Editorial Articles

Simon Robinson, Marketing and Alliances Director at Responsys, explains how marketers can adapt email campaigns to cater for Gmail and Hotmail's new priority inbox services.

The news that Gmail and Hotmail are launching priority inbox services to auto-filter emails based on importance, may strike fear into the hearts of some marketers. But I would argue that it's a move the industry should welcome.

Both priority inbox services will determine the deliverability of emails based on past online customer behaviours, helping to make them more 'intelligent'. Customers will be able to mark emails as important and, over time, the inbox will 'learn' which emails are deemed as important to individuals depending on factors including sender and subject line. As email continues to be the killer outbound channel of choice for most companies, and inbox sizes continue to grow, I expect to see more email providers follow suit. So marketers need to start preparing if they want to maintain deliverability levels and continue to increase conversion rates.

Priority inboxes will reward marketers who already execute relevant and engaging email campaigns and it's great news for customers who will be relieved of information that is not relevant to them. Ultimately the introduction of priority mail will help marketers to use permission and preferences more effectively. If done right, priority inboxes also have the potential to improve the reputation of direct mail.

Below are some top tips for marketers looking to stay out of the spam box:

Set up preference centres
Encourage customers to share their preferences including email frequency, favourite products and the channels they engage with such as social and mobile. Preferences should inform campaigns by offering customers content relevant to their individual needs and tastes.

Use permissions
Asking a customer's permission to target them with email communications is not just a common courtesy; it's also the law in many countries. Smart marketers will also take the opportunity to ask for a customer’s preferences at the same time they ask for their permission. This will help ensure that the very first email lands in their inbox.

Rendering for mobile devices
Web-based email services such as Gmail and Hotmail are often accessed from smartphones and other mobile devices such as iPads. Ensuring that emails are device-ready and can be read while on the go, is crucial to deliverability. Not every company will have the resources to develop bespoke applications for every device, but adding a 'view on mobile' device with a mobile enabled link is a straight-forward way to ensuring the message is accessible on the move.

Develop customer segmented strategies
Group customers into segments according to preferences, and develop marketing strategies for each group to keep campaigns relevant.

Test and learn
Test priority inboxes to see which emails get through to the customer, and adapt strategies accordingly to boost success rates.

Disengaged groups
Understand why disengaged groups start interacting differently and find out what you need to get them back into the fold.

Priority inboxes present a unique opportunity for marketers to up the ante, gain a competitive edge and be rewarded for best practice. But the changes are not going to exclusively control the emails customers see, and we don't yet know what will be considered as 'priority' thresholds. What we do know is that it's more important than ever to get to know prospects and customers by recording their preferences to boost campaign success rates.

Simon Robinson
Marketing and Alliances Director, Responsys