In this day and age, e-mails have become a necessity in communication for businesses to market themselves easily to their target audience as a form of communications to deliver products and services, increase sales, updates and building a relationship with their audience. Nevertheless, from a perspective of an audience, we receive numerous amount of e-mails daily which can be overwhelming therefore results in many e-mails never to be read; this is why it is vital for businesses to think of an attractive title that would drive the receiver to open the e-mail. On this occasion, I have selected an e-mail that was sent by NHS Blood and Transplant which I occasionally receive e-newsletter from to provide me updates of the latest news as a blood donor. I will critically analyse this e-mail further on. According to Forbes (2016) e-mail marketing is the best way to stay connected to the businesses target audience and to branch out to a larger audience.
NHS Blood and Transplant Newsletter –
The e-mail appears on my feed as a result of being a regular donor of blood; this make me inclined to open the e-mail to see the latest updates within the company and how I am contributing to the cause. This particular e-mail is personalised towards me and it is a informative e-mail telling me about when my next donation date would be, alongside links to landing pages for more information about the organisation.
Ellis-Chadwick and Doherty (2012) suggested that the subject line is the most important aspect of an e-mail, as if it fails to entice the user in then that user is less likely to open the e-mail. As soon as I open the e-mail it is instantly welcoming with a large picture of two people talking to each other after having donated blood; along with a large bold title in red saying “We look forward to seeing you!” which makes the whole e-mail inviting as it is aimed directly to me. It then continues to say “Dear Harry” alongside my appointment time and location in bold, for when I will next be giving blood to make the e-mail clear that its personalised to me and has not been sent out as a systematic e-mail.
The design of the e-mail is simple but effective as the use of a large image as soon as you open the e-mail is inticing to continue reading to find out more.
E-mail Critique
Positives:
- The e-mail is capivating as its use of images is very smart in being placed right at the top of the e-mail so its the first thing that I see. Alongside these images the use of bold text and a vibrate red colour scheme makes the e-mail inticing to its audience.
- Very informative as around the newsletter there are small bit of statistics such as “Over 25% of us requires blood at least once in our lifetime” which is a bold statisitc to make people turn up to their donation appointment.
- Good number of call to actions which link to a landing page that allows the reader to get more information on the chosen link they selected.
Negatives:
- The e-mail itself lacks information about giving blood; even with links to pages about the giving blood, the actually newsletter itself lacks information.
- The call-to-action pages should be more specialised towards how donation of blood benefits people instead of asking whether or not I can give blood as the e-mail has been sent because they have given me an appointment as I have donated in the past.
- More information on the newsletter about the benefits and implications of given blood should be highlighted instead of links to have to find out more information myself.
Call To Action (CTA)
Landing Page
The e-mail contains a couple call-to-actions where the user will be able to access a landing page by clicking on the link in the e-mail to gather more information; seen in the image below by clicking on “Read more” the click will direct you to a landing page that offers more information on what you was previously reading. In this case the landing page was giving more information about who can give blood and whether I was able to donate. I felt this was unnecessary as I already have given blood previously and this e-mail was giving me an appointment so they already knew I could give blood.
This landing page in particular had very little personalistion as I already donate blood so there would be no need for me to find out whether I can or not and to register to donate. I believe the call-to-action could be better by having an link to an informative landing page about the benefits giving blood has and also the implications on what would happen if people did not donate.
Takeaway
As derived from this blood donor e-newsletter from a psychological marketing point, the e-newsletter shows strong e-mail marketing strategic skill as a receiver I have found it ticked many criterias to gage the audience to open the e-mail. Moreover titling ‘We Look Forward To Seeing You Soon!’ highlights the emphasis of personalisation and intergrity in the e-mail. It almost gives the sense, NHS is directly talking to me and appreciate my blood donation.
References
Forbes (2016) 7 email marketing tips for marketers. [Online] < http://www.forbes.com/sites/ajagrawal/2016/07/31/7-email-marketing-tips-for-marketers/#111d74f82d2f > [Accessed 02 November 2016]
