Hotel marketers, for all of their savvy, can sometimes be clueless morons that can screw up a wet dream.
I am not sure what motivates them to ruin a perfectly good relationship, it could be the bosses demanding numbers, sheer hope or simply being stupid.
How do they do this you ask? The answer is simple; they treat me like a dumping ground.
Here is the scenario. I attend a tradeshow or industry event and then, rather than sending me targeted information and marketing emails about their property that I can use for my clients and their meetings, they start dumping every email campaign they have on me in hopes that something will stick.
They treat my inbox like their personal marketing dump with their endless supply of vacation, wedding and get-away for the weekend emails for which I have 100% no need.
I am in the meeting and event planning business; I plan meetings and events, and when I am not doing that, I speak or write about things that effect the meetings and events industry…. Guess what, I am now writing about something that affects the meetings and events industry, and it is you dip wad.
I do not care if you are having a “Mom’s Day Special” or a “Bring the Kids to Sheboygan Weekend.” I don’t.
This is 2010; there are tools out there to segment your audience. Put me in the Corporate Business or Meetings business folder and keep me there. I don’t want anything else; I did not ask for anything else.
This tirade is not unmotivated. Today, the line was crossed by a property. I attended an industry event last week and even before my car hood cooled off I had gotten the “thanks for attending email” from the salesperson I met. So far, so good. The next day, the salesperson sent me the specs that I had asked for, again, we were on the right track; we were cooking with gas.
The next day, I forwarded the specs to my client and said “Have a look” This property might fit.
Then, the train hit a rock; it started to sway, and we began to derail. That was about four days later; I am guessing that is about the time it took for my email to go from the CRM software to the marketing department and then be acted upon by someone adding me to their list(s). The emails started telling me about all of their specials, all of their offers to have a vacation, have a weekend. They were not stopping.. every day, without fail, adding to my email inbox nightmare.
All marketers want you to take action from their messages, and I took action! Yes Mr. Marketer, I took action! I unsubscribed.
I have taken myself off of your list forever, and you cannot have me back. You wrecked the relationship and really, I am better for ditching you….
The sad part of the story is the poor salesperson, they did their part by the book and I liked her, she was pretty good at what she did but she lost any potential business because every time I think of their property, I am going to think about all of the stupid marketing that they did.
What is even worse, the next time someone says “What do you think about that hotel,” I am not going to talk about the remarkable benefits of having a meeting at the property, I am going to go straight into my email story……
That is the vision you have left me with….
