Jan-Erik Paul | 10/11/02
Effective e-mail based direct marketing campaigns The questionable effectiveness of e-mail direct marketing deters many companies from using it in their sales strategies. We suggest ways to enhance your e-mails and keep them from immediate deletion! | | Given the overwhelming amount of 'spam' e-mail that is now part of our every day on-line lives, more and more people automatically delete unsolicited e-mails before opening them. I know people who have changed their e-mail address because they receive too much spam and have read articles about companies who have tried to put a value on how much it costs them to process 'unwanted' e-mails.
Theoretically of course, if the definition of spam is unwanted e-mail then if the recipient derives some value or enjoyment from it, the e-mail would no longer be unwanted. There are three simple points to consider when embarking on an e-mail marketing campaign:
Who are you targeting? What do you have to say? What is the best way to say it?
The first two points are common sense - spend time making sure you are only sending relevant information to the right person.
As far as the best way to say it - the main factor is to stand out in an appealing way from the majority of standard e-mails. If your target customer receives a standard e-mail from a previously unheard of company, there is a good chance it will see the recycle bin before it is read (the recipient of an unsolicited e-mail is looking for any excuse to delete it). In order to avoid this 'binning' action until the e-mail has been read and understood, it should be visually exciting and enticing in order to catch the eye of the recipient, arouse the interest and entertain from the outset.
Subject Field
This is the first evidence the target customer will delete the e-mail on (and far more important than who the e-mail is from). The subject field should therefore contain words that engender interest, impact and challenge and give a hint of what is contained in the e-mail itself. Don't lie or mislead though - tricks such as using "RE:" to pretend you are responding to an e-mail or "Take a look at this!" just annoy.
Main Body
First impression is vital. In a few seconds of opening the e-mail, your recipient will make a judgement on whether to delete it or not.
The use of a different background colour can give the most immediate impression but be careful which colours you use as they have a big impact on how your message is received (see the article "The colour of e-money" in this issue). A better approach is to add an element of design to the e-mail such as a well-designed header.
The more dynamic and entertaining the e-mail - the more chance there is that it will be fully read and kept. The use of moving image is perfect for this and simple animations or V-mail (streamed video which loads quickly) are still innovative and under-exploited communication methods. For example, V-mail is the opportunity to give your company a face - the actual face of your chief executive or sales director telling the recipient about the benefits of his/her company. There is even the opportunity to entertain through the inclusion of a simple e-game (see "Christmas card alternative" in this issue). The use of any of these tools demonstrates your company has an understanding of how to effectively use information technology - a key competency in today's business environment.
Taking the first steps into enhancing your e-mails needn't be expensive - particularly if you use a simple but well-designed HTML that can be re-used for many direct e-mail campaigns over a long period of time.
By Jan Paul
CEO, E-creation |
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