If I asked you, on average, how many emails from your personal email box you deleted without opening them first, what would you say the number is?I can tell you, I probably average around 50 a day.That’s mostly due to the fact that I get a lot of straight advertisements sent to me from companies that I haven’t done business with in years, and that send me almost daily updates on any small change in any of their product line.I also get about a dozen or so from computer applications that I installed and disliked, and whose unsubscribe process is too complicated for me to do from my Smartphone.
It has been proven, if you can stay in someone’s face long enough, then you have a good chance of them returning to you to do business.That’s what we’ve been told for years, and there’s lots of evidence to support this.At this point, I can think of a flower service that I probably won’t use in the future, but if I do need them, I’ll finally open one of their emails that they send on that day.For all I know, they could have been trying to bill me for the last two years, since I stopped reading their email about that long ago. It hits my phone, and is deleted within 5 seconds or so of me noticing it.Is your goal to be this company?
Then there are the companies that email me “20% savings TODAY ONLY” at least twice a week.I had better open these emails, the sale ends today!On my way home from work, I recently tried buying something from one of these emails, but when I arrived at the store and tried to get my 20% off, the clerk had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.He told me that I had to buy it online for those savings.I whipped out my phone, and lo and behold, he was correct! It said it in 4pt writing, sideways up the side of one of the graphics.Somewhere inside of me, the thrifty gene I inherited from my peasant ancestors awoke, so I put down the item I was intending to buy, as well as the other three I picked up impulsively while wandering around the store, and went home to buy it at 20% off.On the way home, my phone rang, and I was asked to get supper going.I got home, and cooked an asparagus and chicken carbonara dish that couldn’t be beat.A closet culinary expert I may be, but cleaning up afterwards requires hard work, since I am also the live in dishwasher.Once the dishes were done and put away, I was tired, and went to the living room to watch a little tv after a hard day of work.Guess who didn’t get 20% off online?However, the good news is, I saved around 170%, since I didn’t buy the original item, or any of the impulse things that I really didn’t need but would have bought anyways.I really didn’t need it, but since it was a good deal, and I’m an impulsive person, they almost had me.Is your goal to be this company?
Both of these examples highlight common mistakes that are found in email blast marketing.For example number one: Your goal is to stay current in your customer’s mind, so that if they need you, they know where to look.With that being said, a little discretion goes a long way.Multiple emails a day are more likely to turn your customer to your competitor than they are to attract them to your business.Think about it this way.If I buy $100.00 worth of product from you, and you email me 2 times a day, I’m scared to know how many emails you’ll send me if I buy $300.00 worth of product.
For example number two:The real world always trumps cyberspace.I can understand some exclusivity when you are talking about visiting a location.However, sales that exist only in cyberspace are potentially hazardous to your real business.Why would you want your customer only buying online?If nothing happens until someone gets excited is true, why would you want all of the excitement outside of your establishment?Run as many campaigns as you can via email, social media, etc, but have them always point towards your best place to capture multiple sales.
As a side note for example 2: A sense of urgency is important.I remember talking with an automotive dealership owner, several years ago, before I was in the advertising industry, and asking how he can get away with putting, “Biggest sale of the season” in the paper week after week.He said it was because the average car shopper only looked in the paper for a week or two before making a purchase.He understood that with that medium, people weren’t going to read the ad unless they were actively looking for his product.When an email comes in, I read two things, the sender and the subject, and so if every time I see your name, I see “Sale, TODAY ONLY” I’m forced to “shop for” your product every day.And I start to see that trend, which makes me start to see that you build up a ton of fake urgency.
If either of these look too familiar, do yourself a favor, and contact us, today.
