Images in Email Should Add Value

The Hunt

With three kids three and under, I am always looking for ways to keep myself and my family organized - which is no easy task. But some time ago I fell in love with The Container Store and frequent their website for ideas to accomplish this gargantuan task. I look forward to receiving their email because there is always something in there that ultimately helps me out - and in turn drives a purchase with them - their ultimate goal, I would hope. Recently I received a message that I was thrilled to open - the subject line was:

How to organize what's hot now!

Given my plight for organization I felt like they really knew me and were leveraging what they knew about my behavior to provide me exactly what I needed. Then I opened the message...

The Skunk

The message opens with a line stating, "You're a trendsetter." Ummmm....no. I have three small kids, unless juice stains are all the rage in Paris right now, I am the furthest thing from a trendsetter. But I do still like to keep my clothes looking nice, for the rare occasion I don something other than sweats and a t-shirt. So I move past the "trendsetter" label and take a look further to see how the trendy crowd keeps their clothes looking fabulous. But the only supporting image in the message is a shot of a t-shirt and a scarf. So now I am baffled - first is a t-shirt and scarf really setting trends this season? If so, maybe I AM a trendsetter after all! But my question is where is the product? It's not there, anywhere, see for yourself:

Just because you can stick any image you want in an email doesn't mean you should. Images in email should support the purpose of the offer and enhance the experience for the recipient. In the retail industry specifically, image usage typically exceeds best practice, but because it is a very visual and product driven market image-heavy messages still tend to perform very well. However, the images that are included are usually product shots or lifestyle shots that feature the product. This is neither, unless The Container Store recently started selling apparel and I didn't get the news.

The Resolution

I appreciate the approach, and the appeal to the trendy, with the copy of the message - but this could have been easily improved by including an image that demonstrated what really was hot in storing trendy clothes - like the puzzling image on the landing page that suggests you fold your white t-shirts and store them, individually, by day of week, in clear plastic letter trays that you would typically find in your office.

While I certainly don't have the time to be THAT organized - I found the out-of-the-box thinking refreshing and would have liked to actually see that in the email - instead of having to seek it out. The Resolution? Include images that support your message and feature your product!

Bad Customer Experience Cause Email Dis-Engagement

The Hunt

I had a birthday back in May (I still have them, yes) and received a gift card from my aunt (in Florida - I am in Indiana) from The Gap. I knew I had a flurry of summer birthday parties that I was going to be attending, so I had decided to jump online and order a few fun summer dresses with the card. After a lengthy search to find exactly what I was looking for, I was ready to check out. I entered the necessary information from the card and received a response that there were no funds on the card. I know this happens from time to time, so I didn't worry about it. I called my aunt to let her know, as she had spent real money on the card. She went to the store that afternoon and they said it had been resolved. I went back to the site to check out...again...and now found that there was only $0.01 on it. Clearly that wasn't right. I still wasn't upset because it appeared they were really trying to work with us.

The Skunk
But the appearance of cooperation was quickly gone! The next day, The Gap called my aunt and told her that they were no longer going to work with her on the issue as they believed I had used the card and was trying to rip them off. C'mon, really? Is this a problem they deal with frequently, or maybe it’s an issue with their staff issuing cards and using them before the recipient had a chance. Either way, I am now offended and no longer interested in doing business with The Gap.

The Resolution
So what does all of this have to do with email? More than you could know. Your email success is the culmination of your relationship with your customers. That experience results from every interaction, every touch point and every transaction a customer executes with you - and if those experiences are good, you tend to have a better relationship with your customer, and thus more loyalty. Email is a relationship channel - to realize true success with your email messaging, you need to have a solid, reciprocal relationship with the customer and if that relationship goes sour (think break-up) then every aspect of the relationship is compromised.

I no longer shop at The Gap - or Baby Gap - and I certainly don't read their email. I won't even open the email to unsubscribe from it. I just delete it. And will continue to because I don't feel it necessary to spend the time to open the message and scroll to the bottom to click the stinkin' link. No compelling subject line, no great offer, no specific creative format will change the fact that our business relationship is over.

The resolution? The customer IS always right - and every touch point can be negatively impacted - even your email. So if your email conversion isn't so hot - it may have less to do with your email strategy and more to do with your customer approach. Relationships are a two way street - don't forget it!