This is the second time today I have had the opportunity to mention a previous post - I hope that doesn't mean I've covered it all now?
Anyway, a while back I mentioned email preference centres and it came up again recently when talking about Unsubscribe surveys.
About two weeks ago, BlueSky factory took the old Burger King slogan "Hold the pickles hold the lettuce special orders don’t upset us, have it your way" and stated that "Email marketing should be this way too" which follows on nicely from their article "I Just Don’t Love You Anymore" published two week before.
They say that "There are several ways to allow your readers to have it their way"
1. When they opt-in
2. By having options on your subscriber preferences page
3. By sending a specific email asking readers to update their preferences
Obviously I am a fan of this concept and so far I think the Clickz preference centre is the best one but BlueSky's article also gives some great examples.
Personally I don't think BlueSky went far enough...
Yes ask them about categories and frequency as early as possible and always allow them to change their minds, always do that but there is more...
In the grand scheme of things you might want to know so much more about them in order target them better. You might - should - be taking your recipients' responses back to your marketing database/warehouse and comparing them with your web analytics, ecommerce etc. etc. Also categories may change and you can't just email people about the new categories until they change their preferences, they might just opt-out.
That kind of information would be one giant survey and no-one will take the time to fill that in unless you are giving them something very expensive for free.
Robin Kennedy calls it "Profiling" and I agree. The key is to ask a bit at a time. Profiling needs to be a gradual thing as you build that trust, that rapport, that dialogue!
Every so often have an underlying theme in a message which would relate to a section of your profiling and include a link to a small form to collect just that information, maybe 3-5 questions with multiple choice predefined answers. Obviously don't start with personal stuff as you have not built enough of a rapport yet.
Alternatively just see if any of your messages relate to part of the profile you are trying to build and stick a link in the message.
Imagine all of your Web-analytics data, ecommerce data, email marketing reporting data, and everything else all query-able from one spot! This is possible and without a great amount of data migration.
If you like the idea give Apteco a shout and ask about Faststats. They might even be at Ad:tech.
It also has full loop integration with Pure360 and it's really pretty too! Don't forget to let them know who referred you either!
Robin told me he has been working with a few companies on profiling strategies for brands through Pure360 and it sounds pretty exiting. You could even ask him about it at Ad:Tech London next week.
Anyway, a while back I mentioned email preference centres and it came up again recently when talking about Unsubscribe surveys.
About two weeks ago, BlueSky factory took the old Burger King slogan "Hold the pickles hold the lettuce special orders don’t upset us, have it your way" and stated that "Email marketing should be this way too" which follows on nicely from their article "I Just Don’t Love You Anymore" published two week before.
They say that "There are several ways to allow your readers to have it their way"
1. When they opt-in
2. By having options on your subscriber preferences page
3. By sending a specific email asking readers to update their preferences
Obviously I am a fan of this concept and so far I think the Clickz preference centre is the best one but BlueSky's article also gives some great examples.
Personally I don't think BlueSky went far enough...
Yes ask them about categories and frequency as early as possible and always allow them to change their minds, always do that but there is more...
In the grand scheme of things you might want to know so much more about them in order target them better. You might - should - be taking your recipients' responses back to your marketing database/warehouse and comparing them with your web analytics, ecommerce etc. etc. Also categories may change and you can't just email people about the new categories until they change their preferences, they might just opt-out.
That kind of information would be one giant survey and no-one will take the time to fill that in unless you are giving them something very expensive for free.
Robin Kennedy calls it "Profiling" and I agree. The key is to ask a bit at a time. Profiling needs to be a gradual thing as you build that trust, that rapport, that dialogue!
Every so often have an underlying theme in a message which would relate to a section of your profiling and include a link to a small form to collect just that information, maybe 3-5 questions with multiple choice predefined answers. Obviously don't start with personal stuff as you have not built enough of a rapport yet.
Alternatively just see if any of your messages relate to part of the profile you are trying to build and stick a link in the message.
Imagine all of your Web-analytics data, ecommerce data, email marketing reporting data, and everything else all query-able from one spot! This is possible and without a great amount of data migration.
If you like the idea give Apteco a shout and ask about Faststats. They might even be at Ad:tech.
It also has full loop integration with Pure360 and it's really pretty too! Don't forget to let them know who referred you either!
Robin told me he has been working with a few companies on profiling strategies for brands through Pure360 and it sounds pretty exiting. You could even ask him about it at Ad:Tech London next week.
