Successful use of e-mail in a multi-channel strategies can go a long way in providing added value to the customer. But the practice is “half religion, half process,” according to Michael Sippey, managing director of Denver-based Quris Inc.
“The religion part is that we believe e-mail can be a very important part of the marketing mix and really help to leverage activities happening in other channels,” Sippey said during the DMD New York Conference and Expo. “The process part is how you can brainstorm and prioritize ways that e-mail can be appropriately used in the overall marketing mix.”
Sippey cited a recent statistic from San Francisco-based Brightmail that more than 64% of all e-mail is spam.
“This becomes really important when you start to think about the consumer mindset when they’re using e-mail,” he said. “They have whole lot of noise in their [e-mail] box. You, as a marketer, want [ISP providers] to be building the best spam filter they can because your challenge is not about routing around a spam filter. Your challenge is connecting with your prospect or your customer – building e-mail programs that your customers want. That is the ultimate spam filter. The broadest filter is: ‘Do I want this email or don’t I want this email?’”
Sippey stressed the importance of e-mail that is personal, timely and offers the recipient value or somehow enhances the experience. Having all three creates relevance, he said.
“What we tell our clients is hitting two of the three is necessary to warrant use of the channel,” he continued. “When you are coming up with program ideas, make sure that they hit at least two of the three because, essentially, if you don’t trigger that spam filter at the ISP level, you’re going to trigger that internal spam filter in your customer’s head.”
An example of personal, timely and valuable e-mail marketing is Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.’s Equity Downgrade Alert. On a weekly basis, the service notifies investors which of their stocks recently have been downgraded, thus facilitating potential interaction between Schwab representatives and their clients, according to Kate O’Connor, managing director of the San Francisco-based firm.
Schwab also offers “My Closing Summary,” an e-mail service with more than 500,000 subscribers. It includes closing prices, abstracted news stories on securities clients hold or are interested in, and market recaps from Schwab experts, O’Connor said.
It’s relevant, it’s timely and it’s personal because it is only information about that client’s portfolio, according to Sippey.
“[The goal is not] about acquiring an e-mail address. It’s about finding the right opportunities to encourage your customers to use the e-mail channel to receive information from you,” Sippey said. “E-mail can streamline interaction with other channels. It’s not just about integrating with the Web. It’s about helping to create more effective interactions in other channels–or it’s creating cost savings by replacing interactions in other channels.”
