Return On Subscriber – Email Marketing Blog

The economy is bringing the timeless art of coupons back to the forefront.

A few recent statistics:

34% of female consumers are using coupons more frequently today than they were six months ago, & nearly 70% of the 4,500 respondents said they would print and redeem Internet coupon for products they would be interested in purchasing. - Burst Media

Google searches for the term “coupons” last month for the first time surpassed those for “Britney Spears.” – Ad Age

51% of 18-24 year-old shoppers indicate that they would be very likely to use coupons presented to them online – Platform A & IRA

While historically ambivalent to traditional coupons, younger couples are the most likely life-stage group to use online coupons, indicating an opportunity to influence product choices within this segment – Platform A & IRA

Young couples without children are among the respondents most likely to use a coupon they found online, followed by shoppers with younger children – Platform A & IRA

Like it or not, coupons are moving purchases in the current economic climate. Email Marketing provides the unique ability to hyper-target offers to specific subscribers based on past activity and past purchases.  For example, the Burst Media survey found that three-quarters (75.2%) of women ages 35-54 indicated they would print and redeem an Internet coupon, compared to 62.2% of women ages 18-34 and 67.7% of women age 55 and older. Do you have those segments?  Are you using them? (more…)

“1 week only: Free Custom Cover Book”.  Awesome right?  No.  It’s actually a “Buy one Get one Free” offer. Semantics?  No.  Bummer?  Yes! These types of misleading subject lines do more damage to the brand than the subscriber.

Fool me once? Shame on you.  Fool me Twice?  Ask George W. 

Now maybe I misintrepreted this email from Snapfish, but it look like to me it says: “order one, get the second free with Coupon Book108″.  Isn’t that called “Buy One Get One Free”?

This tactic may work in other marketing channels but it’s not going to work in email.  We will find out the true offer the moment we open the email.

Be honest and your audience will trust you.  Trick them and they will stop listening. Or worse, they will unsubscribe.

One of the more frustrating promotion ideas in email marketing to me is the one day deal, as seen below.

There are multiple reasons I don’t agree with this concept. On the top of this list is the fact that most people can’t make it through their inbox in 1 day anymore. This fact has a domino effect on the rest on the conversion opportunity.

If your goal is to get a conversion, don’t start with “Today Only”.  Why?  Because know you might not even get the email opened, as someone might concede the offer as over. (What day is it anyway?)  The date is a very small piece of Inbox landscape. Words like “Hurry!” and “Limited Time” can get the same meaning across without losing subscriber interest.

Another issue here is that this is actually a pretty good subscription offer.  Why not get it into the subject line?  ”All Titles $6.99 for a Limited Time.  Don’t Miss Out!”

So I was a few days late, but clicked through out of curiosity.  The landing page was still intact. This frustrates me because they didn’t stick to their guns and take the offer down.

If you truly have a timely promotion, like a re-release of event tickets, or 1 television to giveaway, by all means go for it. If not, create a great offer and give it a few days to convert.