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Our statement that the use of
email newsletters is the single most effective way
for retailers to develop long term relationships
with their customers merits further comment. A-Z
Media believes that email newsletters should form
the foundation of an effective customer loyalty
program. All retailers want repeat business, all
want past customers to think of them first whenever
they have a home furnishings need. Retailers want
their customers to come back into the store year
after year and to be customers for life.
This requires long range thinking and consistent
communication on a personal level from the retailer.
We know that since there is great turnover in sales
staffs it is not realistic to expect individual
sales people to keep up the relationship with the
customer. Thus this task must be accomplished by the
company. We know that customers who feel comfortable
being in the store and have a favorable opinion of
the retailer are likely to buy again.
At the present time, few home furnishings retailers
have been astute enough to discover the power of
email newsletters. Many retailers are emailing
promotional pieces frequently but the use of
informative newsletters is in its infancy. In this
competitive business environment, it is hard to get
away from the desire to continue to ring the bell of
low prices/high values as is done in TV and print
advertising. These home furnishings retailers are
rarely able to get away from a purely promotional
approach to the public. Much of the email marketing
being done today continues to exude the hard hitting
nature of standard furniture advertising.
It is important to understand that more than any
other medium email is personal to the recipient. As
a result, we have an opportunity to use it in a
different way than standard media and to take
advantage of its unique properties. When an email
lands in a recipient’s Inbox it is in her personal
space, a space that most people want to protect. If
email is perceived as invasive to privacy it may be
ignored, loathed and if the option is available, the
recipient may opt out (unsubscribes). Federal law
requires that all business to consumer email
marketing allow the option to unsubscribe from
receiving future email.
Once unsubscribed the sender is prohibited from
sending subsequent email. Even in the case where the
recipient may want to subscribe again, doing so is
widely considered unethical. As a result, A-Z Media
recommends that all email marketing start from the
base of a newsletter that emphasizes sharing of
valuable information that will be of benefit to the
recipient. This is a much softer approach that
establishes a feeling of trust and confidence
between the sender and the recipient. Then when
promotion emails come from the sender, or when the
sender includes promotional information in the
newsletters the feeling is that there is benefit to
be gained by opening the communication. In this case
it is unlikely that the recipient will experience a
feeling of invasion of privacy and is not likely to
unsubscribe.
There are some additional benefits to this approach.
One is that it is highly unlikely that a consumer
will accept newsletters from more than one home
furnishings retailer. So once the customer has
subscribed to your newsletter she is unlikely to
change. A second benefit is that although
competitors can find out what you are sending out,
there is no way for them the measure the reach,
impact or results of your message through email.
Thus email falls into what we might call the stealth
or guerrilla marketing realm. For all the reasons
noted above, A-Z Media believes that no retailer can
afford to miss the opportunity of using email
newsletters as part of its marketing mix.
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