email marketing

Mind Your Marketing Manners! Say Thank You!

Marketing manners matter!

Unless you were raised by wolves in the wild, at some point you’ve learned it is polite to say “Thank You”.  Not only is it proper etiquette, it’s just downright considerate and gracious.  Yet for marketers, saying thank you is about much more than just being polite.  If you’re in the business of building lasting, loyal customer relationships (and if you’re not, please question why you’re bothering to be in business at all ) it’s an essential practice that pays both monetary and good will dividends.  Without it, you’re both at greater risk of customer flight and a sitting duck for the competition.

If you don’t already have a “thank you” process in place, it’s easy to begin one.  I suggest matching the format of the initial thank-you message to the channel in which someone first did business with you, then expanding that over time.

For example, did someone purchase from you online? If so, email them a thank you with an offer to re-visit or purchase again, ideally with a coupon or free gift to entice them into action soon. Did they buy in your store or office? Postal mail them a thank-you follow-up.  Did they do business with you at a conference, fair or trade show? Email and mail them an invitation to engage with you at either your physical place of business, your online storefront, or both.  And keep the follow-ups coming.

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Email Marketing Segmentation: Mr. Retailer – We Don’t Like Schweddy Balls

 

This post was inspired by a Saturday Night Live skit.
If you’re easily offended by sexual innuendo and double entendre you may want to skip the watching the video.

Last year while looking for a gift for a friend, my wife and I settled on a box of gourmet “Schweddy Balls” from the Schweddy Confectioners, makers of fine chocolates and treats. Although neither my wife nor I like Schweddy Balls, it seems our friend loves them. We purchased them online at one of our favorite retailers. They were a hit with our friend and she told us how much she loved the “Schweddy Balls” we sent.

Since making that purchase, it seems the retailer has segmented us into a list for “Schweddy Balls” promotions. We get weekly specials for “Schweddy Balls” that we don’t really want. It’s been a year since our initial purchase and they just don’t get it… We don’t like “Schweddy Balls”. The one time we purchased them, it was for a gift.  We even shipped it as a gift through their system to another address. They know it was a gift yet they try to shove “Schweddy Balls” down our throat every week.

Reminder: When segmenting your email subscribers, a single purchase does not a segment make. Segments should be created with multiple points of interest by the subscriber. If I buy a book every month, then that’s a segment. If I buy technical books 70% of the time, that’s a segment. If I buy “Schweddy Balls” once as a gift, that’s not a segment.

So, now we’ve unsubscribed from all their email marketing because we had no option to opt out of just the “Schweddy Balls” promotions.

  • Bad email marketing segmentation can actually drive-up unsubscribes. Be diligent when creating segments, and make sure you always have multiple buys or interest/browse tracking that truly shows a segment of interest.
  • Also consider de-segmentation when those who have been put into a segment no longer act on those targeted mailings.  People change, their needs and wants change and they don’t tell you when or why.

Cheers, Chris