Will the launch of "De-Mail" drive paperless adoption in Germany and beyond?

Now that Deutsche Telekom has finally moved government-certified secure digital mail solution, De-Mail, from pilot to launch, I predict Germany will see an uptick in consumer acceptance of paperless communications. You know the old saying… a rising tide lifts all boats.

Competition to De-Mail (the solution) is already on the market: DHL Deutsche E-Postbrief, which is compliant with De-Mail, has seen underwhelming user adoption, with analysts citing cost and inconvenience as barriers to adoption.

The specifics of E-Postbrief:

1. Costs around €0.55 per document that is sent


2. Challenges users to onboard vis-a-vis an unwieldy registration process requiring them to obtain a unique email address AND to register with government-issued ID (exactly the same for the De-Mail solution)


3. Has, until now*, included separate encryption and signature options

Most German consumers are customers of either Deutche Post or Deutsche Telekom, but will they use either of the De-Mail compliant solutions?

Probably not. De-Mail and E-Postbrief are secure point-to-point communication solutions that require sign-up by both sender and recipient, using government-issued identification and a completely new email address.

If you are wondering who would actually use such a solution, think “C2B” – consumer to business such as a note to your lawyer, a dispute with your telco.

So, whilst actual volumes will probably be slim, the market itself is slowly becoming educated and accepting of paperless communication.

'PUSH' methodology is ideal for B2B & B2C

For B2B and B2C eDocument Delivery - where outbound volumes are massive, especially eBilling and eInvoicing – a much simpler approach is needed. Onboarding is an intuitive “path-of-least-resistance process" and regular usage requires no initiative.

A highly secure “PUSH” methodology yields user adoption results two to three times higher than average, across industries and regions. “PUSH” sends secure document by email and protects the confidential information by encrypting the document and applying a “shared secret” password to open it. It’s easy to use, aligned with customer preferences, and gets results.

(See my earlier blog post “Innovation Inside – Email on the Edge” for more on the importance of intuitive, path-of-least-resistance methodologies for effective onboarding.)

Our highly secure 'PUSH' methodology drives significant user adoption results, we’re happy to share our success stories with you.

* Interestingly, DHL Deutsche Post spokesman Alexander Edenhofer has just announced that, starting next month, separate encryption and signature options will be removed from E-Postbrief, because Deutsche Post now believed that the platform itself meets the De-Mail protocol’s requirements for transmitting legal documents electronically. So, most likely, prices will also be lowered soon, in order to be competitive with De-Mails price tag of €0 .39 per message.

Keira Holland
striata.com

Send Birthday emails to customers - your gift is a great ROI

It’s been a month since my birthday, so my mobile phone and email inbox are no longer flooded with all sorts of well wishes and social birthday notifications. While I am grateful the number of emails in my inbox has been hugely reduced - I have to admit, I miss the attention and the surprise of suddenly coming across an email that celebrates a date so special to me.

As an email marketer, I know that birthday emails are triggered, event based communications. They’re a good opportunity to encourage customers to go in store, click through to the website or update their details.

It is however important to keep in mind that the end goal is to create valuable, long-term relationships with customers. A birthday wish from a friend who understands me and knows what’s important to me is priceless and this is what any good birthday email campaign should aspire to achieve.

With my wedding fast approaching, the birthday email that I got most excited about was one from a wedding planning website - “Happy Birthday, your last as a single woman…” This was easy to execute, as the sign-up required both birth and wedding date. It made such an impression that I referred all my friends to the site.

*My top tip: Create a Birthday Email Experience that takes advantage of marketing and cross selling opportunities but most importantly connects and relates to the customer on a 'real' level.

Birthday emails do have the potential to generate a high ROI with relatively low effort – especially if the program is properly set up, tested and automated. On average, Birthday emails have a 300% higher open rate and 100% higher click-through rate*.

*Source: Experian, the birthday and anniversary report

4 Ways to build a great Birthday email:

1. Set up your data collection with triggers in mind:

   Birthday emails are a great way to launch a customer lifecycle communication programme. Birth dates are easy to include in sign-up or opt-in forms.

2. Get the timing right:

   Ensure that the data is correctly captured and send the email on your customer’s actual birthday. A friend would never forget my birthday or wish me the day before. I have never said "Happy Birthday month” to a friend either, but if your communication is based on birthday month, perhaps a birthday email series is more appropriate.
   
   In addition to the actual birthday email, triggers in the series could be:

It’s almost your birthday – here’s what to look forward to or specials during this month Birthday wish list – pick your favourite products or services and send your friends an email wish list Reminder to redeem vouchers/discounts

1. Be specific in your subject Line:

   Be clear; include “Birthday” in the subject line, as this is likely to increase the open rate.
   
   For these emails, personalisation is important. It indicates that the relationship with your customer already exists. Personalising the subject line makes subscribers feel valued.
   
   Using special characters in subject lines is popular at the moment and Birthday emails present a nice opportunity to play with symbols in the subject line - being bold and celebratory will help these emails stand out in a crowded inbox. If your campaign includes a giveaway or discount, ensure you mention this in the subject line.

2. Think about the design & how your email will be used:

   It is of utmost importance to design birthday emails for mobile devices. If you include a voucher code or redeemable voucher, the customer is likely to take their mobile device in-store. Add to the convenience by designing appropriately so it renders well and think about including functionality that enables customer to send the code to their preferred mobile device.
   
   Use design to celebrate with fun, festive images, bold colours and perhaps even an animated gif for impact. Animated gifs are not supported by all email clients, it will look great for those that do support it and for those that don’t, you could still allude to the animation by including a hint in the pre-header. “Go online to view the animation” or “Go online and unwrap” Don’t forget the fundamentals of email design, the discount, voucher number or offer - these should all be clear and readable without the use of images (as should any call to action).
   
   Below is an example of a well designed email (in my opinion) from Philips. All the copy, including the voucher code can be read without having to download any images. The call to action is clear and easy to spot. The email is not cluttered, it’s simple and the use of colourful images makes the email feel fun and celebratory.

Lifecycle communications (such as birthday messages) that are personalized and triggered on a special date or event are an important component in engaging customers and increasing loyalty to your brand.

Get in touch with one of our email marketing experts and get it right.

Sheryl-Lynn Collins 
striata.com

6 Ways to measure customer satisfaction

I recently leased a car and a few days later I received a customer satisfaction survey via email, which I duly completed. My feedback was less than stellar. While the sales and delivery process was fine, I had to go back into the dealership TWICE to re-sign the lease agreement after they discovered errors in their contract.

A day after submitting the survey the General Manager of the dealership called me to say he was very disappointed with my feedback. He told me that his staff is incentivized based on 5-star satisfaction ratings. I was asked to rather contact them directly in future if anything ever goes wrong. This begs the question: what’s the point of the customer satisfaction survey if they only want to hear positive feedback?

ALL feedback is necessary and we’re ALL responsible for customer satisfaction.

Whether you’re in finance, billing, marketing, customer service, sales or operations, it’s essential to ensure that everyone is aligned to positively impact the customer. Even if you never come into contact with customers directly, it all bubbles to the surface.

Turn the negative into a positive

Nobody wants to hear that customers are unhappy, but in today’s world of social media, blogs and increased competition, a negative satisfaction rating can spread like wild fire. You need to know how your customers feel about you – and the sooner, the better! By dealing with negative comments efficiently you will have the opportunity to win back their trust.

6 Ways to measure customer satisfaction

1. Send out a customer survey across a range of media so that you get a good cross-section of customers


2. Make sure the questions are not loaded in favor of what you want to hear


3. Don’t offer customers a neutral option – i.e. have a rating scale of 1-4 rather than 1-5 so that people can’t sit on the fence and choose a rating of 3


4. Consider including a monthly poll on your website and in any eBills or marketing emails you send out – this increases the dialog with your customers and makes them feel like they have a voice


5. Plan to take action based on the feedback


6. Use the results to improve customer service and actively track the progress over time

A key measurement of satisfaction is “will customers proactively recommend you?”

You’re not going to please all customers all of the time, but aim to correct any areas that are performing below expectations. Send out a newsletter highlighting the results of the survey, including where you did well, but also confirming your commitment to improve in certain areas. Customers appreciate that you take their opinions seriously.

Speak to us for best practices on collecting customer satisfaction data – from full length surveys to snap polls.

Barrie Arnold
striata.com