This post will look at the video "Driving business online: email innovation across leading brands such as Boden and ITV" found here.
An interesting point I picked up on was that companies are trying to (and managing to) reduce 'unsuscribe' rates by offering customers an option to reduce the frequency they receive the emails rather than a complete opt out. I think this is an excellent idea as there has been times when I personally did not want to receive an email so frequently so unsuscribed but would have been happy to continue receiving the emails but at a reduced frequency.
Another thing to consider is that although average order value has reduced (from 2008 to 2009) it most likely wasn't actually related to the email marketing but instead to the global recession that the economy was suffering from.
With so much of sales being taken online now, it is even more important that companies are using their email marketing in a smart and sophisticated way. By not keeping up with technology and not targeting and focusing on customers, customers can easily be put off by generalised mass market emails they receive.
An example of a regular email that I receive that is personalised to me is from Target Jobs. To begin with the email starts with 'Hi Julia'. This is a nice touch and gets your attention. Then I am told I am receiving the email because I had opted in on their website and then it lists the options I chose. The options I chose are the type of graduate jobs that I am looking for. There is also a simple link explaining that I can change these preferences if necessary. The email then lists only the types of jobs I am interested in, which saves me from having to read a whole list of jobs I have no interest in. A simple but effective personalised email.
By targeting customers companies can ensure customers are only receiving relevant information and are therefore more unlikely to delete the email without reading it and even hopefully going on to make transactions. By combining their offline and online data companies can segment their customers. They can then work out what type of offers/products/services the customer may want from previous buying/browsing behaviour. For example, Amazon is very good at customising their emails to customers. They send emails about offers of products that are similar to ones you have already bought or browsed. Not only can the products be specific but also the offers, which Steve Lomax backs up in the video mentioned above.
In the video Lomax als mentions how Boden are now using user reviews. Nowadays with the increase of social networking, customers are more likely to seek other people's opinions on products before buying. These reviews are an excellent way to provide customers the feedback they require. A way to gather these reviews is by sending out 'thank you' notes once the customer has purchased a product and asking them to review the product then. Boden successfully did this and have collected over 43000 reviews using this method. These reviews can really help customers with their buying decisions and customers can also search by the reviews. Bath and Bodyworks used user reviews and put them into the content of the email to inform customers of other consumer's thoughts.
Lomax makes a good point about confirmation emails when a customer has bought a product. Normally companies send a plain text email back but Lomax believes this is a prime opportunity to create another marketing message and ensure brand continuity. HMV used these confirmation emails as an opportunity to Upsell and Cross sell. As these emails have 100% open rates they also have high transaction rates.
Follow up reminders about left baskets to complete the transaction are also useful as over 35% of customers who shop online leave a basket without purchasing. This is not just relevant in retail but also in finance for example someone who does not complete a form applying for a credit card. I think this is a great idea as it helps the customer not forget about the basket and they go back to it. Even better would be if a small incentive can be given e.g. free shipping.
Using social networking, companies can increase their suscriber lists for example with the 'share with your friends' buttons. This enables companies to get to a much bigger audience.
Finally to wrap up this (lengthy!) blog post the video mentions the increase of mobile email marketing. So many people are using their mobiles to check the internet and the email so companies must ensure their email content is able to be read properly in a mobile. Phones that can read barcodes are now becoming popular and boost transaction rates.
This video is very interesting in providing lots of ideas for companies on how they can personalise their email marketing and how sophisticated email marketing has now become.
Let me know your thoughts on my post!
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