MindComet

Don’t Confuse Your Customers

Several months back I signed up to receive email communications from Eyes Lips Face (E.L.F).  Not being a big makeup wearing person, I never paid much attention to their emails but always like to see what brands are up to being an email marketer.  When I started noticing the poor subject lines I began to pay more attention however it was to their overall email marketing campaigns opposed to what they were trying to sell within the emails. 

The main subject lines that caught my attention were subject lines with the words ‘OOPs’ or ‘We’re Sorry’ in them.  There’s something about those emails that makes me want to immediately open them to see what they did wrong and how they apologized to their customers.  However this time, it wasn’t a mistake, that was the subject line followed by something like ‘Sorry Loreal, e.l.f.‘s got you covered’ which still doesn’t make much sense to me but I get it - e.l.f. can offer the same products but less cost than what Loreal can.

I received another email today with ‘We Are Sorry’.  I opened it expecting it to be about a competitor but found out this time, they actually did make a mistake.  However I don’t know what mistake they are referring to because their explanation does not support any previous email I got from them. Subscribers like to have their expectations set, how often they are going to be communicated with, what type of content they can expect and so forth.  To e.l.f, if you are going to use ‘we’re sorry’ and ‘oops’ as part of your overall campaign messages and do end up making a mistake later on down the road, consider using a new subject line that does not include those words or adding a keyword to the email subject line that you goofed up on such as ‘We’re Sorry: Update’.

View Comments

Posted by MindComet on Mar. 31, 2009

Birthday Email Communications

Considering all the spam that arrives in our inboxes today, birthday emails are almost as good as getting an unexpected letter in the mail from a friend or family member.  Although most birthday emails I have seen are tied to some sort of sales offer, they act as a great added touch point between the brand and the customer outside of their regular communications.  Additionally birthday email messages:

• Become anticipated once you see one brand’s birthday message land in your inbox
• Can be used as a marketing/sales tool - $10 off product/service, just for you on your birthday….
• Leverage personalization at its best
• Show a good likelihood that they are going to get opened especially if the subject line contains “Happy Birthday”
• Allows brands to measure a subscriber’s response in regards to relevant and personalized messages vs mass communication
• Allows brands to show their customers that they care, one of the reasons they ask for your birthday upon sign up or on your preferences page

My two favorite birthday emails based on my preferences and the brands I subscribe to are Cold Stone Creamery and Origins.  Cold Stone Creamery gives their customers a free “Love It Creation” aka medium sized cup - come on now, who doesn’t love ice cream while Origins is giving me $10 off my next purchase.  As a repeat customer, I’ll be sure to use it.

Don’t you just want to sign up for your favorite brands email communications now to see what they send you on your birthday?!

View Comments

Posted by MindComet on Sep. 09, 2008