HOTELMARKETING.COM

Successful email marketing: It’s about time

May 29, 2012 | Online Marketing

When making the choice between delivering the right message or delivering at the right time, timely communication wins in email marketing. Here are a few examples.

Purchase confirmation. The goal of a purchase confirmation message is to validate the purchase, reinforce the brand, and open the conversation for additional products and services. Getting the message into the inbox within seconds is critical. With this message, you confirm the purchase, build additional brand equity, and begin a conversation with your customer. Ideally the message is relevant, but that is an optimization approach, not a must-have. Immediate arrival after purchase isn't just important for meeting customer expectations; it also helps avoid a costly customer service call to track down a missing message.

Time zone segmentation. Email marketing teams are always segmenting their customer base. Understanding the customer time zone or best mail time can be as important as knowing whether the customer is a male or female. Getting the message into the inbox at just the right time works, even if the content is junk. AOL proved it long ago. AOL used to send third-party mail but only when its customer was in the AOL inbox. It was no surprise that these pieces of "junk mail" were opened at extraordinary rates. If you're not AOL, you can learn when your customers engage with email by looking at the email activity.

Sales. Of course, delivering messages in conjunction with the beginning of a sales event is a no-brainer. If you are having a time-based promotion, getting the messages into the inbox quick is much more important than tailoring the communication.

Get the full story at ClickZ

Read also "7 biggest mistakes in email marketing" at the American Express Open Forum

Visit our sponsors: