Finding the Right Balance

We’ve talked a lot about building customer repositories and applying that logic to your marketing; and while this preference information is vital, it MUST be compared to the recipient’s actions and routinely validated throughout the lifecycle.

For instance, when I signed up for emails from an apparel company, they asked me about the dress code at my office. They collected my sizes and send a special email when something new is added to their line or placed on sale. Even though I don’t purchase from each email, I pay attention to them all and take the time to go through their print catalog.

From their perspective, they know that I specified business casual as my office dress code and that I wear a 15.5” shirt but they’ve seen that I only buy casual wear and the last two dress shirts purchased had a 16” neck. Armed with this knowledge, they can begin to incorporate a wider range of options into the specialty emails sent and/ or append my preferences.

A second example is from one of my financial institutions; they know that I have a single account type with them and that I’ve historically declined the offers from the telemarketers (they push one top-tier offer.) However, they also know that I regularly read articles on their lesser publicized services that are included in their newsletters. The newsletter articles are posted on their website and the newsletter recaps the week’s articles… yet I regularly read the articles on the site and then click through again from the weekly newsletter. I was impressed when one of their business development agents called specifically about two of the services I had recently read about, I can only assume he knew about my click throughs.

If your program or CRM isn’t equipped for this level of detail, there is a simple, yet effective way to help determine the right balance of a campaign… ask yourself if the recipient will find the message Relevant, Timely, Significant and if the medium is correct. Evaluating this balance and focusing on the recipient will help you to find the right balance for your program.

The Birthday Email

My kids get cards and phone calls from the dentist on their birthday. It is the one place they really don't like to go, yet this call is something that they have begun to look forward to. Usually, this call is preceded by a birthday card, and includes a coupon to a treat at a local fast food place. Not a voice recording but a real person calling to speak to the kids. Very thoughtful of the dentist's office, and something we all appreciate.

I have two main financial institutions - one which serves as a conduit for my paychecks, the latter is where I save for the future. Both of them know my birthday date, in fact they both know a whole lot more, yet it is a credit union where I have less than $250 that doesn't forget to send me an email and a real card each birthday. The card is personally signed by the branch manager.

A major apparel retailer asks those who sign up for their birthday date. This information is then used to target the recipient with a special promotion during their birthday month. While this is good, it is interesting to note that the open rate on these emails goes from an average of 20% to approximately 60%. The next three emails from this retailer to the 'birthday recipient' leads to open rates of between 35 - 50%. Twenty percent of those who open the special promotion actually redeem it. This makes this particular promotion quite special for the retailer. Now you do have a few people that abuse this by creating a birthday to get a discount, but the retailer counters this by trying to get the recipient to provide some preference information.

A jewelry company asks you for your birth month so they can wish you and also talk to you about your special stone. Remarkably, this has done very well for this company. People are intrigued by their stone and what it all means. They read, they click, and they eventually buy.

A men's clothing company used to give out $10 gift cards on people's birthdays. This is a practice that has since been abandoned, as after much testing we realized that most of the recipients were redeeming up to $10 (only). Also, in split tests we found that it didn't boost overall response. This company has since switched to simply wishing the recipient on their special day. The results are almost the same. Now, if you are a higher tier buyer, you get a real birthday card from this company. This is appreciated and acknowledged in subsequent purchases by the customer.

Do remember, if you ask for a birthday date - please be sure you are going to protect the information. Also, if you ask people for the exact date, please use it as you have created an expectation.

I would like to borrow an approach from a Florida newspaper. They put in your luck for the year as part of their message. I know many people who used to cut that out and keep it in their wallet or purse (for the entire year).

From an email marketers perspective, why not ask for the birthday date - include a little snippet about their annual forecast, thank them for their past business, wish them the best, and introduce them to a special landing page where they can find great deals. Transactional email gives you the opportunity to make things conversational - you ought to leverage it.

So if today is your birthday - here is a little note - There’s plenty of activity this year, traveling near and far. You’ll get lots of practice scheduling and setting priorities. Don’t bet the ranch, you won’t be that lucky, but you should do quite well. Once you learn the game you can achieve your objective. Celebrity birthdays today - Billy Joel, Candice Bergen, & Reagan Taylor.

If nothing else, just wish the recipient - Happy Birthday! It goes a long way in building a relationship.