Email marketing

What email marketing means

Email marketing is addressing customers and prospects directly by email. The essential difference from social networks and search engines lies in ownership: the address list belongs to the shop. No provider can change the reach, no rule change takes access away. That makes the channel the most stable one a shop has.

Which kinds of message carry

Four kinds are common. The first is the welcome message after signing up, which confirms the contact and delivers a first benefit. The second is the newsletter with content and offers on a steady rhythm. The third are triggered messages reacting to a behaviour, such as a reminder about an abandoned basket or a note shortly before an offer expires. The fourth is customer care, such as information on an order status or a note about matching consumables.

Triggered messages usually achieve the best effect, because they arrive at the right moment and have a concrete occasion. They are also the only ones that work without ongoing editorial effort.

What the law requires

• Explicit consent: advertising by email needs an opt in. A pre ticked box is not consent.
• Provability: time, content and origin of the consent have to be recorded. Without proof the consent counts as not given in a dispute.
• Unsubscribe: every message needs a simple way to unsubscribe, and the unsubscribe has to take effect immediately.
• Sender identification: sender and occasion have to be recognisable without opening the message.

An exception exists for existing customers with own, similar offers. It allows contact without fresh consent but requires information when the address is collected and a note with every use. That exception has to be read narrowly and does not replace the unsubscribe option.

Where the effect fails

The first reason is the list. A bought list or one never cleaned over years leads to many complaints, and complaints are the figure on which deliverability depends. Anyone regularly removing inactive addresses improves delivery for all the others.

The second reason is the rhythm. Anyone sending weekly without anything to say loses readers. Anyone sending twice a year is no longer recognised. The third reason is the content: a message consisting only of a discount trains readers to wait for the next one.

How success is judged

Three connected values are telling: the delivery rate, the open rate and the number of orders from the send. The open rate is unreliable, because many programs block images and only estimate opens. More solid is revenue per sent message, because it summarises all effects, including those that cannot be measured.

Frequent questions

• How often should I send? As often as there is an occasion. A steady rhythm beats irregular bursts.
• Do I need a dedicated tool? Yes. Bulk sending and unsubscribing carry requirements a normal mail address does not meet.
• Can I use addresses from orders? Only within the existing customer exception and only for similar offers.