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Retail e-mails: Treading the fine line between marketing and spam

A retailer's opt-in list is one of its most valuable assets, but reaching out to it too often can result in brand backlash.

April 19, 2010 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

At one time, blogger Gail Rubin voluntarily gave her personal information, including her e-mail address, to the retailers she loved. But over time, as she was repeatedly dunned with "special" offers and discounts, she unsubscribed from them all. "I have dropped e-mails from Cost Plus, 1-800-Flowers, Sears and Victoria's Secret because they never stop coming," she said. "I'm much happier now that I'm not getting their e-mails."

At least those retailers only lost her as an e-mail recipient. Ryan Holota has severed his relationship with several retailers entirely, all because they sent him too much e-mail. "There are retailers with whom I have had really good experiences and who I like shopping at, but because they sent out so many e-mails, I have unsubscribed from their list and now shop elsewhere," he said. "It's too bad, but that's just the way it is."

As budget-strapped companies look for ways to drive revenue, outbound e-mails look more and more attractive: After all, they're practically free, they are instantaneous, and they can significantly move the sales needle.

But they also can create severe brand damage if done too often, or if they don't convey something of value to the recipient.

Crafting an effective outbound e-mail — one that people will actually want to receive

When a retail marketing team gets together to come up with a campaign, all too often the conversation begins from the retailer's point of view — what information can we convey, what sale can we promote, what event can we pitch? Where the conversation needs to begin is with the customer's reaction to that e-mail, according to Eric Groves, senior vice president of e-mail publishing provider Constant Contact.

"Why does some e-mail you receive make you cringe, and some make you excited?" he asked. "For me it all boils down to two simple questions: Do I know you? And do I care?"

He said that on one end of the spectrum you have e-mails coming from an unknown sender — this is the side that is home to full-on spammers — and on the other end you have e-mails that are expected from trusted parties, containing information the recipient will actually want. Unsuccessful retail e-mail campaigns exist too far to the left side that spectrum, and need to focus instead on information that will be helpful to the recipient, specifically information that they do not already have.

"Let's face it, if I joined your e-mail list the right way — with an opt-in — I already know what you sell," he said. "Your job is to teach me why I should buy from you. Sending content that showcases the expertise I will encounter when I choose to do business with you is what engages your readers, has them looking forward to receiving your message, and has them forwarding it to their friends."

For example, an apparel retailer might send out e-mails about fashion trends contrasting this year's styles with last year's. A restaurant could send out cooking tips and recipes from the chef. A grocery store can challenge shoppers to send in funny pictures or stories about interesting uses of the products they purchase. Groves goes so far as to say that if your e-mail does nothing more than push a sale or promotion, it's not worthy of a send.

As far as the frequency of those sends, Groves says to simply ask the user. That's a technique used by Shop It To Me, a personal shopper service that lets users specify exactly how often they want to be "touched." According to company founder Charlie Graham, the frequency of the e-mail interaction tends to be tied to the type and size of products the retailer sells.

"You can get away with sending more e-mails about clothing, since it changes frequently and people need more than one item, than about big-screen TVs, where you may only need one and there is not as much variety," he said.

Justin Premick, education marketing director for outbound e-mail provider AWeber Communications, said retailers need to take two separate approaches to determining send frequency — and they need to do them both.

"Qualitatively, you need to ask yourself how often you can send an e-mail that your subscribers will find more valuable than the time and energy they expend opening, reading and determining what to do with that e-mail," he said. Quantitatively, retailers need to compare the incremental revenue from a send against the incremental cost of finding new subscribers to replace the ones that leave.

Borge Hald is CEO and co-founder of Medallia, which provides enterprise feedback technology for companies like eBay, Sephora, Four Seasons and Gold's Gym — if you've received an e-mail to take a survey or called an 800-number on a receipt, there's a good chance you interacted with Medallia software. He says that most of his clients have internal policies of no more than one marketing touch of any kind per month, and no more than one survey every three months.

"With these general guidelines, customers should receive no more than two to four surveys a year and a maximum of 12 touches of any kind per year," he said. "Anything above this and the general perception is that the retailer is spamming and just wasting the customer's time."

Photo by Jason Rogers.

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