Open my inbox...delete, delete, delete
I have a problem… I am filled with wanderlust. All day, whilst apparently working, I am in fact planning and working out exactly which part of the world I would like to see and explore next.
Every year I spend a small fortune on far flung travel. Yet every time I get an e-mail from a travel company, all it does is throw as many offers per square inch as possible at me.
Now I, as a marketer, know that unfortunately the old ploy of throwing enough of a certain substance at people will ensure that some of it sticks – particularly when it costs so little to throw out e-mails.
The thing is that really the cost is huge. Maybe not in broadcasting, but in people getting bored! After looking through yet another list of offers that I know I am not going to take up today, I stop bothering and stop even opening the e-mails.
Yes, when I am in the market, I might reach for the offer laden e-mail, but the travel company that is going to get my real long-term travel business is the one that engages me. I want to read about where I am going.
After I have booked I would like e-mails sent through every now and again to get me excited about my upcoming trip. I want recommendations on the type of music, food or entertainment I can expect.
Give me links to Amazon CDs and books on the place, give me pictures of the bizarre sights I will see or the golden beaches, at least acknowledge you know where I am going and when! In fact give me anything but another load of special offers, just like those released from every other online travel agent at the same time every week!!
Gavin Sinden, director of digital marketing specialists Incepta Online.
2 comments:
Great post! It's been a bugbear of mine for some time that whenever I buy something online (travel or not) the vendor seems to forget what I bought very quickly.
Value add to newsletters has got to be a must. I'm with the majority who delete most as soon as they arrive. And users won't be fooled forever by masking what is actually just another offer lead newsletter by trying to be humorous/tacky or too wordy/clever.
This reminds me of the time I bought a compilation album off Amazon and received an email from them saying:
"Hi, I see you just bought an ablum by "Various". Other people who bought albums by "Various" also bought: Now That's What I Call Music 52."
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