Podcast Interview with Steve Tingiris: CEO, Enthusem.
Steve Tingiris is a serial entrepreneur currently working on Enthusem which is his third venture. Enthusem is a very interesting play on social media marketing. In fact, it’s a totally different twist on any kind of marketing. Steve’s premise for creating Enthusem is based on a revelation that came to him during his second venture at ProspectSmarter.
Steve understands that traditional marketing is about filling the top of the sales funnel to get results through the bottom. Historically, marketers attempt to get their message in front of as many targeted people as possible (the top of the funnel). Usually response rates in the 1, 2 or 3% range would produce respectable results. Steve noticed that even the most creative and compelling marketing campaigns have produced lower and lower response rates in recent years. The problem is (in part) we all get bombarded with so many electronic messages it’s hard for marketers to stand out.
Steve believes that, through the phenomenon of social media, it’s not a requirement to get in front of thousands of people any more. The power of social media allows individuals to get the word out for other individuals and businesses. The Enthusem model is based on the premise that anyone can reach anyone with a personal message.
Steve created Enthusem to turn the funnel upside down. Rather than marketing to many, Steve believes marketers can create relationships with select individuals met online by creating an offline message sent through a printed postal message. But, it’s not just any printed, postal message.
Here’s how Enthusem works. You visit the Enthusem website, sign in and select “send a card.” You can upload your address book or add an address one at a time. Once you’ve identified the person who will receive your card you select an image from the image library for the face of the card, or upload your own. Then, you type a personal message and attach a digital link (optionally). The image on the front of the card is very important. It’s the first step in personalization. The card is mailed in a translucent envelope so the image is visible through the envelope which makes it stand out. For example one of the most popular card images has an image of the Twitter logo and says “Following you on Twitter.” You can upload any image to place on the face of a card.
When someone receives your card, if they type the link retrieval code provided in the card, the sender receives an email alert informing you the name of the person who retrieved the digital link you included in your card. Many marketers are getting creative with these links. You can include a link to any digital file including URLs, documents, images and video. When I attend tradeshows, I take photos of people and selectively mail a card to them with an attachment link to their photo.
Thinking Outside the “Box”
One of Steve’s colleagues at Enthusem, Marc Fors sent a a card to the CEO of Box.net using an image of their board room which he found online. Through a creative personal message in the card, the CEO of Box responded to the digital attachment. A meeting was set up and within 60 days Enthusem inked a deal to offer Box’ 2 million users the ability to send a personal card through Enthusem directly from Box or from LinkedIn which has Box integrated into it.
Let’s summarize this…Enthusem sent a piece of postal mail to the CEO of a silicon valley company and within 60 days inked a deal. That “campaign” cost Enthsem $4, plus a round trip ticket to San Francisco to ink the deal. Sweet!
At the Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco, I showed a sample Enthusem card to Chris Brogan. He was very intrigued by Enthusem’s integration of social networking and postal mail. The following week, Chris called the Enthusem office to learn more about it in response to an Enthusem card sent to him. Apparently, other Twitter followers had sent those “following you on Twitter” cards to Chris.
Enthusem has been building a fast growing Twitter following. By walking the walk, Enthusem’s team selectively mails a card to some Twitter followers and many of them have responded to the digital attachment link. Some have even called Enthusem to become an affiliate or reseller.
Most people are used to getting bombarded by electronic messages, but they’re not used to getting a personalized postal card.
Find and Convert and Enthusem have launched a new joint offering which is called the Twitter Marketing Plan. We build a Twitter following for a client using best practices. As followers build up, we selectively send them an Enthusem card with a digital attachment. The idea is to take the contact offline. As attachments get picked up, a viable follow up can occur to explore a measurable relationship.
The Twitter Marketing Plan is popular because Twitter is popular, and this program allows marketers to use Twitter in measurable ways. The marketer can see a tangible result from Twitter by taking the online contact into an offline conversation which can be measured.
Steve’s insight for Enthusem is premised on the need for marketers to get smarter about engaging prospects. He believes marketers need to focus on true relationship building, not mail merge relationships. And, hitting people up with a sales message in social media isn’t very effective. Steve says “people filter out messages that are not relevant, not interesting and not personal. Marketers must communicate in more personal and interesting ways. Companies who do this well will be more successful.”
We have partnered with Enthusem for a special trial offer at http://www.findandconvert.com/enthusem-greeting-cards/.
To learn more about the Twitter Marketing Plan, call or email us.
Follow Enthusem on Twitter at http://twitter.com/enthusem.
Follow Bernie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/berniebay.
You just may get a “following you on Twitter” card one day…
