"Any marketing message is better than no marketing message"

[Megan_Reed1]

After a discussion I had with an executive that sparked a debate of sorts I am looking for some data to back up my stance... so I thought who better to turn to than the Marketo Community...

The other day it was said to me that sending any type of marketing message via email to prospects was better than not sending anything at all. Do you agree?

I disagree. After a lot of research and Marketo Champion's insights that I've read, sending the wrong message at the wrong time can harm a potential business relationship. Aside from the fact that they may unsubscribe and NEVER receive content in the future, what are some other points I should make in this "argument"? Statistical data is preferred.

Thank you in advance for your time, thoughts, and data points.

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Hi Megan,

The champions group is not the right place to post questions if you expect a quick answer. See Getting the most of the community when you have a Marketo question

I also disagree with this saying, but I do not have any hard data at hand to help sustain it. This is a belief from old times, before opt-in/opt-out laws and the likes.

I would probably run a small experiment with the people to claim the opposite and see how they react

-Greg

[Megan_Reed1]

Ahh... Thanks Greg. I actually didn't intend for this question to post here. Can I change it?

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Hi Megan,

Not sure. Do you have a "move" button on the right of your post?

Scott Wilder , can you help?

-Greg

[Megan_Reed1]

Yes I do and I moved it out of the Champion group. Thanks for the direction. I have not "moved" my discussions before and didn't realize it was an option.

[Grégoire_Miche2]

You are welcome

AFAIK, only champions have this possibility

I am not sure that "Marketing central" is much better as it's not monitored by that many people either

-Greg

[Amanda_Thomas6]

Hi Megan Reed​! I completely agree with your point of view. I think it's great to have a well thought out message & PLAN. How will we measure success of this message? etc. You'll feel defeated before the results come back if you start with poor messaging.

[Lauren_Beth]

Hi Megan - it was so nice meeting you for dinner at Summit!  I hope you are doing well.  We are completely on the same page here.  We've had to stand our ground to ensure we do not permanently damage our client email lists with poor messaging and strategy.  I only have anecdotal experiences that probably will not seem very real to your executive.  Perhaps focus instead on personal experience?  For me, asking executives how they felt receiving off-message and poorly timed communication from a potential supplier/vendor, and how it changed their perspective of the company, helped considerably.  This has generally done the trick for us and we now have the credibility with sales to just say no to poorly planned campaigns.

[Colin_Mann]

One idea could be to craft a really bad email with poor messaging and ask them if it's fine to send out to the customer as that might make your point well. The only problem is if they say they love it!