An A+ For Greenpeace
I received an irresistible email from Greenpeace today.
Its subject line was: Is this you Tom?
How could you NOT open an email like that? What did they catch me doing?! I’ll wager a very high open rate for these emails.
The personalized email develops into a pitch for volunteers to undertaken some undisclosed mission for Greenpeace:
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“As I write this email, six brave and nervous people are on their way to a secret location. They’re a determined bunch, but none of us know how this will turn out. What we do know is that they will need lots more people to back them up. Without more people, more skills, more ideas and more energy, what they’re planning may not succeed.” |
So Greenpeace needs more volunteers, and they present a quiz to determine if I “have what it takes”.
OK, I’m hooked and I take the quiz.
It’s engaging … a bit cheeky. And as I go through, I assume my answers are not really going to determine the outcome … my fate. Would they really reject me as a volunteer?
Perhaps. It does take a certain kind of person to dangle for a few days from an oil derrick or brave a high-pressure water cannon to board an unfriendly ship.
But it doesn’t matter … I’m hooked … and I’ve volunteered some information.
At the end, Greenpeace congratulates me (“You definitely know that actions speak louder than words …”) and promises: “We’ll be looking through the results to find volunteers to help with something quite extraordinary very soon, so stay tuned.”
And of course I’m presented a nice big ‘DONATE NOW’ button.
Here’s my only gripe … clicking the button led to a generic donation landing page with no reference to the potential mystery assignment that had so intrigued me. I was disappointed.
But I will ‘stay tuned’ as requested, nonetheless, because I rate this communication as A+ for engagement, and I can see a zillion applications for other nonprofits to engage their supporters in this manner.
Greenpeace has started me down the path. I’ve expressed interest, but haven’t donated. We’ll see what happens next. Will I get to meet Lucy Lawless?
Stay tuned!
Tom
2 responses to “An A+ For Greenpeace”
Behavioral Science Q & A
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I’d just finished scheduling this email for next week’s ‘What’s in my Inbox’ when I saw your post, Tom. Greenpeace surely knows how to ‘inspire and delight!’ My quiz result (loved the social media tie-in) said I was ‘a lot like Brikesh Singh.’ Looking forward to seeing what’s next.
This Greenpeace email was the buzz around our office yesterday as well. It’s very creative and fun. It’s wonderful how the social media era is allowing our communications to blossom and loosen up.