But You Promised!

The Hunt
This past Thursday I received an interesting email from the popular web-based photo sharing site Snapfish. It said to keep an eye on my email for a very special offer for President’s Day. I thought wow, what an interesting way to build some momentum for a future “exclusive” campaign. It was unobtrusive and teased with just enough information to make me want to check my email on Saturday – the day to look for the special offer. The teaser message stated “As one of our best customers, we wanted to let you know that you'll be getting an amazing President's Day Weekend deal on all of our gifts!”

The Skunk
So I got the email on Saturday but I didn’t think that the promise lived up to the hype of the previous teaser message. Free shipping on Photo Gifts? That’s it? The “special offer” is viewable when I login to the website as well. The teaser message and the offer message are below. I was anticipating some sort of great exclusive offer that would have really peaked my interest and incented me do a little online shopping.

The Resolution
When pushing an exclusive offer with a teaser message you really need to follow through with your promise of an offer that packs a lot of punch since so many online retailers are currently providing deep discounts to incent customers. Free shipping is nice and all but if customers new and old can get this offer by simply logging on to the website, how exclusive is it? The offer needs to be perceived as a great value and it can’t be confusing. Too many terms and conditions can also create a roadblock to purchase as well. When sending out a teaser for an upcoming email offer, keep that promise of value and exclusivity. If the offer is not unlike previous offers, the teaser message can be more of a turn-off than attention grabbing and interest building.