Bloggers - Database your Readers!

I live on an Atlantic island which is a huge tourist destination. Like many duty free destinations, we have lots of electrical retailers in the resorts selling video cameras, digital cameras, MP3 players and so on, and they do a roaring trade from tourists who save duty and benefit from our 5% VAT rate. Unfortunately some of them are unscrupulous and sell fake goods, returned goods or just dodgy stuff, and they often get away with it as people don’t realize until they’ve returned home.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When I first moved here nine years ago, the nearest one to me was managed by an Indian man called Suresh. I first met him when I needed a fax machine. I knew he wouldn’t have one, but went in to ask where to buy one. He asked me what type I wanted, made some calls, got one delivered and made a sale. He made an effort to get to know me and my family – we walked past his shop at least twice a day. During our first year he made a lot of sales to me, and he made a lot of sales to my friends and family who visited. He would call me when he had new stuff in that he thought I’d be interested in. He supported me by advertising in the newspaper I was writing for at the time. We never had more than a business relationship, but it was a good one, based on mutual trust and on each of us working to the benefit of the other.

He left the island after a couple of years to move to another in the same archipelago, where he opened a new shop. We popped in to say hello once 6 years ago when we were there on business. I bought a new strap for one of my watches.

How to sell me a Flip Mino!

Yesterday I went looking to buy a Flip Mino video camera. I trawled half a dozen shops and drew blank looks. My final attempt was in a town called Costa Teguise. A young Indian guy was at the counter and I asked him if he knew what a Flip Mino was. A voice from the back shouted “Mike?” and Suresh appeared. After six years, he’d recognized my voice. He came out and said hello and remembered my wife’s and kid’s names so he could ask about them. I was ashamed I couldn’t do the same. He spotted my watch strap and laughed that I was still wearing it, he asked if the now nine year old fax machine was still working (it is!). In short, he pretty much remembered everything about me. He told me he would investigate the Flip Mino and call me. He will, and he’ll get the business if he can get one.

Suresh is obviously blessed with a brilliant business memory, and he made me realize what a huge benefit that is. We need to learn a lesson from him. We must stop treating our “list” as a list, and start treating our readers and potential customers as people. We have some incredible tools to build data on our readers – Facebook will tell you plenty, Twitter will tell you some, reader’s own websites will fill in the gaps.

Let’s stop treating our lists as a first name and email address!

I’ve decided to create a database for my readers. I’m going to add the little snippets I get as I pick them up. Here’s an example: I found out last week that Chris Garrett shares my interest in Formula 1. When I looked at my readers, I realized that I know 20% of them are interested in F1. I know that 8% of them are single dads. I know these things through conversations I’ve had with them on Twitter recently. By databasing these facts, I’ll remember them in 6 or 12 month’s time. So how will this help you as a blogger?

• You can write posts that reflect the interest of your readers. I can use F1 analogies for example, knowing it will engage at least 20% of my readers.
• You can use the data to make your posts more relevant. if 80% of your readership is American, maybe use American spelling and use dollars as your currency – I do both for exactly that reason, although I think in Euros, Celsius and spell car tyres properly!
• When you write a sales email to your readers, you can make it really relevant to them. Why not split your list up into groups and write a different email to suit each group?
• Create landing pages to suit each group as well. Key benefits of your new E-Book will be different for each group.
• Use the data when you’re engaging people who comment on your blog. A quick check on the database, and you can be armed to make a really personal reply. “I know you’re a single dad, John, so I’m really pleased these time management ideas are going to help you have more time for your boys.”

As marketers we’ve been telling retailers for years to create databases so they can provide a service to match the customer’s needs. it’s time we started doing the same with our blog communities. I’ll go through the steps as I create my database. What do you think? Is this something you’re going to do?