Simon Robinson, Senior Director of Marketing and Alliances, Responsys, EMEA, discusses changes to Hotmail and explains how marketers can keep their emails at the top of the inbox
It’s no surprise that email is one of the most popular channels of communication for marketers. It’s the ultimate outbound channel, with a proven track record of increasing conversion rates and driving customers to other channels, such as mobile, social and web. The fact that it is also inexpensive, interactive and measurable only adds to the appeal. However, with our inboxes being bombarded daily by emails competing for our attention, it’s hardly surprising that Microsoft is altering the way emails are being delivered to Hotmail users, with changes to its email filtering system.
Irrelevant communication is becoming something that we are all too familiar with, so Hotmail is now allowing consumers to eliminate unwanted emails with just one simple click of the mouse, informing companies that they want to opt-out of daily or weekly emails. This is not the first tweak that Hotmail has made to its system. Last year Microsoft introduced a service to help customers prioritise email. There are also plans to add additional levels of intelligence to its SmartScreen service, which will see user behaviour determine the deliverability of messages. For example, if the user adds the sender to the address book or clicks a link within the message, emails from this sender will be delivered to the inbox again. Ultimately, Hotmail is making it tougher for marketers to reach the customer’s inbox.
Tailor your emails to the individual
Marketers looking to retain inbox privileges must adopt their current email campaigns to the individual. Based on Responsys' experience of working with marketers, many struggle to use the customer data that they collect to tailor email content. Recent research analysing the email programmes of the top 50 online retailers revealed that 78 per cent of eTailers do not personalise emails, and struggle to engage customers with dynamic and relevant content. Surprisingly, only eight per cent of retailers target customers according to gender and just 12 per cent make recommendations based on location. As a result, we estimate that just one in ten direct emails will even make it into the inbox.
The news of Hotmail’s changes may have struck fear into the hearts of some marketers, but it’s actually something that we should welcome. The inbox pitfalls for many marketers are usually around a lack of understanding of the customer. These latest changes to Hotmail may make marketers' jobs harder in the short term, but adding another level of intelligence to the existing solution forces marketers to raise their game and increase the relevance and content of emails. It’s also great news for customers, who will be relieved of information that is not relevant to them.
Top tips for effective email engagement
As relevance is crucial to effective and dynamic email marketing, Responsys recommends that marketers struggling to make their emails relevant should learn from the following tips and tricks:
• Separate strategies should be used to target different groups such as engaged or disengaged customers.
• Preference centres should be set up that encourage customers to provide marketers with personal information. This information can then be used to target consumers with specific and engaging content.
• Is your communication timely and engaging? It’s important that customers receive engaging content based on their channel preference, social footprint and purchasing behaviour. With consumers now being far savvier about marketing than they used to be and knowing that marketers constantly collect data about them, marketers have no real excuse to not use personal information to shape relevant and tailored campaigns.
• A cross-channel marketing approach should integrate email. As a ubiquitous channel, email marketing should not be used in isolation. Today’s cross-channel customer expects to be able to access relevant information whenever they want it, through whatever channel they decide to use.
• Keep the interaction going - ask customers to participate in polls and surveys, or provide ratings or reviews for products. If recent interactions with a customer haven’t resulted in conversion or purchase, you can offer special-incentive promotions, or discounts to get them re-engaged
• If a customer has been inactive for a prolonged period of time – hasn’t clicked on links within emails, or taken advantage of special offers it’s worth asking for permission to continue communication.
Marketers definitely shouldn’t feel disheartened when hearing of Hotmail’s recent changes. Email marketing practices are evolving, providing marketers with the opportunity to either sink or swim. It’s now more important than ever for marketers to know their customers, and communication will need to be modeled on a customer’s preferences and past behaviour if it is to be successful.
Some marketers forget the importance of personalisation when it comes to customer engagement, especially in terms of the email channel. If marketers want to ensure their emails are kept at the top of the inbox, consumers need to receive highly tailored content across all the interactive power channels – email, mobile, social, web and display – or else they run the risk of deletion.