Every second self-appointed digital marketing guru who offers to help me, making the offer in a mass email, proves the point in the headline.

They have a list, bought from somewhere claiming to have a ‘relationship’ of some sort with me. However, they still manage to spell my name, or that of my business incorrectly, are mistaken about what my business delivers, or make exorbitant claims about what they can do for me. There are many ways to demonstrate they know nothing about me, my business, or the sorts of challenges I face. ‘Spammy’ emailers seem to find them all.

The money is not in the list.

The money is in the message.

Had they delivered an offer to my inbox that might be of interest, I may have read it, and you never know, taken it up. However, being specific requires work, and the tailoring of the message towards the pain points uncovered by that work.

Doing the work means the collection of data, building a profile of the me and my business, presumably falling into the bucket of ‘ideal customer’ for the specific product being sold. They must ensure there is alignment between the problem the product seeks to solve, the pain points being felt, and the communications being sent. Failing in any one of these means the email recipient falls into the 99.9% who make the 0.1% success rate possible.

Again, the money is in the message, not in the list.

Header cartoon credit: Dilbert and Scott Adams. Again. (Sorry, could not resist that one)