Once again, the winter holiday season has come and gone, and so has my two-week vacation. While I did get my fair share of R&R, I also used some of my downtime to get better organized. Not only around the house but also in my email inbox. The Repercussions of “Subscribe to Get Holiday Deals Delivered to Your Inbox” As soon as the Halloween candy is put away, in comes the deluge of retailer emails pitching Thanksgiving and Christmas “must-haves” to help make your holiday season bright. These inspire you to open, click and maybe even buy something on the spot. Especially this year, given all of the forecasted issues with manufacturing, availability, and shipping delays. But, of course, in your mind, it’s a one-time purchase. I mean, how often are you really going to buy ice hockey skates for your middle-aged brother? But before you know it, you’re getting ice hockey emails left and right and your inbox jumps from manageable to mayhem.     You can’t blame vacation rentals promise great rates on upcoming getaways, and even financial planners tend to be more present in December and January. With the end of one year and the start of another, such milestones create golden marketing opportunities via email – the  Although not a consistent culprit, I confess to scoring 12/12 and suspect I’m not alone. Sure, I’ve read and replied to some emails while walking or working out (sorry for all of those voice-command typos). Perhaps I’ve checked in on project status updates while on vacation or the phone (with my mom – don’t tell her). There might have been a time or two that I’ve read my email from the movie theatre bathroom, just to make sure I didn’t miss something earth-shattering during each 2-hour flick (I give the new Spiderman, Sing2, and Matrix Resurrections all a thumbs up). And yes, TV is best watched with a remote in one hand and a smartphone in the other (chalk it up to productivity, right?) As part of being hyper-connected, we’ve all become multitaskers and more distracted. And based on the stats above, apparently, we’ve become downright rude in the process too! These behaviors bode well for retailers and marketers who have our attention (albeit that of a squirrel) more often than ever before. But what can we as consumers do to minimize our distractions, maximize our productivity, and become better humans in the process? Manage Your Email Preferences Over my winter vacation (while I was binge-watching NetFlix, on the treadmill, talking to my mom 😂), I took the time to not just “delete” unwanted emails from my inbox only to delete them again tomorrow and the next day too. Instead, I unearthed the sometimes inconspicuously placed “Unsubscribe” or “Manage Preferences” links and followed the trail that would ultimately lighten my inbox load. Sure, it took me 15-60 seconds to unsubscribe (depending on the preference details), but that’s a one-time exercise. And statistics show that we’re spending an average of 1.1 minutes on each email. So when you multiply that out and consider that over 28% of our workweek is spent on email alone, unsubscribing to the one-off sources you know you’re no longer interested in will free up your inbox and your life. But I Don’t Want My Prospects to Unsubscribe! Now you may be thinking, “Wait a minute, I’m one of those retailers! I don’t want my prospects to unsubscribe! I want them to continue getting my emails.” Think of it this way. If subscribers are just sitting on the toilet swiping left to delete the email it took you an hour to craft and send, are you really going to miss them? Are they contributing to your bottom line? Even if your stats show that users are opening your emails (which are inflated thanks to the new  Unsubscribes Aren’t Necessarily a Bad Thing Although it may feel like a kick in the gut when you see contacts unsubscribe from your email contact list, try not to take it personally. Weeding out your least-engaged contacts will free you to focus on those most engaged and likely to purchase from you. And by allowing users to manage their preferences, including the types of emails (offers, alerts, newsletters, etc.) and frequency of correspondence, they will appreciate the level of customization and control over their inbox. As a result, they won’t opt out of all. Instead, they’ll opt into what they want most — which will help you market to them with better results. 2022 marketing plan and email marketing strategy, Incite Creative is a marketing advisory firm that works in an outsourced capacity. In short, we become your company’s chief marketing officer (CMO) and do so virtually and efficiently — saving you time and money. Since 1999 we’ve had the pleasure of building and boosting brands for a core set of industries. Our thoughtful process, experienced team, and vested interest in our client’s success have positioned us as one of the Mid-Atlantic’s most sought-after marketing partners for those looking to grow their brand awareness and bottom line. Stop paying for digital and traditional services you may not need. Our retainer, no mark-up model means our recommendations don’t come with any catch or commission. The advice we provide aligns with what you need and what fits within your budget. For more information, contact us at 410-366-9479 or info@incitecmo.com. 

my first full-time job at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. You, youngsters, might know it now as the Bloomberg School of Public Health. I remember the day I got the call. I was about 22 and still living at home with my parents. So when the phone rang, and I was in the shower, my mother thought it was a great idea to bring me the phone, instead of taking a message. Keep in mind this was well before cell phones, but we did have portable telephones. So with the phone in hand, she knocks on the bathroom door and opens it simultaneously, shouting, “Honey, Johns Hopkins is on the phone for you!” But, as you may know, “the” Mr. Johns Hopkins was not on the other line, but an HR representative was the one delivering the news. After some angry faces and embarrassed under-my-breath grumbling aimed at my mother, I stuck one dripping wet arm out of the shower curtain and grabbed the phone with my pruney fingers. I tried to maintain my composure as I said in my calmest, Adele voice, “Hello.” The voice on the other line explained that she was a representative of The Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and was calling to offer me the Publications Coordinator position for an annual salary of $23,000 per year. So there I was, buck naked, phone in hand, accepting my very first job offer. I was so excited! I felt like I had won the jackpot. The irony is that not only was I squeaky clean at the time, but I later found out that the reason I got the job was that I passed my proofreading test with flying colors. You see, weeks before my infamous shower call, I was asked to evaluate the school’s monthly newsletter. I went through it with a fine-toothed comb, and on the back cover in tiny print was the return address information typeset, “Johns Hopkins School of Pubic Health.” Yep. That typo not only got me hired but likely got someone else fired since I suspect that boilerplate had been in place for a long time. As a result, I went on to accomplish quite a few things during my four years at Hopkins, including the rebrand when the powers that be opted to drop the word, “Hygiene” from the school’s name! Email marketing continues to be the leading marketing channel because of its return on investment (ROI). On average,  When it comes to email data hygiene, quality is always better than quantity. Think of it this way — taking ten showers in cold water with no soap will never get you as clean as taking one shower in hot water with lots of bubbles! If your list is dirty, people won’t engage with what you’re sending, and that’s a waste of time and money. Your Incite Creative is a marketing advisory firm that works in an outsourced capacity. In short, we become your company’s chief marketing officer (CMO) and do so virtually and efficiently — saving you time and money. Since 1999 we’ve had the pleasure of building and boosting brands for a core set of industries. Our thoughtful process, experienced team, and vested interest in our client’s success have positioned us as one of the Mid-Atlantic’s most sought-after marketing partners for those looking to grow their brand awareness and bottom line. Stop paying for digital and traditional services you may not need. Our retainer, no mark-up model means our recommendations don’t come with any catch or commission. The advice we provide aligns with what you need and what fits within your budget. For more information, contact us at 410-366-9479 or info@incitecmo.com. 

When it comes to developing a marketing strategy, everyone is looking for ways to stand out from the crowd and engage with their prospects and clients. While there are several strategies to do this, one of the most effective is the use of humor, and meme marketing is a fun, low-effort way to engage with your audience, as memes are highly shareable. But before we dig into using memes as part of your social media posts, we first should explore how humor, in itself, is an effective Betty White getting tackled. Or the marketing plan. Using memes as part of your social media strategy creates budget-friendly brand awareness. Social media, to some extent, has become a great equalizer, and a good meme can help cut through the clutter to help generate brand awareness. If you haven’t heard the term “meme”, it’s pronounced “meem” and was introduced in 1976 by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. Internet memes spread from person to person through imitation, typically by e-mail, social media, and various types of websites. They often take the form of pictures, videos, or other media containing cultural information that, rather than mutating randomly, have been deliberately altered by individuals. Let’s look at a few examples of popular memes. First up, the infamous grumpy cat. Let’s say you own a local boutique coffee shop. Now let’s say you found out that your competition doesn’t open up until 30 minutes after you. A simple yet successful meme like the one below could help you convey that your shop can get early risers well on their way to a productive day even faster. Add your logo and now you have a brand meme that differentiates your coffee shop that much more.