E-Mail Marketers Need to Display Understanding, Especially for Mobile Users
Who would you listen to: a friend who offers you advice every now and then, or a stranger who offers you advice every hour? Most people would take the former every time, and while this isn’t the most precise metaphor for the recent findings of e-Dialog, it does highlight the company’s bottom line: show that you know your consumer before you bombard them with messages.
The report, titled “Manifesto for E-mail Marketers: Consumers Demand Relevance,” revealed that 64 percent of consumers want marketers to demonstrate that they know the types of products or services they like. This is followed by 61 percent who want marketers to show they know what types of offers they like, 54 percent who want marketers to display they know whether they are a new or returning customer and 47 percent who want marketers to show they know their communications preferences.
Thirty-six percent said they want marketers to show that they know their shopping habits (e.g., online searching, in-store visits, catalog purchases, etc.), according to the survey of approximately 2,000 consumers in the U.S. and U.K.
Knowing what recipients want is especially key for mobile e-mail users, “who are more sensitive to frequency on the small screen,” according to the company.
“Preference seekers,” or consumers who want marketers to show “intimate knowledge of their preferences, interests and purchase history,” are more likely to subscribe to e-mail and are consequently more tolerant of frequent e-mail messages. However, this also means that marketers need to step up their game with this segment.
“In fact, preference seekers are clearly more engaged and interested in receiving tailored messages,” said Simone Barratt, managing director at e-Dialog International. “This could be a very profitable segment to a brand, but marketers need to work hard to satisfy subscribers through more robust preference capture and relevance empowering tactics, including frequency-metering, testing, and behavior analysis.”
According to the study, 86 percent of consumers want companies to ask about their e-mail preferences at registration, though marketers are advised to make sure to have a link back to a central subscriber preference center on every Web page.
Jeanniey Mullen, chief marketing officer for Zinio, partnered with Kevin Ertell, vice president of retail strategies for ForeSee, and Jessica Hartley, an e-commerce executive with more than 12 years of e-mail experience, to offer 10 do’s and don’ts for e-mail marketers:
Do:
1) “Put URLs in the subject line!
2) Use YouTube for e-mail promos.
3) Test auto-updates of content for older e-mails.
4) Make your e-mails 3D (QR codes, digital catalogs).
5) Make "exclusive e-mail" offers a priority.
6) Format with images that are the same size as those on your site and HTML.
7) Ask for feedback and respond to it.
8) Use control groups to determine full impact of e-mails.
9) Use an offer in order confirmation e-mail.
10) Send a full early engagement stream instead of a single welcome e-mail.”
Don’t:
1) Stop e-mailing non-responders – these are your best social networks!
2) Look at any stats other than CPOs (cost per orders).
3) Ignore e-mail data capture’s importance.
4) Build for a PC anymore. Most e-mails are read on mobile devices now; (Flash doesn’t work).
5) Forget that your e-mail will never die.
6) Over-discount.
7) Overuse personalization.
8) Beg. Win back e-mails can go too far.
9) Get big brother with remarketing e-mails.
10) Assume your customers are reading your e-mails as much as you are.
Sources:</strong
