Get your FAX straight.

The Hunt
I've been in the market for an easy to use fax-to-mail account to supplement by business fax needs. There are a few well known providers out there and all pretty much have the same features compared to one another. As I was sizing up the different providers that had a relatively economical price-point and easy account set-up, I found a service called myFax that seemed to fulfill all my requirements. Tempted by the complimentary 30-day trial, I clicked on the sign-up form and started inputting my information.

The Skunk
I had already picked an area code for my new fax number and entered in my name and email before I continued to the page that requested my credit card information. Trial or not, credit cards mean commitment and I decided not to pull the trigger just yet and do some more research. Up to this point, there was not a check box (to mark or un-mark) for receipt of future emails from myFax but, since they had my email now, a follow-up from the abandonment process wouldn't be a surprise.

As I thought, a message arrived in my inbox a few hours later as a friendly reminder that it was free to sign-up along with some other points that separate them from the "other guy." The sender was a female persona "Tara" but oddly enough, the image rendered in the communication was male. I wasn't sure if this was the "person" that was sending the sign-up reminder or what. Nonetheless, I can't blame them for trying to close the deal with a follow-up message but this and two other messages from them within 24 hours seemed to be a bit much. I hadn't converted and I'm already getting messages on how to use myFax? Oh, and the subject line read "Colleague, subject line..."


The Resolution
Kudos to myFax following up with an "abandon cart" type of message - striking while the iron is hot is a critical messaging component to win the business when the prospective customer is shopping for this type of "instant service." Here's how I would take a bit of the skunk out of what we received.

• Be upfront about sending a follow-up email, use a check box or inform the registrant that they WILL be getting a future communication if they so choose.

• I don't know the sender "Tara" but since I would surely be familiar with the company name, use it.

• The use of the generic "Colleague" both in the subject line and in the salutation in not personal. If you are not going to use the person's name reconsider the "personalization."

• I perceived the headshot picture to be (should have been) of the person/persona sending the message. There were three unique images used - both male and female - all from Tara.

• Consider the frequency. Even after two messages, as a non--convert, you run a high risk of future communications being reported as SPAM by the recipient. This could pose a deliverability issue for other messages going to your regular customers as well as those you are looking to convert.

Remember, the difference from a skunk to a sweet smelling email program or campaign can be just a matter of tweaking a few critical variables and messaging components. Look at your communications as your recipients would review them.

My pet has no legs.

The Hunt
If I had a nickel for every time I’ve read or heard the word “relevance” when referring to email marketing well, I would have a lot of nickels now wouldn’t I? I’m not staying that this isn’t an issue that doesn’t need to be addressed but it seems to me that this concept of “relevancy” gets more lip service than elbow grease. I get it - times are tough and headcount is down – more with less. We all have to make do with the resources at hand but let’s think through our messaging – you, me, everyone.

The Skunk
Depending on the source and what year you can find a statistic, about 60% of US households own a pet. Dog, cat, spider monkey, I’m not sure about the breakdown of who owns what but that still leaves about 40% of the population that doesn’t own a pet and even more that don’t own one with four legs.

The message below from another one of my favorite retailers missed the “relevancy” mark. I don’t currently own a pet (previous fish owner hence the title of this blog) and I’m pretty sure that this particular retailer doesn’t have any information about me regarding the ownership of pets. Subject line reads – “Shop for your four-legged friends.” Sure, I could potentially be interested in a gift for a friend or family members pooch or puss, but for me this message was quickly disregarded as irrelevant to me.


The Resolution
Pet owners love their pets. Non pet owners, well they probably like your pet but don’t kid yourself. For more impact I would have focused on a few messaging components to really tighten up the relevancy quotient.

• If at all possible, focus on those in your database that have pets (specifically ones with four-legs that can use the products that are available online) either by adding this to data collection during the email acquisition process or surveying your member database.

• “Four-Legged Friends” has a general connotation of being canine or feline. The imagery in the top of the message is focused primarily on man’s best friend. Better to have included imagery for both types of pet owners so that when they are quickly scanning the top of the email they can determine if the message has meaning for them.

If you know your message will be irrelevant or of no interest to some of your recipients, weigh the risks. Opt-outs or SPAM complaints received due to messages that don’t resonate with the recipient are not worth the risk in today’s overcrowded inbox.

Tell me a little about yourself...

The Hunt
OK, I admit it; I'm a sucker for an online survey. I'm not sure if it is the diversion, the "you could win' proposition or simply being able to give my two cents...I love'em. While sorting through my inbox during my morning coffee I was excited to spot a survey from one of my FAVORITE magazines, Bon Appétit - I sure that it needed my immediate attention. Note: The publisher should be happy to know that flipping through every new magazine is a little bit of heaven and I'm usually on their website looking at recipes at least three or four three times a week.

The Skunk
The email was legit and contained all the introductory pleasantries that one would expect in the set-up; "since you are a valued reader," "we value your option” etc. We were off to a great start! The thing about online surveys is that even though it is a fun diversion, not informing me of how long it will take before I click on the survey link doesn’t help me determine if I should start now or save for a time that I'll be able to really focus. I started anyway.

The questions start off as usual and there was even a note on the first survey page that mentions that you don't need to complete the survey to enter the contest? Advancing page after page, I couldn't help think that some sort of progress tracking icon would have helped me determine just how many pages I had left to go. At a certain point, the thought of abandoning the survey or checking any random box was becoming more of an option but I didn't want to offend the survey gods that might perhaps be tracking my progress and retaliate in a next life. About 50 "Nexts" later, I was finished.


The Resolution
I don"t profess to be an expert on how to execute and administer surveys but as an email marketer, I do like to give recipients as much information as possible when I"m requesting some sort of interaction with them. Yes, I completed the full survey but as I got deeper into the questions, it became more of personal test to see if I could make it to the end. Who knows, maybe that was part o the strategy? Be careful with really long surveys, you may compromise the data you are collecting if recipients don't take the time to accurately complete. Here's what I would have done:

• Clearly noted in the initial email about how long that it would take to complete once I start
• Stated if it was possible to leave the survey and pick back up where I left off
• Placed some sort of completion status bar on each page to let me know how far along I was in the process

Incorporating some or all of the points above should be pretty easy to accomplish based on additional copy and making sure you are using the right survey tool for larger surveys. The same set of rules that we apply to setting expectations in email need to be applied those call to actions that we include within in the content; clear, relevant, informative and effective. My best advice with surveys is to take a step back and consider the surveyee. Make sure they know what they are getting themselves into.

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.

More than just Orange Mango Body Gel.

The Hunt
We've all been there, standing in front of the sales person and completing your purchase when you get the question - what's your email address. I get that "deer in headlights" look and think, what am I getting my email inbox into?

The Skunk
Last weekend while doing a little retail therapy, I happened into my local Bath & Body Works. I wasn't looking to purchase anything in particular but started to sniff around anyway. A $30 impulse buy later, I'm giving the sales person my email address right after I forked over my credit card. Let me first start by saying that I'm impressed that my email made it to their distribution list in less than 5 days. With such a big retail footprint however, it would have been a really good idea to make "introductions" first. I’m sure that I am just one of thousands that made their way to their database and starting off on the right foot can be the difference between engaged and indifferent customers when it comes to engaging in their email program.

The Resolution
As retailer go, they get credit for striking while the iron is hot however, they missed an opportunity to welcome me to their email program and give me the lowdown on what and when to expect their marketing messages. In general, collecting email addresses at the point-of-purchase a sure-fire way to grow your database, you just need take a step back from the process and ensure that the customer experience is on track as well. Ask a quick question while checking out, "do you want to receive special offers from us via email?" Yes, I know, the fact that they asked me for my email address makes it kind of obvious that I might be getting a message from them soon but perhaps a better approach is to start off with a thank-you-for-your-purchase communication. Tell me what I’ll be getting from you and how often I can expect to receive messages as well as giving me an opportunity to actually opt-in to the communication.

Nowadays, rapidly growing your database with customers that haven't confirmed an expressed interest to receive messages from you can ultimately have a negative effect on your deliverability. What happens when the auto-enrolled recipient becomes indifferent to your messages? You run the risk of your messages being perceived as SPAM, increasing chance recipients are going to complain, sending your email reputation right down the toilet. Your big list is not so big if no one is actually receiving your messages.

Don't Say the B-Word!

The Hunt
You don't have to talk to many marketers before you hear the word "blast" roll off the tongue - at which point my left eye starts to twitch, my leg starts to shake and expletives begin to fly from my mouth like a raunchy truck driver after too much coffee. Graphic? Yes. True? Pretty close. For those of you that have worked with me, clients, prospects and colleagues alike you know that it has been my personal mission to ban the word "blast" from the email industry forever (much like the hyphen in e-mail, which is gaining success as well). Call me an email snob, but if you are a legitimate marketer the word "blast" should never pass your lips unless you are using it to describe the fun networking event you attended last night. Nothing about your marketing efforts should convey that there is no forethought or planning to your marketing and "blast" does exactly that.

The Skunk
Clearly the skunk here is the awful, five-letter dirty word that has made its way in to the vocabulary of email marketers everywhere --- BLAST. A word that so inherently indicates that we are an industry that doesn't care where our messages land so long as we hit someone with an email address and at least one good eye. One colleague likened it to confetti cannons – blast the confetti cannon and you will be cleaning up the mess for months! It’s not too far from the truth really. Look at this industry, email marketers continue to exist today that believe this is the right approach. Call it what you want, "spray and pray," "batch and blast," it is the behavior that has caused so much consumer distrust in email marketing and years later, we are still cleaning up the mess. It is this same mentality that has caused your friends to call you a SPAMMER after you tell them what you do for a living.

The Resolution
Let’s keep "blast" in the past and move into a new, more intelligent era of email communication where we refer to our email communications as campaign launches or customer email distributions. As professional email marketers we are mindful about message content that contains email "dirty words or phrases" like "free" or "limited time offer." The same consideration needs to be given to how we as marketers refer to what we do on a daily basis. We need to "walk the walk" by removing the word "blast" from our daily vernacular starting now. This will also help educate those internal customers that have a stake in your email marketing as well as making it a little easier for sweet old aunt Margie to better understand what you do.