DATA QUALITY - Anatomy of an Email Inbox 10-9-17

Chicago, Club Industry and Marathon

Back home and into the new week after spending the weekend in Chicago.  I presented my SOUR Email session at the Club Industry Show - a National gathering of people in the health club and health services business.  I was glad to be there and in Chicago and it just so happened that the Chicago Marathon was Sunday.  It was my first time attending and I was completely impressed and awed.  I was fortunate to be staying very close to the course route, so woke up early to see the participants get started on the long run - 26.2 miles.  Impressive!  

What was even more impressive was to see those so much less fortunate than us out there giving it their all.  Whether they were without the use of their limbs or simply without limbs or faculties, they were there participating and competing.  Just the fact they were there and going for it made me feel so inspired by them and their attitudes in life.

While at the conference, I covered much of what I write about in this blog, but one area we discussed was DATA QUALITY.  This is an area that often does not receive enough attention in email marketing.  After all, we are marketers, not IT team members.  I think this is SOUR thinking and as marketers we need to be as much technologist as marketers.  It is our responsibility to communicate and communicate well and that means understanding the data we are using and making sure it is being executed on in the right manner.

I spoke in one of my past blogs about the emails I keep getting addressed to "Jean," my mom's name after I order pet medicine and had it delivered to her house when I was visiting this past summer.  Clearly not a good experience.

Here's the latest one that SOURs me on data quality.  I recently change the home warranty company that I had one of my homes covered under.  I had done my research, signed up for some emails and started evaluating the companies.  

While they were aggressive in following up with me and sending me offers, there was NO personalization and no attempt to understand what I wanted and who I was as a real person and prospect of their company.

I ultimately spoke on the phone with a very nice gentleman who helped me understand the offers and differences between the companies and I purchased the coverage.

Here's the rub:  I ordered my coverage in late September and promptly received my contract and information package in the mail.  However, I continue to receive sales offers every 3-4 days.

So, the problem is their back end ordering system isn't connected to their marketing database and now they continue to try and sell me something I already bought.  I've now unsubscribed, so in addition to the errors, after 90 days, they can't send me any future content emails.  Total missed opportunity because no one appears to be watching their data quality to make sure there is a great customer experience.  Instead they are delivering a SOUR one that irritates me and hurts them.

So, in parting and in keeping with my Marathon weekend, run for the goal line and WIN!

-     Make sure all your teams and databases are connected and talking to each other.
-     Consider how your data is updated and timing of those updates.
-     Perhaps use resting rules to allow for the databases to sync if they are not real time.
-     Audit your communications and paths between prospecting and sales.

PERSONALIZATION - Anatomy of an Email Inbox - SOUR eMail - Oct 3, 2016

Today starts the formal beginning of the next phase for me.  I've never been a prolific writer and am certainly not a pro at it.  But, I am a career marketer with opinions and thoughts and as I decided to go down this new path in my life, I wanted to find something that I was passionate about, could engage with regularly and perhaps would be something that people are interested in.

As a digital marketer since the beginning of the world wide web, I've been developing and deploying email marketing programs and campaigns.  This goes all the way back to the late 1990's when I set up the first ongoing email communications programs for Certified Vacations Group, a now defunct business (a casualty of 9/11 among other things), that operated vacation products for major brands such as Delta Vacations, Continental Airlines Vacations, Marriott Villa Vacations and more.

Our tools back then were not nearly as sophisticated as what we have today and our data and analytics were nowhere near the predictive modeling, triggers and other dynamic tools we routinely use now.  Since then, I've deployed email strategies for home builders, travel partners, restaurants, home services and more using tools like ExactTarget (now a part of SalesForce), Bronto, Market First, Marketo and others.  What really amazes me even after all these years is how poorly we still do with email marketing.  Thus the birth of Sour eMail.  Like sour milk, these things just don't sit right!

So look for my regular posts on the Anatomy of an Email Inbox where I will use my own (and I hope others will begin to submit to me samples of theirs) to showcase the really dumb things we do with email and how we all should endeavor to be better.

I think this is hugely important to all marketers, from the c-suite to those writing copy and deploying these communications.  We all read the statistics on the importance of email marketing.

-  91% of consumers check email on a daily basis
-  people who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more
-  89% of marketers say email is their primary channel for lead generation

The reality is that email marketing well done is powerful and beneficial to the recipients.  BUT, email marketing done poorly is just, well, SOUR eMail.

Anatomy of an Email Inbox

Thoughts for today, October 3, 2016

Personalization

Today's Sample: 18 emails (midnight to 7 am)
Overall Grade: D
Top Performer:  Kohl's - Grade B

When virtually every Email Service Provider (ESP) allows for personalization, why is it that only 1 of the 18 emails that reached my inbox included my first name in the subject line?  Only 4 of the 18 had my first name in the body.of the email.  That means that 78% DID NOT use personalization in their communications with me today.

While no one rates an "A" in today's batch, Kohl's gets top honors for not only including my full name, but my loyalty account information and points balance.

SOUR eMail!

Email statistics show that marketers who use personalization in their subject line see 26% more opens!

We can be better!

This is not a hard thing to do and is worth the time and effort.

Today's Tips to Improve Your Inbox Anatomy and not be a SOUR eMailer:

Insure your sign up forms ask for a first name
Include the first name in the subject line and in the body of your emails

Are you leveraging personalization to win the inbox?

Sources:
OptInMonster
Capterra Blog