Email marketing "should not be automatic"

Businesses should be managing their transaction email just like any other part of their promotional campaign, says an industry insider.

Email marketing that is sent out after a transaction takes place "should not be automatic", according to an industry insider.

Shera Shrago, senior manager at Interactive Marketing, told Marketing Sherpa that analysing and redesigning the page can make a difference to how successful the email is in attracting repeat customers.

She suggested adding more graphics and removing unnecessary text to make each part stand out more.

Ms Shrago also claimed that it is important to take a look at the repeat purchase discount offer within a marketing email and make sure it is noticeable and that the customer has to clickthrough to benefit, rather than just write down a promotional code.

"The marketing in there should not be automatic. We needed to manage it as a program, just as we would any promotional campaign," she explained to the website.

With regards to the use of promotional codes, she pointed out that they can be hijacked by users and shared with a lot of people when they are only intended to be for repeat users.

Recently, Michael McCathren told Marketing Sherpa that the key to advertising through emails is to encourage people to interact. 29/09/2009