Who said Email Marketing is dead?
You’re probably like me, receiving tonnes of emails on a daily basis, half of which get deleted straight away, right? Although there are some that catch my eye and get me skimming through. The question is why? Is it because I just can’t resist the brand or is it their clever marketing strategies reeling me in?
Let’s take a look a recent email from Boots and see what they are doing right.
The first tactic I notice is that Boots have personalised the email to me using my first name which is quite an effective way of catching my attention and making me feel like the content could be something of my interest. Postma and Brokke (2002) suggest that personalization can significantly increase click-through rates. I must admit I would be less likely to click delete after seeing my name on the email pretty much straight away.
They have clearly displayed my Boots Advantage Card balance, stating ‘worth of points to spend’ letting me know I have money ‘to spend’ in store and encouraging me to go on to the website.
The email subject line is short and sweet ‘Spring into Summer with Order & Collect’ to engage the consumer. It introduces the new order and collect service along with eye-catching offers such as ‘save up to half price!’ inspiring the consumer to shop immediately.
There is a button saying ‘Get set for summer’ taking you straight to the website and of course, as you hover over the images HTML links appear meaning when clicked they take you straight to the website. They are taking advantage of the fact summer is coming and people are going on holiday and are willing to spend money on toiletries, especially sun-cream (it’s even in the picture!).
Email Marketing might be cheap and practical but is it effective?
A recent study by predictive analytics firm Custora discovered that customer acquisition via email has quadrupled in the last four years and now accounts for 7% of customer acquisitions (Devaney & Stein, 2013).
Even though email marketing is not as glamourous as social media marketing and other forms of marketing, many people believe it is still the most effective type of marketing mainly because it is permission-based. So technically you are not bombarding the consumer with unwanted junk as they have opted-in themselves.
Watch this interesting video on effective email marketing tips! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDk_MkVtD2k
References
Devaney, T. & Stein, T. (2013). Why Email Is Still More Effective Than Social Media Marketing. Available: http://www.forbes.com/sites/capitalonespark/2013/10/01/why-email-is-still-more-effective-than-social-media-marketing/. Last accessed 17th April 2015.
White, T. B., Zahay, D. L., Thorbjørnsen, H., & Shavitt, S. (2008). Getting too personal: Reactance to highly personalized email solicitations. Marketing Letters, 19(1), pp. 39-50.