Mary Kay Twin Email Fail

by Jen McGahan

twin emails 300x180 Mary Kay Twin Email Fail I love my girlfriends. So don’t tell anyone I’m outing their email marketing faux pas. Neither of them subscribe to my blog nor my email list (though it’s obvious they should!) so I’m sure I won’t offend anyone here.

 

For everyone else in direct sales or any type of MLM business where corporate churns out email on your behalf…this is for you!

Check out my inbox (above) the other morning. Two identical emails from two different girlfriends/Mary Kay Consultants. I protected their identities with the pink boxes. 

How I wish they would think twice about accepting this marketing “favor” from their company. I have no idea about its marketing guidelines, but Mary Kay would do better to ask their reps to email their customers on their own and merely link to the monthly catalog…Because this email mistake is embarrassing.

It happens every month, too!

I get two emails literally right on top of each other. I can tell they are sent from the same bulk sender in queue because they are always received within a minute or two in my inbox. As you can see, these came one after the other! They have ZERO personality. They are simply dumped on me from the pink corporate Dallas offices, I can only guess. I imagine consultants are notified (after the fact) their their entire list has just received their monthly specials on lash care, etc. “What a relief,” consultants everywhere might think. “Now I don’t have to reach out to my customers this week.” But they’d be wrong.

Mary Kay catalogs 300x199 Mary Kay Twin Email Fail Then, on top of the recent email fail, within a day or two I get THIS in my actual mailbox: two identical catalogs from each of my gal friends.

What would you do? Should I let them know that I usually order from the one who has most recently said hello to me in person or gone out of her way to ask if I needed anything?

Should I tell them that if they sent me an email with some sort of personal touch I wouldn’t hesitate to elevate their status to “Go-To Mary Kay Consultant” every single time? Would you tell them that?

So here’s how it works instead. If I happen to see either girlfriend (at the store or the baseball field) at the crucial time (within a week) of actually needing to replace something, then I stop her and ask her to place an order for me. Otherwise, I take Katie with me to Ulta and we shop for beauty supplies together — which is just as much fun as a Mary Kay party, actually, plus I get to bond with my kid over nail polish and hair products. It’s all good. We get our beauty fix.

Now here’s the kicker — I really LIKE Mary Kay for some things. They have these lovely little compacts which are super sturdy. Since they never break, I like to keep them topped off. And some of the skin care is awesome.

But the double corporate emails irritate me to the point where I don’t even look at them some months.

What I’d love to see would be a personally branded email from one of my Mary Kay girlfriends saying something like this:

“Hey, I wanted to let you know I spent spring break at a dude ranch where I got to try out the new Mary Kay Intensive eyeshadow primer first hand. In spite of a day of sweat, dust and horsehair, would you believe my eye makeup still looked fabulous? I even sat around the campfire until 10 at night and my cowboy said I still looked amazing! Anyway, it’s on page 17, if you want to check it out — and it’s on sale this month, too! Call me…I haven’t seen you in awhile. Let’s get together and I’ll show you a whole bunch of other stuff that new. Margaritas on me.”

That kind of thing. OK, Margaritas optional. I’m not saying I can be seduced that easily with margaritas. Unless she makes really good ones. Then of course I’ll order some more skin care products from her.  icon biggrin Mary Kay Twin Email Fail

Do I have to say it again? Email is about relationships. (I even said it in pink!)

Please, Mary Kay consultants everywhere, say “NO MORE” to those dorky corporate email sends, unless you’re supplementing them with your own personal ones. They’re not doing your business any favors.

Love, your girlfriend and (sometimes) customer,

Jen

P.S. What do you think? Am I being to hard on these gals? Or can you relate to this story? I’d love to get your comments below!

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copywriting motivators Motivating Copywriting And The Awesome Power Of WHY?

Motivating copy stokes the fire in the belly of your readers. Sometimes we copywriters flatter ourselves into thinking that our writing is the source of motivation, but it’s not. Not at all. The motivation is already smoldering or raging, depending on the intensity — in our readers. Copy that gets results simply speaks to that motivation. 

Real motivation comes from within your reader. The best you can do as a copywriter is fan the flames.

 

Good copy drives people to assess benefits in a way that moves them to act. The copywriter should be aware of two kinds of motivators that inspire action in readers. This is the motivation that already exists inside them. It takes thought and skill to pull it out, but I have some ideas for you on that…

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivators

Intrinsic motivators are those that are linked to inner happiness. They are connected to the process itself, and the journey involved. They are tied up in the pleasure of why you’re doing whatever it is you’re doing. For example, you might enjoy working in your garden for the experience of being in nature, working in the sun, touching the plants and smelling the herbs and flowers. You enjoy gardening for the sake of gardening, the activity itself.  

Extrinsic motivators are linked to outer results, those results you can see, touch and hear. These could be recognition, reward, accolades, approval, a raise, a promotion, leaner abs, a clean carpet, fresh dog breath, or good grades, for example. Again, take gardening. You may spend evenings working in your yard because you want tangible results: to avoid the dismissive glances from your neighbor who keeps a perfect lawn, or to make your garden look presentable for the guests you invited for the weekend. Maybe you want to win “best yard of the neighborhood” by your HOA. Those are all extrinsic motivators.

Copywriting is using words to motivate someone to act, to ultimately invest an expenditure of time, money, energy or clout. When you understand the two different ways motivation works, then you can describe benefits in a way that intimately touches your ideal customer. Both are magical and equally powerful, like fairy dust to the psyche. But they’re different.

In describing benefits, the copywriter must motivate the reader by appealing to their inner or outer impulses. You could say that intrinsic motivators are more deeply rooted and related to experience. Love, peace, well-being, knowledge, and even entertainment all come to mind.  Extrinsic motivators tend to be related to vanity, ambition, status, comfort; something worldly, tangible and measurable. 

Sometimes, your copy can motivate both intrinsically AND extrinsically, as long as you don’t unnecessarily muddy the waters of motivation and you understand the different types of people within your market.  For example, if your copy is written to sell fast, red sports cars, you could emphasize the sheer pleasure of driving a finely crafted machine. Somewhere along the way you’d probably also point out the increased status of owning a high-priced luxury car. Of course some of your potential customers also want a nice, safe car to commute in. All three are bonafide motivators for purchasing a sports car. None are better than any other, and all factor into a decision by varying degrees.

One way to ferret out multiple motivating factors is to play this little game.

Ask WHY. Then keep asking…

If you’ve ever played “The Why Game” with a determined kid, you know how this works. The kid starts by asking “why?” to a request or statement. And they continue asking why with every response you give. Well, eventually the Q&A ends in a philosophical tangle finally leading to “Just because,” “Because God made it that way,” or ‘Because I said so.” (Try it. you’ll see.) But the cool thing about this experiment is that along the way, you cover a lot of ground. Try this illuminating game with whatever it is you offer. 

When you dig down deep, motivating forces tend to get a little simpler and more generalized. “It makes me happy” is often what’s left at the bottom of the pot after everything else boils away. If you keep asking “why?” you finally get down to some very deep rooted motivators, which could add some interesting flavor to your copy.  

Say you’re writing for a local produce delivery service: Your customers decide they want fresh, local vegetables delivered to their door each week. Why?

  • Because the food is fresh, tastes good and is healthy. Why?
  • Because it’s grown close to home and picked within a couple of days of delivery. Why?
  • Because some local farmer understands the value of good wholesome food and has the desire to provide it to the community. Why?
  • Because it’s a healthy food choice and he’ll make money. Why?
  • Because customers value good food that makes them strong and happy. Why?
  • Because it’s full of nutrition that makes you look and feel great. Why?
  • Because our bodies perform best when we fuel them with good food and people enjoy their bodies more when they do what they were made to do. Why?
  • Because that’s just the way it is. It’s the natural order of things. Conclusion.

 

I rest my case about the Why Game always ending the same way. But do you see all the extra motivational background stuff you may have missed as you wrote your web content, article, email or ad? 

Although simple fresh ingredients are a tangible desire, the benefits may ultimately be intrinsically motivating on some deeper level. Perfectly valid. Just beware of tilting your copy toward schmaltzy and simplistic, unless you’re going for that tongue in cheek tone. 

As you write copy, try to get inside your customer’s mind. Pay attention to the motivation behind the decisions they make. Ask: “What benefits of your product or service motivate people…and how do they do that exactly?” 

While your product may satisfy a basic and concrete need, it may fulfill a desire closer to your customer’s heart than even they realize. When you use words that edge closer to the transformational aspects of your product — whether it’s a water bottle, a quilt, a new sound system for a car, or financial advice — then you’ll truly motivate your customer to act. 

Photo: Flick CC, Richard Step

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