Get Personal
Be realistic about the kind of information you collect, because customers do expect you to act on it. Two of the best ways to respond are through e-newsletters and triggered e-mails.

COMPETING FOR CLICKS     E-mail volume in the U.S. may reach more than 2.6 trillion messages in 2007.     54 percent of e-mail users regularly read messages from five or more different companies. — eMarketer’s “E-Mail Marketing: How to Improve ROI”     The average consumer now receives 361 e-mails per week, a 17 percent increase from 2004 to 2005. — DoubleClick’s “Sixth Annual Consumer Email Study”

Opt-in or permission-based e-newsletters can be dynamically personalized by lifestyle and special interests. Advanced programming lets you easily balance company-specific upsell messages with value-added content that reinforces behavior. Cable companies may ask customers about their programming interests; banks may offer financial topics like investment, mortgage and personal finance; hospitals may include a myriad of health categories including those that relate to their centers of excellence.

While e-newsletters may be highly anticipated communications, triggered e-mails have the potential to surprise and delight customers. These e-mails respond to a current customer action or deliver special offers based on past behavior. They take into account where they are in the buying cycle. If a customer hasn’t used a particular service in some time, that can trigger a reminder e-mail. If they just celebrated an anniversary with your company, that can trigger an appreciation e-mail, perhaps with a special gift. If a new product or service is now available that fits their purchase history, that can trigger an introduction or special offer e-mail.

Personalizing the e-mail experience not only breaks through the clutter, it improves results. JupiterResearch reports that companies that personalize their marketing e-mails are 40 percent more likely than those who don’t to have average unique conversion rates of more than 3 percent. Tactics that improve relevance deliver substantially higher improvements in revenue and net profits than do broadcast mailings.

Integrate your campaigns
E-mail also doesn’t have to exist in a silo, separate from your print efforts. A direct and digital marketing combination can pack a powerful one-two punch. In one study, conversion rates were more than two times higher for recipients of direct mail and e-mail than for direct mail alone.

Yet only about 25 to 35 percent of marketers believe that they have figured out how to integrate their direct mail activities with e-mail and Web capabilities (The Direct Marketing Association 2005 Customer Prospecting and Retention Report). Those who do will no doubt have an advantage over their competitors in building customer relationships.

In both mediums, relevancy is impactful, but it has become increasingly critical in the e-channel. It’s how you can differentiate your messages from spam and connect with your customers. Be relevant today, or fall victim to the delete button tomorrow.

In next issue’s DigitalDigest: E-mail essentials for copy, design and format that will improve delivery and readability.