Customer Reviews

The Engaged Customer: Using the New Rules of Internet Direct Marketing to Create Profitable Customer Relationships

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I have read many books on e-mail strategies, viral marketing and permission-based marketing and this one makes the cut.

I figured by reading the book I would get some pretty good analysis of what it takes to run a good e-mail marketing campaign, the pros and cons of various strategies (in house vs. outsourcing) and some "big picture" issues to deal with. The author delivered on that but I wish he had some # crunching and data analysis in it.

If you have read about permission based marketing and viral marketing this is a book that will help to "pull it all together." While some concepts will have been covered by then I know it has helped me in pulling together a strategy long-term for a few websites I want to rollout in the next few years.

Good books to read about viral marketing, in order of preference, are (1) Seth Godin and Permission Marketing (2) Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point and (3) Emanueul Rosen's Anatomy of a Buzz. Kim McPherson's E-mail Strategies That Work book is a good book on e-mail campaigns.

This book is an unexpected surprise. It is packed full of strategic and tactical insights that come from actually having done it with clients, rather than just "logically theoretical".

It presents an integrated approach to email RELATIONSHIP marketing (emphasis on relationship, rather than merely email marketing) without losing sight of marketing thinking in other areas and the role of alternative channels in creating synergies.

With the case studies to back up a lot of the areas, it is not surprising that the author can provide a credible implementation and operations framework -- with considerations to planning & decision making, competencies, role, resources, costs, product service suppliers/vendors to develop this capability, etc.

Overall, I found the book highly readable with examples of real life case studies that supported the points presented.

This book revises the direct marketing concepts for the Internet. Based on the excelent Seth Godin's book Permission Marketing (by the way, another must-have), Hans Brondmo explores how to use the e-mail as a powerful marketing tool, in order to obtain high return rates with your on-line campaings. Obvisously this book is not about spam -- which is severely criticized at this book and at other books about this subject, like Permission Marketing -- but about e-mails that your clients ask for (opt-in).

Many books' subtitles are misleading. Not so with this book: "The New Rules of Internet Direct Marketing" and "Email Strategies for Creating Profitable Customer Relationships." Brondmo does indeed deliver in abundance what these subtitles promise. He suggests that, "After reading this book, you will gain insight into powerful strategies and hands-on tactics for turning...initial buyers into profitable, loyal, and engaged customers." He then observes that his reader is provided with two books in one: "A guide to thinking and a guide to doing. It's organized into four parts."

Part I Using Email to Engage Your Customers

Part II Taking a Strategic Approach

Part III Implementing Customer Dialogue

Part IV Looking Ahead

"If you are an executive looking for an overview of how email marketing will impact your business, you'll want to read Parts I and IV carefully and skim Parts II and III. If you are a manager responsible for implementing and operating email marketing programs, you'll probably want to read the entire book, focusing especially on Parts II and III." He then offers a brief description of each part. Later, Brondmo offers several key points re customer orientation: data drives relevance, relevance drives engagement, relationships are at the core of customer sustainable commerce, and building trust is an imperative. He concludes the book with an assertion that "Profitability and sustainability of all Internet business hinges on engaged customers, and there couldn't be a more perfect time to get engaged with them than today.? How? You'll find the answer in this book, one of the very few published thus far which suggest the best strategies and tactics to create profitable customer relationships with Internet direct marketing.

OK, the book was published in 2000. But it still seems to me that if you call your book "The New Rules..." they ought to be somewhat useful and somewhat timeless. Unfortunately, the "rules" in this book are neither. For example "The e-customer expects to be in control." Well, yah...but so has every customer in recorded history. Auto dealers get a bad rap when they obviously and purposely deny any sense of control. In later chapters we get tips like "Don't send unsolicted messages." Even (back) in 2000 (several years after the first successful anti-SPAM lawsuits) this was a no brainer. Instead, check out Shapiro's "Control Revolution" -- written a year earlier (1999) it's still relevant. If you're new to the discipline and haven't already, check out "Permission Marketing" or "Cluetrain Manifesto." They too provide a sense of history...and a lot more insight.

Hans Peter does a great job of mixing common sense with a vision of the future. He gives a step by step explination of email implementation and the use of customer data blended well with a cutting edge feel for who is doing what and how. His focus on creating customer dialogue is accurate and well explained. Good stuff.

This book talks a lot about how to create "relationship capital" while mixing theory with real world examples from companies like eBags.com, Victoria's Secret, Palm. It uses both new economy and old economy companies to offer advice on ways any company can leverage the Internet to bring 1:1 relationships with customers to their companies. Pretty fast read.

The book is a decent read for those who aren't familiar with online marketing at all, but if the reader has any experience, they will find this to be a waste of their time.

Most of the examples used in the book seem like they were pulled out of 1999. Most online consumers are sick on marketing filling up their email inboxes. Even those that the customer originally expressed interest in become a chore.

At this point in time, Blogs and RSS feeds should be a new focus of online marketing.

If you are interested in email marketing, I recommend Permission Marketing by Seth Godin instead -- his work is excellent.

Hans Peter Brondmo's "The Engaged Customer" is a must for Internet marketers. Whether you're an experienced Internet marketer or a novice, this book will be prove to be of enormous value.

It is extremely thorough in its coverage of e-mail marketing from planning to vendor selection to analysis, and this book goes deeper into exploring customer relationships.

Buy it.

Given the highest rating in its December 2000 MarketingToday.com review.

Hans Peter's insight into the next wave of Internet Marketing is a must read for all Corporate and Consulting Marketeers. Beyond Permission Marketing and Email Marketing comes 'Eng@ged Customer Marketing'.