Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Inject some life into transactional messages

Working in the email messaging space means I receive more email than the average person, not just from the day to day emails at work, but also various newsletters and services that I've signed up to. As a result, I tend to expect a lot from the emails I receive - all the boxes must be ticked.

Today, most of the transactional emails hitting my inbox (eg. notifications) are still devoid of any branding, let alone any form of marketing message. Companies aren't capitalizing on the valuable marketing opportunities that these emails present.

Make use of the best marketing real-estate

Incorporating marketing offers within your transactional communications provides you with some of the best marketing real estate. Why? Because these are emails that customers are expecting, be it a confirmation email or even an eBill. These emails have the highest open rates, due to the fact that customers are expecting and willing to receive them.

 Filling the massive gap

Transactional messages vary from birthday emails, to invoices, statements and order confirmations, to name but a few. The biggest issue is that these well performing email communications are usually poorly structured, almost never updated and usually not tracked at all.

We have turned email marketing into a science and this science shouldn't be lost on these opportunities. It's not just about including a marketing banner on transactional emails, but also about including marketing offers that are relevant to each customer.

Relevancy means you need to know your customer, so you can identify which products or services are interesting and relevant to them, at the time the operational message is sent. This way, you can provide messaging that is complementary to the operational message, without overpowering the core message. Take a flight confirmation email for example: including great hotel offers is complementary marketing, but including information on other flight options is not. Therefore, profiling and customizing offers is important.
 

The stats say it all

Here are a few stats to give you some indication of the power of these emails:

  • A major travel site generates 45% of its email profits from triggered messages that take up only 3% to 5% of its total message volume.
  • An online specialty-products retailer found that 40% of its email revenue comes from transactional/triggered messages, which take up only 4% of volume.
  • Birthday email messages generate 25 times the revenue as a regular broadcast email for a uniforms retailer.
Source: Email Insider "Triggered Emails: Low Volume, High Returns" (2010)

 So where to from here?

Once you have identified these transactional emails, start incorporating your company's branding, because it's not always about marketing your products, it's also about marketing your brand. Once that is done, start profiling the customer base and adding marketing that is relevant, not only to the message, but also to the customer. Remember that it's not always about the company, but more importantly it's about the customer and meeting their needs.

Mia Papanicolaou
striata.com

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Time to stamp out rising postal costs – go paperless!

There has been a great deal written about the decline of the Post Office, while postage costs in the UK rise to a record high. But precious little comment has been made on the impact this is having on British businesses that rely on this service.

Whilst the average punter on the street remains unconcerned and unaware of the costs involved in posting a letter, businesses have seen a 10% increase in cost and a slow, but steady decline in service as indicated in this article by the BBC. A 5 pence increase may have very little impact on a family sending a few letters a month, but to a company sending 50,000 letters a day this amounts to a whopping £800k a year - straight off the bottom line.

Post office wants to revamp at our cost

In today's economic climate, organisations are looking to reduce overheads in order to remain competitive. Yet, the Post Office implements monumental cost increases designed to prop up an institution that has been steadily failing for years. As a forty-something UK resident I can remember when a first class stamp meant guaranteed next day delivery. Indeed, I can also remember what it was like to be proud of our postal service.

Look at the big picture - if the Post Office is getting an extra £2 million a year from your electricity supplier, it won't be long before that increase hits you, the consumer. It makes one think twice about denying your service provider savings of the cost of a stamp by opting to go paperless – suddenly it's not about the supplier benefitting but in fact, you and me - the consumer.

Going paperless is a win-win for business and consumers alike


The eBilling technology that is available today provides consumers with a superior service to the cleft stick and papyrus, as well as to the Royal Mail. Email delivery of bills, statements, insurance documents is faster, more cost effective and provides better marketing opportunities for billers. Businesses can also benefit from paperless processes by reducing their carbon footprint, improving their service and ultimately reducing costs.

The choice is yours - go paperless and save or allow the post office to chew on your bottom line in a desperate attempt for survival.

Eric Darling
striata.com