I recently received a great transactional email to my personal inbox and I thought I would share with everyone. We have written about this type of email in the past, and it’s a great way to add value to your customers after an transaction, but does it have to be so boring?

When was the last time you really dug in to the contents of your Amazon email receipt? Have you ever read anything other than the purchase amount and the shipping date? I will be the first to admit that I haven’t. I purchase things online on a fairly regular basis, and never have I felt compelled to actually read the email. That is until I made a purchase from RoadId.com.

RoadID is a company that specializes in selling identification products to athletes and outdoor enthusiasts to protect them in case of an unfortunate mishap. Very serious stuff, but they don’t let the weight of that bring them down, at least not in their emails!

When I made my purchase I immediately received the customary receipt, and very shortly after I received another email with a thank you and a discount coupon code to pass on to friends. This is a great way to spread awareness of a company or product (and increase sales!), but they took it one step further. The email included a sample email to copy and paste and send to friends, and it actually made me chuckle. Take a look:

SAMPLE EMAIL: Feel free to copy the following text and paste it into a new email to your friends.

**********Begin Sample Email**********
Hey Everyone,

I just ordered one of the best products ever. It’s called a Road ID - perhaps you’ve heard of it. If you haven’t, go to their website and check it out. Road ID is a great product that could save your life someday.

When I ordered, they gave me a coupon that I could pass along to my friends. Here’s the coupon number:

Coupon Number: (Code)

The coupon is good for $1 off any Road ID order placed by 04/18/2008. To order, simply go to RoadID.com or click the link below:

(link)

If you prefer, you can call them at 800-345-6335.

You can thank me later,
Melanie Sims

Oh by the way, their website is awesome, the customer service is outstanding, and the owners are very smart and good looking.

**********END Sample Email**********

There are certainly improvements that can be made to this email. For one it was plain text, and it is always a good idea to send HTML if possible to enhance the design element. But the next time you are composing a transactional email, think about the tone you set. It can really make a difference in engaging the customer!

Do you ever find yourself struggling to find an email that you have saved in your Email Library? Do you have pages and pages of saved emails, creating a hassle when you need to find one? Do you thrive on organization and order?

Many of our clients have answered with a resounded “yes!” for these questions, so we have created a new feature for the Email Library: folders. You can now sort every email that is saved in the library into its own folder, just like in your Outlook or on your computer. This handy tool will allow you to keep similar emails together in an unlimited number of folders.

The days of endless searching in the sea of saved correspondences are behind us!

If you have any questions about this feature, please contact your Account Manager or email Customer Support.

If you are not a current client and you would like more information about this or any feature of Publicaster, please contact us at bsfinfo@blueskyfactory.com or call 866.216.BLUE (2583).

We talk a lot about relevance in marketing, especially in the email marketing realm. The best way to build an email list is to show potential subscribers what you will offer them. The more relevant the content, the most likely they will be to sign up for it. It’s the whole “what’s in it for me?” thing.

Beyond the sign up stage, emails should be kept as relevant as possible for the subscribers to encourage them to keep reading. This is where things can get a little tricky. Without knowing what your subscribers want, how will you give them the most relevant content?

The best way is to use Subscriber Preferences. This gives the recipients full control of the communications they receive, and it’s especially helpful for those who send multiple types of mailings.

One of our most recent clients, Sam’s Wines and Spirits, is a great example of a marketer using technology to enhance relevancy for subscribers. Upon going to their website, there is a simple sign up form which asks for an email address. The next page then lets you know that you will receive a welcome email from them shortly, and that you should click the “Update Your Preferences” link to change individual settings.

When I clicked on my preferences page, I was first met with a description of all of the different types of mailings. This is really key, because it allows the subscriber to get a good idea of what they’re getting into with each different type of mailing.

Next, there were some personal fields to (optionally) fill out or update. This is a great idea if you want to be able to segment based on demographics later on. I then had the option of choosing from a large list of interests, from types of wines to liquor. Lastly, I had the option to add myself to different types of mailings, such as some different newsletters, a mailing about special offers, and an update about their Sam’s Academy program.

Being a lover of wine, I signed up for almost all of them, but the multiple options are a great way to keep the content fresh and relevant for the rest of their list. Kudos to Sam’s Wines and Spirits for their relevancy, and I hope you can put some of these ideas to use in your email marketing!

This week we ran the first in our new series of informative webinars. Each event will cover a topic relating to your email experience.

Our first event was all about deliverability, authentication, and our new Sender Score Monitor program. We had such a great turnout that we will be running an encore presentation on Wednesday, March 26th at 3:30pm EST. We will show you how to:

• See Your Email Campaigns Render Across 17 Email Clients
• Monitor Your Email Delivery across the Major ISP’s
• Get WhiteListed as a Legitimate Email Marketer

Don’t miss out, click here to register!

A comprehensive email marketing program consists of several different communications: promotions, events, special offers, shipping confirmations. While all of these emails are vital to your company, your email newsletters are critical in building relationships with your customers.

When creating an email newsletter, be it daily, weekly, or monthly, it is important to make sure you have relevant content for your audience that is designed to keep them engaged. All of your emails are about your company brand, but your newsletter’s content must connect with your reader. If your content does not positively impact some part of your reader’s life, they will not be interested. When writing your newsletter, it is important to write about relevant and interesting subjects that your audience will appreciate. The more your newsletter is about your subscribers and the more value your articles provide, the longer your audience will stay with you. For more tips on email newsletters, click here.

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