Please find the most recent MBC Today issue below, including my Letter From the Editor and a link to the full digital version of the magazine. While the first five issues each year are only shared in part publicly, as the full versions are an exclusive benefit to subscribers, the sixth (November / December) issue each year is always shared publicly in full. Enjoy!
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Dear Readers,
What a treat to see so many of you recently in Denver at the AMBC Mile High Marketing Summit. Like you, I took a lot of wonderful nuggets away from the event.
At the Saturday night ShipRite-sponsored dinner, in addition to feasting on some of the best prime rib I've had in a while, I spent some time talking with my dear friend, Sydni Craig-Hart, who was one of the marketing specialists presenting earlier in the day at the summit. I spoke to her about some of the knowledge that she passed on in her presentation and commented on some stats she shared about text/SMS marketing.
You see, earlier in the day in my own class I had disparaged SMS marketing a bit, as it's something that I personally don't care for. I don't like most texts, as most things people text I stubbornly believe should be an email instead. As I've written about plenty before, I'm a huge advocate for not having email notifications on my phone, because I don't like non-emergency things interrupting my day. So, being the compartmentalized person that I am, when I get a text with something totally non-priority that takes my focus away from what I'm doing, I get irritated. But Sydni told me that the data overwhelmingly proves that SMS marketing is very successful. She even told me that she loves it and signs up for many text campaigns, whereas I unsubscribe to them as soon as I inadvertently get signed up.
Sydni then said something that really resonated: "Don't make marketing decisions with your own preferences, but rather make data-driven decisions." This is very much in line with what I and my colleagues teach our clients: "Don't shop your own business with your own wallet, but let your clients and guests make their own decisions based on their own needs and budgets, while you simply offer them the best options."
So often, I cringe when I see people present the "cheapest" option first, rather than starting with the "best" option and then letting their guest decide what they want. People sell themselves short and miss out on overnight and higher-margin shipments all the time simply by defaulting to presenting the "cheapest" option first. And so it is with marketing. Let your clients choose how they want to be contacted, rather than assuming what they want.
Indeed, marketing is not a math problem to be solved. There's not one solution. Rather, it's an art to be experimented with. And we saw that over and over at the summit, with different speakers presenting different views on many things; it was a weekend full of case studies from which attendees could pick and choose what works for them and their target markets from a smorgasbord of great ideas.
I was so glad to be in Denver, and now I'm so excited about and looking forward to the next AMBC event in New Orleans in March. It's going to be amazing and I highly recommend you put it on your calendars now. I plan to be there again and hope to see you there too!
Here's to an amazing holiday season. May you break records and bank some serious coin. Merry everything!
With care,
Marty Johnson
(he/him)
Founder | Uncle Marty's
Columnist | Ask Uncle Marty™
Editor & Producer
| MBC Today
Communication &
Vision Lead | AYM High Consultants
Co-Host |
To-Be-Announced Podcast Launching Soon(ish)
askunclemarty.com · @askunclemarty
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