Our Insights

I won’t name names, but last week I handed over my email address and mobile number to a company in exchange for a free trial of a product. It has now been seven days since I signed up and I have received daily emails, two SMSs reminders and two calls about said product. The result? I no longer want to buy it. Worse, I kind of hate the product. Not because it’s rubbish, but because I feel like I’ve been harassed!

The current trend in email and SMS marketing – of upping the communications, to try to cut through the noise and secure that deal – is completely out of hand. It is annoying at best and brand damaging at worst. No one wants an inbox with 100s of promotional emails in it every day. No one wants that many emails from their friends in one day.

Yet here most of us are. It’s overwhelming.

For every sale achieved by upping our emails and SMSs how many other potential customers have been alienated? How many unsubscribes have there been? How many people have been so annoyed they will never buy anything from us again?

Reduce overwhelm, don’t add to it!

At Spinifex, we believe that one of the most important principles in marketing is to respect your customers, and this includes their time.

Assume they are busy people, with competing priorities and that they may need some space to make a decision. Rather than peppering your customers with sales emails and SMSs, give them a little space and provide them with something useful. Start asking yourself how your comms is adding value to their lives and if it isn’t, question whether you should be sending it. It’s obviously ok to have some sales and product related content, but if that’s all you’ve got – time for a rethink.

Here’s some ideas for practicing more respectful email marketing:

• Think quality over quantity: Focus on creating high-quality emails that provide your email readers with something that is useful to them. A tip, a laugh, a great offer.
• Subjects are everything: The right email subject line can do wonders for cutting through the noise, but don’t over promise. There is nothing worse than opening an email to feel disappointed or worse, tricked.
• Segment your audience: Divide your email list into segments based on demographics, interests, or behaviour. This will allow you to send more targeted and relevant messages that will resonate better.
• Limit decisions: While people like options, overdo it with the choices and they won’t make any! Reduce overwhelm, don’t add to it! You’ll get more sales.

By respecting and nurturing your mailing list, you can build stronger relationships and improve your marketing efforts, rather than grabbing a couple of extra sales at the expense of your brand’s reputation.

Every SMS and email we send and call we make is interrupting someone’s day (as well as costing us money). There is no right answer about the exact amount of comms to send, it’s a balancing act, it needs testing, but if you get it right you will swap quick one-off sales for long-term relationships and higher lifetime values.