REPORTING

8.3 Email as a medium for marketing messages

In this section, we look at the use of email for marketing purposes where the
email is not a direct marketing message – sometimes referred to as: email marketing
automation. The inclusion of this subject as a distinct section of this chapter might
surprise some. However, it is an extremely important aspect of digital marketing and it is
also one that is too often forgotten by even the most experienced marketers.
Offline, it is common practice that any contact with a customer – via any of the
various touch points – is carefully prepared, as even the smallest of communiqué will
play a part in any relationship-building or CRM strategy. Online, however, it is common
practice for emails – particularly those that are automated responses, sometimes called
triggered emails – to be sent to customers with no consideration of how their content
might impact on the marketing efforts of the organization. Worse still, many emails are
written by non-marketing staff – who might write in such a way that a relationship can
actually be damaged by the message’s presentation. Furthermore, such emails do not
need to be customer oriented (i.e. serve a sales, service or marketing purpose, often
dubbed transactional emails) – any email sent by human resources (to a prospective
employee, for example), finance (an invoice reminder) or procurement (a purchase
order) represents the organization and so can be seen as an element of brand building.
In these latter examples, it is likely that the staff can be trusted to write the
content, but email design and presentation should be managed for appearance and
deliverability by email marketing specialists – with best practice being the provision of
email templates. It is also worth noting that communications do not need to be initiated
by the organization. As with the examples above, the outgoing email might be in
response to an enquiry from a customer or member of the public. Again, the content of
the reply should be scripted by an appropriate member of staff and the design template
(e.g. font, colour) and presentation (style of salutation and sign off) of the email should
follow a corporate model.
Practical Insight
Legalese or anti-relationship marketing?
It is now the norm for emails sent by any organization to carry a disclaimer as a footer.
The practice has sound legal foundations – it is to cover the organization in the event of
an employee making libellous or inaccurate remarks that are not supported by the
organization.
However, as a marketer, I find the practice questionable. Any relationship-oriented
message should be written in a tone that helps build that relationship. To throw in a
legal disclaimer at the end simply destroys the nature of the message. As an example, I
once made an email enquiry about the availability of a product. The reply was personal,
informal (in response to my signing the original message Alan), well presented and
informative – and it prompted me to pursue a purchase. However, at the foot of the
email was the legal message that had a word count that was four times that of the
actual message. It also told me that I could not pass on the contents of the message to
anyone else. That meant that – legally – I could not pass on details of the product or its
price and availability to any friends or colleagues who might also go out and buy it. I
don’t think that is what the product’s marketers would have wished.
People who serve us in retail outlets do not start – or end – their sales pitch with us with
a legal disclaimer about what they might say, or have said. If we don’t do it offline –
where it would be considered a sales-killer – why do we do it online?
If there absolutely has to be some kind of disclaimer, get the legal department to make it
as brief as possible – or just employ people who can be trusted not to put inappropriate
content in an email.
Footnote: I have not named the organization in my example above – according to their
legal message, I would be committing some kind of offence to do so.

The list of types of email communications that have the potential to either impact on the
brand or carry a marketing message includes – but is not limited to – the following:
● Welcome message – if a user has registered with you for any reason – be that simply
to access your site or make a purchase – an email can be sent to welcome them to your
organization, brand or product. This can be simply a polite hello or it might include a
generic marketing message or a promotion that is specifically aimed at new registrants.
● Order confirmation – the email that says your order has been received. It is essential
in terms of credibility in that the customer needs to know the status of their order
submission (i.e. did the website’s purchase process work when I clicked on buy?). It is
also an opportunity to thank the customer for their business. Although there is little
scope for a sales-related message on these (those suitable should have been delivered
during the buying process), there is an opportunity for relationship-building with the use
of a carefully composed pleasantry. For example, Santa thanks you for your order; it’s
less for him to carry down the chimney on an order that is obviously a Christmas gift.

GO ONLINE
The boxes are ticked – but where is the fairy dust?
Follow the link from the chapter’s web page to see how one organization was very
efficient with its post-order emails … but missed an opportunity to engage with its
customers.
After you have read it, have a go at writing a message from the fairies.