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I saw a tweet last week about an email that was sent to subscribing customers of a major retailer. The email promoted products (utility pumps, wet/dry vacs, generators, pressure washers and chainsaws) that will help customers clean up after a storm.
Readers of The Consumerist sounded off on the retailer’s email and thought it was in poor taste and insensitive, especially since the residents of Alabama were devastated by an EF4 tornado just a couple weeks ago.
Whether or not this was intentional is unknown, but my guess is that this was part of the retailer’s overall messaging strategy and in a rotation. Marketers use analytics to effectively target or to exclude their audience to efficiently deliver email marketing messages. In this case, the retailer understood tornado season is early winter to late spring in the South. In the Midwest, tornado season is mid-summer to early fall. It only makes sense to deliver messaging related to storm cleanup around these times. At the same time, given the recent events, marketers should be aware of sensitivities around these topics.
Marketers use email marketing and campaign management tools to deploy campaigns and access robust analytics. These tools allow marketers to effectively message to consumers. The trick for marketers is to create content that is compelling enough for customers to take action.
Often times, when executing an email marketing campaign, marketers tie in a current event to be relevant, and this can be very effective. Email is a personal form of communication (I don’t think the ‘most personal’ statement rings true as compared to social/mobile/phone/etc.) for consumers, and it’s important for marketers to deliver relevant content and compelling messages to break through the clutter.
A lot of planning and research goes into delivering marketing messages and ideas can be born months in advance based on historical data and customer behaviors. Regardless of how much homework marketers do on their customers, they should also consider the impact of sensitive topics and ensure they are agile enough to change messages appropriately to adapt to the market and avoid a negative market perception that gets shared virally across social venues.
