Live from Chicago: How to Time E-Mail
Smart postal mailers carefully their campaigns, taking both season and day of week into account. So should e-mailers, according to executives from UAL Loyalty Services.
For example, the day after Thanksgiving is an most important day for retailers who want strong sales in December.
“Waiting until Saturday is the kiss of death,” said Marian Black-Ruffin, director e-mail channel, United Mileage Plus for UAL Loyalty Services. “People have made their decision already.” And offer things that will hit two weeks before Christmas, along with a link that consumers can save.
On the other hand, don’t send e-mails once Christmas has arrived. “People aren’t sitting by their computers checking e-mail at holiday time,” Black-Ruffin continued, speaking at Chicago Direct Marketing Days & Expo.
January is a good month for sending out anniversary and birthday reminders. “The reason is that you’ve established the relationship and retention message for the year,” she said.
Aren’t the summer months a terrible time for sending e-mails? Not for school-supply marketers.
“July is a good month for back-to-school sales,” Black-Ruffin continued. “Smart mothers shop in June, but then the school sends them something and they need to purchase something in July. August is the best time for early back-to-school sales announcements.”
Which days of the week should you mail?
“The best days to reach business people are Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m through 3 p.m.,” said Ira Dolin, e-mail strategist for UAL Loyalty Services. “For consumers, aim for Friday through Sunday, between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.”
Dolin added: “A B-to-B message should be considered for 1 p.m. launch. You miss the chaos out west, but get people returning from lunch on the East Coast. Watch the time zones and delivery process, and make sure that the ISPs and firewalls aren’t holding things up. If you send it at 1 and your mail ends up there at 5 p.m., you need to accommodate.”
And don’t start sending in the evening or at 3 p.m. the day before. Everyone will be sending it at that time. “The routers get jammed, images break and customers get ticked off,” he said.
Dolin and Black-Ruffin offered DMers these tips for sending e-mails. First, tell the consumer what you want them to do, and why. Make sure the link is good, and test it after the launch. Personalization is a must because people expect it. And don’t forget to follow up.
“You get majority of responses in three days from e-mail launch, but how many people remember an e-mail from three days ago?” Black-Ruffin asked. “You have to send a reminder.”
Another suggestion: Gather customer information in limited quantities. Don’t scare away by trying to obtain your demographics wish list.
In addition, track conversions, including those from latent converters (those who open your e-mail but go directly to your Web site instead of clicking on the link). Some consumers skip the link because they fear spoofed e-mails.
“You need to count those as part of your conversions, not just those who click on the link,” said Black-Ruffin.
Are you getting blocked by the ISPs? One way to prevent being blocked by the ISPS is to send out an “operational” e-mail to your membership base. Tell them, “We value your membership, we want to communicate with you. White-list us on your e-mail browser.”
In addition, send test e-mails to [email protected]. “In five or 10 minutes, they will kick back a report to you and tell you what spam filters will be telling you and grade your e-mail,” said Black-Ruffin.
