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Message Within a Message

Making the most of transactional e-mails

October 2007 By Hallie Mummert
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To get a sense of what role transaction-oriented e-mails can play in a marketing program, let’s look at some relevant statistics. First, the average company sends 23 million e-mails per year, reports Forrester Research. Next, Forrester also contends that more than 90 percent of consumers (and this probably holds true for businesspeople, too) expect to receive order confirmation and shipping confirmation details via e-mail. Now, consider that various sources indicate transactional e-mails consistently achieve the highest open rates of all types of e-mails. Together, these insights bring us to the most powerful metric of all: JupiterResearch has determined that marketers can boost their e-mail marketing revenue by as much as $500,000 annually by including promotional messages in transactional e-mails.

That’s a significant marketing opportunity to be shuffling to the back burner. And yet, e-mail marketing experts note that most companies have yet to tap into the potential of their transaction-based e-mail messages.

“It’s always been the stepchild of commercial e-mail and viewed as a cost center,” says Jeanne Jennings, a Washington, D.C.-based online marketing consultant and publisher of e-mail marketing e-letter The Jennings Report. “But with a little bit of thought and investment, it can become a profit center.”

Developing Your Message Strategy

Like with any customer communication, marketers should start by thinking logically about what kinds of messaging could be shared with customers during transaction follow-ups.

The main categories of data used to develop the right message points consist of purchase history, life cycle and individual interests, says Ryan Deutsch, director of strategic services at StrongMail Systems, a Redwood City, Calif.-based e-mail infrastructure software provider.

The most prevalent type of promotional message in transaction-based e-mails is purchase-based. For example, says Deutsch, someone who buys a digital camera stands a good chance of being interested in a larger memory card for it. Amazon.com, he notes, is exceptional at this type of cross-sell and upsell activity.

On the life-cycle data front, marketers can tailor messages and offers based on simple aspects, such as a customer’s date of birth, or more complicated details, like the customer’s date of acquisition, first order and more, Deutsch explains.

The third category of data that drives message creation—and the most overlooked option, says Deutsch—is profile data. If customers share their favorite hobbies and interests, this information can provide marketers with fantastic opportunities to share educational content that will be of value to their audience.
 

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Hitting the Email Inbox: Protect your sender rep, clean up your e-list and improve design to add dollars to your email marketing ROI Hitting the Email Inbox covers all the bases of email deliverability, including everything from the very basics, to reputation management, as well as coding and design, and...

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PDF FORMAT <i>"Despite news to the contrary — especially from the social media space — reports of the death of email are greatly exaggerated. In fact, as your inboxes most likely show, email is growing and becoming even more sophisticated."</i> -- from <i>The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing</i> It's true. Email marketing is still going strong, and continues to be one of the most important factors in any marketing campaign. From the first six months of 2010 to the first six months of 2011 alone, there was a nearly 21 percent increase in email volume! The average number of emails received per day in the first six months of 2010 was 472, and during the first six months of 2011, the daily average increased to 571. Marketers are having success with their email campaigns and using it more and more. That being the case, your email marketing campaign needs all the attention it can get, and knowing what works and what doesn't is the best way to start. That's where "The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing" comes in. The Guide is brought to you by the email marketing experts at DMIQ and their extensive research into one of the largest email campaign archives in the industry. On top of latest trends, it features 19 best practice chapters from today's email marketing thought leaders. You will learn how to create a relevant email program to nurture leads and drive sales, how to best use call-to-action visuals in your emails, and how to use social email to improve marketing effectiveness. You’ll also learn: • Email Marketing Trends in 2011 • Best Practices in Writing Subject Lines • The Strategy (and Tricks) for Improving Open Rate and Response • 6 Tests to Improve Email Program Results • 5 Best Practices for the Gangbusting Email Campaign • Best Practices for Improving Email Performance • 6 Ways to Make Your Emails Mobile-Ready • Email Branding — The 16 Most Effective Strategies • 11 Best Creative Practices for B-to-B Email Marketing • The Keys to Developing a Successful E-newsletter • How to Determine Your Customers’ Email Content Tolerance • How Email Marketers Can Optimize the Social Media Opportunity • …Just to name a few! This comprehensive report also offers three in-depth case studies, so you can see practical examples of how these methods worked for real-life businesses. "The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing" is an essential tool for any business that ever sends an email. <b><u>100% Money-Back Guarantee</b></u> Your order is risk-free. If you are not completely delighted with “The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing,” notify us within 30 days for a complete credit or refund, no questions asked. <u>About DirectMarketingIQ</u> The Research Division of the Target Marketing Group, DirectMarketingIQ (www.directmarketingiq.com) is the go-to resource for direct marketers. Publishing books, special reports, case study stockpiles and how-to guides, it opens up a new world for those who seek more information, more ideas and more success stories in order to boost their own marketing efforts. DirectMarketingIQ has unparalleled access to direct marketing data - including the world's most complete library of direct mail as well as a growing library of promotional emails across hundreds of categories - and proudly produces content from the most experienced editors and practitioners in the industry. Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to read The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, which is in PDF format. The Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing

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