The From Line

TREND:

In growing efforts to combat email SPAM, ISPs continue to put more power into consumers’ hands. Consumer desire for controlling SPAM (or perceived spam) is what drove Gmail and Hotmail to introduce priority in-boxes, a way for the user’s interaction with emails to be used to determine future in-box placement.

The key word in this trend is “perceived.” Many marketers following email best practices still find themselves managing SPAM complaints through feedback loops. So why is this happening?

Marketing Trend

Our trendwatchers are seeing a growing need for even the savviest of marketers to educate themselves on workflow improvements. The concept of how to mass-produce automated marketing campaigns (without reliance on excessive human interaction) is not difficult to implement, yet many businesses aren’t aware of the right strategies. Furthermore, while the cost of marketing mediums has decreased due to the rapid growth of online advertising opportunities, production costs have skyrocketed. This leaves marketing budgets vulnerable to what our experts call The 21st Century Marketing Paradox – a cost shift from channel to production. 

I always get a chuckle when my email marketing colleagues push "relevance" as an industry best practice.  If we as marketing experts have to remind the common practitioner to ensure their message matches their market, it proves email marketing is an institution with bottom of the barrel admission standards.   Based on my experience, most email marketers fail not with relevance, but rather with the timeliness of their messages.   Despite the advanced timing features ESPs offer, email is treated like other mass marketing mediums by marketing executives.  If you don't believe me just ask any CEO of an email service provider about the percentage of their clients who use their timing features.   I can promise you an uncomfortable look on their face will emerge when you bring the subject up.    If the main objective of commercial email is to sell (widgets, ideas, relationships, donations, etc.) then a message's timing trumps most other best practices.  All top sales people will tell you the calendar is their best sales tool because it ensures timely follow up around specific purchasing cycles.  Top sales people know that being in front of the customer at right time is far more valuable than frequent and blanketed calls.   Therefore savvy email marketers have learned from their sales counterparts to view time as a holistic window into their customers' needs, timing campaigns according to specific dates, relationship cycles and behavior instead of obsessing over the right time of day to send email.  Below are some examples about how the savvy email marketers use time to increase sales.

Date Driven Campaigns

When most email marketers think about date driven campaigns, the first thing that comes to mind is a Happy Birthday email.  Although birthdays are important life benchmarks, they are just one of many criteria that can be used to build relationships with customers and anticipate spending patterns.  Other lifecycle events that are rarely used unless they are industry specific are birth, graduation, wedding, divorce, death, moving and religious ceremonies such as a bar-mitzvah or confirmation.   However since many email marketers are stuck on birthday campaigns yet execute them ineffectively I've included the following example.

 Sheryl, a marketer of plus size women's apparel took the philosophy of not reminding her customers of their age to heart by marketing around their birthdays.  She conducted market research zeroing in on the psychographics of her customers and discovered that around their birthday they felt unhappy with themselves because of the prospects of getting older while overweight.  So instead of sending her customers a happy birthday email reminding them of their age, she decided to send messages that looked much different than her typical campaigns.  Her messages contained motivational headlines such as "Older is Sexier" and "Big Girls Get Love Too!" three weeks before the actual date.  After conducting a three month test she discovered the test group was 26% more inclined to complete a purchase around their birthday with woman ages 34 to 41 spiking to 32%.  Now Sheryl has her birthday campaigns down to a science automating the timing of every message.

Timing the Relationship

Ask any married couple and they will confirm that relationships change with time, a fact that transcends from personal to business and business to consumer.   Companies with an extensive business history should have the ability to predict relationship cycles with their customers.   Just look to your office water cooler for example of relationship timing.  The water delivery company knows there are 40 people in your office who drink on average 24 ounces a day.   Since there are 640 ounces in a water cooler bottle and the office consumes on average of one and two third bottles per day assuming a five day work week the delivery guy knows that you will purchase roughly 34 bottles each month.  One day the delivery man comes to the office and finds a newly installed soda machine.  Based on previous experiences with other offices of this size, the water company knows to scale the order back by 20% to keep the customer happy.  Identifying these pinch points in a customer relationship is tantamount for long term success.  Just as an old and happy married couple can complete each other sentences and anticipate what the other will do so too does a successful email marketer when it comes to timing the relationship cycle of their customers.

Timing Behavior

From click to sales timing to triggered follow ups, timing behavior is the golden chalice of email marketing yet the most difficult to implement.  Having the advantage of knowing who opens and clicks on what and where they go after they click gives unparalleled insight into your customers however requires research and investment to parlay that data into effective behavior timing campaigns.   Steve, an email marketing manager for an online electronics retailer knows from research that if his flat screen televisions are price competitive, a website visitor has a higher probability of making a purchase within two weeks after conducting research on Cnet or other shopping related websites.  Therefore, he created a process using web analytics to entice visitors who came from Cnet to give up their email address.  If no purchase was made within 6 hours, the email address placed in an automated two week campaign with a series of 7 messages that included top recommendations from shopping sites.  The campaign yielded roughly an 18% conversion rate within the two week cycle. 

Even though technology makes it easier to implement campaigns based on timing one common thread sticks out in above examples, research.  Timing is a science that takes a combination of primary and secondary research compiled, well, over time.  Timing is so valuable in marketing (especially email marketing) that only its counterpart can shadow its importance, money!

The key to business success in a down economy is to NOT discontinue your marketing efforts. Many businesses are fearful of spending (which is totally understandable), but cutting all marketing is not the answer. Change it up!

Analysts are already reporting that marketing dollars are shifting to email – the most cost effective channel proven to have the highest ROI. During tough economic times, it’s important to think carefully about how you’re using email and make every single email count for something.

1) Fear can be an excellent motivator.
It’s a scary time for business professionals right now. There is widespread fear of job loss and budget cuts. Instead of feeding those fears, capitalize on them. Connect with your customers in a way that quells their fears a bit. Position your products and services so that they show value in tough times. Cut out whatever is not necessary and get right to the point.

2) Motivate. Motivate. Motivate.
It’s time to be creative. Think about how you can change or improve your offers to clients. Discounts are effective but they are not the only motivator out there. When every dollar counts, think of other ways you can provide value without leaving money on the table. Is there information or helpful hints you can offer that will be of value to your clients and protect your budget at the same time?

3) Partnerships
Now is a great time to team up and offer “more for your money” services.

4) Integrate email with social marketing tools.
Email is a great way to initiate contact – continue it with a posting to a Facebook Wall, Tweets, MySpace or a blog.

5) Solidify your sender reputation.
The number of emails sent will increase in a down economy. In response to this, ISPs may vamp up their throttling, spam filtering and lower their volume caps. Sender reputation means everything so check your sender score at either senderscore.org or senderbase.org and continue to follow best practices.

6) Feedback is free!
Always, always ask for feedback. Make it a goal for all of your employees. Every email should have a means included to submit feedback. Online transactions and telephone calls should also be solicited for feedback.

7) How can you help?
Most wallets are sewn shut right now. Think of ways your organization can bring value and relevance to your clients. Consider changing your offerings or pairing up your products.

8) Consider flexible terms. Make it very clear if you offer flexible payment terms, reward points or discounts for larger orders.

9) Client appreciation holds a lot of weight. Whitepapers, user tips, small token gifts, and coupons are simple and inexpensive ways to thank your clients and entice prospects. Remember that word-of-mouth is the most powerful advertising out there.

10)  Test timing.
One of the greatest perks of email marketing is that you are not tied to anything. You can test, test, test! You have the ability to determine what works best for your subscribers. Maybe one of your lists gets a great response on a Monday morning and another on a Wednesday afternoon…go for it! Try out the new Sunday-sending theory. Industry experts have reported great success in sending Sunday evening emails. With mobile devices and flexible technology, people tend to check their mail on Sundays so they know what’s in store for them the next day.

Obviously these are just some of the ways that you can leverage email to work for you in a down economy. It’s all about smart marketing!