There's one thing to drop a straight email campaign on someone to get them to pay attention. Then, there's saying exactly what you plan on doing and taking the risk of possibly alienating your audience. In this case, it's emailing a new offer for 11 straight days.
WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) sent out a hit this week, informing its readers that every day for the next 11 days, they would send out a new holiday offer. Two days in, it's been discounts off a certain item. The promotion started this Wednesday and will end on 12/15, 10 days before Christmas. Some thoughts and concerns about this approach:
-Do people want to hear from you 11 straight days? At some point, I think they'll become white noise, probably around day 5 or 6 unless the offers increase in value. Other than an RSS update from a blog or daily news update, I can't picture any scenario where I would need or want to hear from someone every day for almost two weeks. Remember about that email trust, eh?
-How many times do they expect people to order? If you bought something on Day 3, would you buy something again on Day 9? I don't think I would and probably would be more inclined to hold back because I just ordered something. The offers are for that day only, however, which forces consumers into a tough spot and you probably guess how that turns out.
-The offers have to be good. So far, I haven't been impressed with the offers two days into the program, 15% and 20% off an item specifically. With a terrible economy and money tight everywhere, retailers have to work extra hard to get attention. They're in my inbox, which is a huge step forward. However, make it worth my while especially if you're touting I'm going to hear from you for the next 11 days. Make it worth your consumer's while to open your email.
Honestly, I would have started this program earlier and made all the daily offers available at the end of the program, perhaps giving an incentive for them to order on the original day it was offered. Seriously, if they buy Monday or at the end of the program, does it matter? They're buying, right? Consumers are way too savvy and educated to not get what they want.
The risk of doing this program - with the potential for unsubscribes and letdown very high - is too much for me to endorse. If I were in front of their marketing/merch personnel, I'd ask the question of what their goals were and come up with some different scenarios based on that. Merch people are a different animal though, especially when they're trying to hit budgets and move product. Always keep your email marketing goals in mind and let that be guide, no matter what department is trying to sneak things through.
So if you're a retailer sending out emails for the holiday, what do you do now?
If you're just thinking about this now, you're a bit too late. We're 20 days out from Christmas and these things have to really be hatched in the early Fall. However, if you're going to try...
-Be spectacular. Talk directly to your audience and do something that will really get them motivated. Make it worth their while and take a gamble. Easier said than done with business these days, but look around: people are being spectacular all the time and making money!
-Be frugal. Would you rather have one person buying a $100 item or 10 people buying $10 items? I'd take the latter because if you hook 'em, they might buy more. Speak to consumers' shrinking wallets and make them feel like ANY business is appreciated.
-Be ready...for Valentine's Day. It's only two months away, you know.
Josh Nason is the principal of NasonMedia, a network of blogs that cover sports, email marketing and personal growth. Connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter and other social networking apps.