down motion when working in the kitchen. Raised outlets are becoming ever more popular to have in the kitchen and rollout pot and pan shelves are becoming a standard request. Of course if your building a new home these will be easy to implement, but kitchen remodels are very common these days and these changes can be applied fairly easily there too.

The Most Important Room Ah, the bathroom, our sanctuary from the outside world. The first item on the list for your bathroom should be a raised toilet, which also goes by the industry name, comfort commode. These are common in homes for the disabled or elderly, but they can make a world of difference in the way of comfort for tall people as well. These are typically anywhere from 3” to 6” higher than a normal commode and make getting on and off much easier. Raised vanities are also fantastic. Again the height difference is only about 6” between normal height and raised height, but that half-a-foot will put a smile on your face when brushing your pearly whites.

Showerheads We’ve all been in that hotel shower where you have to get on your knees to get your belly wet. Shouldn’t happen in your house. If yu are building a new house or remodeling an existing one, be sure the showerhead is at least six inches higher than you stand. Showerhead extension arms are also available at most home improvement stores and might save you the cost of raising the actual plumbing.

Once you implement the above design changes into your home, you’ll find you are well on your way to enjoying home life that much more. No more doorframe concussions or showerhead bruises for you. Also, keep in mind that several of the above mentioned changes are helpful to people with disabilities. So when you get ready to sell your home down the road you will be able to meet the needs of a whole other market, enhancing the resale value of your home. The final step to take will be to outfit your new tall friendly home with furniture designed with height in mind. You can find several furniture makers to accommodate your needs in this magazine.

Image credit: AndreaTX on Flickr

We were staying at Royal Pacific (gotta love the upgrade to the King Suite) and had dinner at The Palm which of course involved a couple cocktails, so we decided to take a cab to the concert. Getting a cab to the concert was no problem…after the concert not so easy.

So we ended up getting a ride in a van that had been rented by these two guys headed to Portofino, next door pretty much to Hard Rock where we were going back to. It was by far the funniest cab/van rides we’ve ever experienced. (Audio below)

“I referred like four people to you already. I’m networking for ya buddy. What’s that? Well they haven’t called you yet because they can never get ahold of you. Your a buuuusy man!”

Apparently they were flying out Monday to go to NYC for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The one guy was on the phone with his ticket broker Michael (who was skiing in Aspen) trying to get some balcony seats, limo, etc. I wish I had caught more of the conversation because there were some other funny parts involving Madonna and private jets but this is still pretty funny:

Clapton Van Ride

But we do have to be careful of doing things strictly for the money. Doing a job just for the money can often have detrimental long term effects.

”I probably did it for the money.”

In a recent article in Entertainment Weekly, Chevy Chase is quoted as having done Fletch Lives just for the money. The outcome? What could have been a long lasting movie franchise met a swift end when Fletch Lives bombed.

Think twice about your motives when mulling over that new job offer or considering taking on additional projects. Taking the money now could cost you even more money down the line.

Sometimes it pays to hold off and put a couple things on the Underhill’s account until an opportunity you’re more passionate about comes along.

Back in 2008 Dan gave a TED Talk and one of the examples he used to highlight just how irrational we are sometimes as consumers was an order page for the Economist. So much thought goes into creating the best copy for subscriber acquisition or renewal pieces that sometimes we forget that we need to make sure we are saying the right things and framing offers the right way all the way through the entire checkout process if we want to achieve maximum conversion.

The Economist order page example offered three choices:

• Online subscription for $59
• Print subscription for $125
• Print and Online for $125

Dan saw this order page and called up the Economist to see what they were thinking and why they would frame the offer in such a way. Clearly nobody in their right mind would choose option #2. Unfortunately by the time Dan got to the right person at the Economist, the offer page was replaced.

So Dan decided to test the original page with 100 MIT students. Here is what they chose:

• Online subscription for $59 (16%)
• Print subscription for $125 (0%)
• Print and Online for $125 (84%)

This would seem to make sense right? The third option looks like an incredible bargain and so 84% of the students chose that option.

A natural reaction would be to eliminate the option nobody wants, so Dan eliminated the middle option. It’s amazing the result this change had on what people chose:

• Online subscription for $59 (68%)
• Print and Online for $125 (32%)

What a difference! Which result do you think the Economist would prefer? Clearly the result where 84% of people chose the higher priced option. But they would probably never figure out how to achieve this result without testing.

So, two lessons to take away from this:

1) Always be testing and tweaking your offers, and

2) Don’t hesitate to test offers that seem to make zero sense…those which nobody would choose. The “dummy option” could have a profound (and profitable) effect on what they do ultimately decide.

You can watch the entire Ted Talk embedded below. The example illustrated here begins at the 12:35 mark.

“A part of” vs. ” A target of”
You know that one of the most valuable assets you have is your relationship with your fans and supporters. But sometimes its hard to communicate to your fans that you feel this way about them.

One way you can let them know is by getting personal. It’s no longer as simple as greeting them by name in an email or a mail piece. You have to also acknowledge their past involvement and really let them know they are part of the family. This lets them feel like they are a “part of” rather than a “target of”.

Communicating in this manner is of utmost importance to FSU’s strategy this year, and we’re going to great lengths with them to get it done effectively.

Personalized Email - 1 of 16 different versions

16 Unique Communication Versions
Maybe the most interesting part of this campaign is the data driving it. When we looked at FSU’s data, we determined that there were 16 different dispositions that people could be classified as:

Tickets: Renewal, Reacquire, Reconnect and Thank You’s (those who already took action) and

Booster: Renewal, Reacquire, Reconnect and Thank You’s (those who already took action)

(4 x 4 = 16 unique combinations)

This essentially meant that we had 16 different versions of email text and website copy, depending on which bucket the recipient fell into based on their past ticket purchase and booster membership. This was all able to happen on the fly as people received their email and visited their personalized webpage.

Personalized Webpage and Video - Click image to see actual site

Laser Targeting and Cost Effectiveness
FSU did not limit their audience to ticket renewals or booster renewals. In order to hit their goals for this year they determined they would need to place an emphasis on reconnecting with past supporters and fans and reacquiring those who either let their tickets or booster membership lapse.

Not only is FSU reaching out to a larger audience while becoming even more targeted in their messaging, but their campaign is getting more cost effective with each additional record as the unit price drops when the volumes get higher. This will be especially key when we get into the direct mail portions of the campaign.

Reporting
We are able to report back to FSU the response rates of all 16 groups. It was interesting for us and for FSU to see which groups performed the best. There were a few surprises for sure.

The Power of the Database
Once sufficient time has passed after the signing day email, FSU will pass data back to us on who renewed or bought tickets, who renewed their booster pledge and at what level, and who took no action at all. This information goes into our database and will drive the content of the next communication, which will be a direct mail renewal package, later this month. Again, the content of the mail piece, just like the email and personalized website, will be different for each recipient based on which bucket they are in and what actions they have taken thus far.

Systematic Campaign Plan
This level of coordination and personalization may sound overwhelming and complicated. It is not easy, but it is essential if you want to reach your goals today. There is a solid plan in place that anyone can follow with the right amount of help. See a sample communication plan that anyone could use below:

Click to enlarge

If you’d like to learn more about how we could apply this system to what you’re doing this spring, I’d love to talk to you. Even if the wheels are already in motion for your 2010 renewal campaign efforts, it is never too late to incorporate some of these strategies to better your results.

You can get in touch with me here or just give me a call at 386-271-3082.

By printing and sending both the men’s and women’s direct marketing campaigns at the same time, LSU was able to save quite a bit of money on the per piece cost. As you know, the higher the quantity, the lower the cost is per piece. LSU actually used this savings to expand their reach and send to more buckets of people…people who had bought tickets previously but maybe not season tickets, people who were previously ticket holders but for whatever reason did not buy last year, and people who because of their proximity to campus might be interested in buying tickets.

To realize this cost savings, the only thing that had to be the same were the size/format of the piece. The print date also had to be the same, which did provide a small challenge in making sure all necessary copy and assets were delivered to us by their respective deadlines. Through constant communications with LSU we were able to make this happen.

Besides segmenting the overall campaign into two segments (Mens and Womens), we also segmented the Men’s campaign by location. Residents in Baton Rouge received a piece that was different than all other recipients. Both the messaging and the enclosed insert were different from what the other recipients (those residing outside of BR) received.

If this sounds like a lot of work to accomplish, its not really. These types of campaigns are our bread and butter. All thats required is good data, which LSU was able to provide to us.

The overall components of the campaign were email, direct mail, personalized videos and personalized web pages to track response and act as a jumping off point to reinforce the campaign message and direct fans to purchase tickets. As you can see, even though these campaigns ran simultaneously, they are unique unto themselves, allowing the proper branding and messaging to come through for their respective teams.

Fell free to check out the campaign websites for each. To get the full experience you’ll need to enter your name and email address:

Mens: http://CommitToLSUHoops.com

Womens: http://MyLadyTigers.com

LSU Mens Mail Piece - Outside

LSU Men's Mail Piece - Inside

Mens personalized webpage and video

LSU Women's Mail Piece - Outside

LSU Women's Mail Piece - Inside

Womens personalized webpage and video

Check out the example packages below. These can be customized to fit your needs, and we suggest adding additional communications such as email reminders. When incorporated into your direct mail campaign, these can be done at very low cost, but can have a big impact on your response and conversions.

We will design your emails to have the same rich personalization as your mail piece. Remember that multi-touch campaigns increase your chances of a response significantly.

If you have any questions about the campaigns below, including pricing and other specifics contact me here or give me a call at 386-271-3082.

Personalized Postcards -See postcards we did for UNC

Certainly the least expensive option, but with great imagery and rich personalization these can be effective in marketing tickets, especially as a reminder to those who have received their renewal information but have not yet bought their tickets.

8.5 x 11 and 8.5 x 13.75 Folded Letter Package -See examples we did for UCF and Wisconsin

These give you much more room to communicate with your fans and convince them that now is the time to renew. These packages include an optional 5 x 7 personalized photo, white 6 x 9 large window envelope (see why?), the outside of the folded letter has personalized image to show through window and a standard 1-color reply envelope for those who may want to renew their season tickets by mail.

8-page Booklet Renewal Package – See example we did for Duke Football

This package is the cream of the crop and gives you plenty of room to communicate everything you need to. You can have a personalized letter from Coach, stadium seating chart and parking diagram, schedule, hospitality and group ticket information, booster club message and more.

Perhaps the best feature about this package is the integrated ticket renewal form. Using your data, we will make this piece uniquely personalized for each of your fans by including their specific ticket information such as location, ticket quantity and pricing right on the form inside the mail piece.