It was birthday a couple of weeks ago and imagine my surprise when I received a birthday email from a high street store that also operates a mail order catalogue. Well when I say birthday email it wasn’t really a card in the form of an email, but rather a marketing email.
Now it started me thinking about how if you’re going to employ that tactic, the approach you should use. Consumers expect that when they give their information about themselves that it is appropriately by that organisation. Marketers need to think about how the consumer will feel about receiving an email that utilises this information.
Whilst a birthday email might seem appropriate there are a few things that don’t work. Firstly, a birthday email is ok, but not when you’re trying to sell me something. It doesn’t give me a particular warm feeling about the brand. It’s more about you than it is about me. Secondly, the offer of free postage and packaging isn’t particularly strong or appealing to make me want to purchase. Finally, why send me an email on my birthday with the text ‘find the perfect outfit for your special day’, when in fact to take up the offer means I won’t get my ‘perfect outfit for my special day’. As far as I’m aware no home delivery service is that quick that I can order in the morning and get it by the evening (well not on a Saturday in a small village in the countryside).
Why not try the email a week to 10 days in advance, so that I have time to think about my birthday and might be inticed to purchase from you. So the message is, use the information I give appropriately, think about when I might want to receive it so that it allows me to think about your offer and potentially take it up. Then send me a birthday email and not a sales email on my actual birthday.
Jonathan Burston is Sales Director, Customer Solutions Group at CACI. View the full bio here.
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