(8 May 2008 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: When companies use email as a marketing tool, they use the blast technique to send it to as many people as possible.

However to be successful, one must adopt the value approach especially in a hostile enviroment when people want their governments to take action against spam. Being relevant is key to email marketing.

Epsilon International senior VP, MD Asia Pacific Dominic Powers spoke about how email marketing if used properly can be a potent tool. The company has a transparent RoI system in place. If messages are relevant, then the user's inbox will grant permission. If Blast technique is used, then many mails will not even reach the junk box.

In a survey that was done by the company in India earlier this year while one third of net users have anti spam technology for email, two thirds tend to respond if the message is relevant. The best time for checking the emails is between 9-11 am and 9-11 pm.

Powers gave the example of an airline company abroad who is a client of Epsilon. The airline has one million members and through email marketing, it made a profit of $6 million. Each week relevant messages were sent to the user informing him/her about the best ticket rates from his city.

Web analytics should be used by companies in their email programmes. Integrating site analytrics into your email platform can drive more profitability from your email marketing programme.

"Analytics data is especially useful to create segments based on customers behaviour ion your site. Analytics helps companies gain insight by what has not been purchased besides what has been bought. Analytics can help marketers understand which products and categories are frequently abandoned by customers. These non completed purchases can be followed up with an email," said Powers.

At the same time marketers must keep in mind that customers do not like being followed. So the rules of notice, choice and access have to be followed. In terms of how many emails need to be sent, the one shoe fits all approach does not work as it leaves behind potential revenue. An airline found that their most profitable flyers responded most when they got emails frequently. An appropriate value also has to be offered with each interaction. The first step is to ask customers how often they want to receive newsletters. A sample version needs to be given so that they understand its full value and what they can expect.

The quality of the copy is also key. This is important as many ISPs block images leaving only the copy to be read. In doing email campaigns, marketers should take cues from the print and broadcast campaigns so that the brand is represented in a consistent manner. Marketers should also use the learnings from search marketing and social computing to improve their emails. Profitable keywords, user driven feedback and vernacular language should be incorporated. At the same time companies should also test using successful email copy into search campaigns.

In terms of getting consumers to share personal information, companies have to stick to their privacy commitments. Companies also have to explain that the more information consumers part with, the more relevant and valuable the offers will be. Relavant communication will make consumers comfortable in sharing personal infromation which the company could then use to create more focussed, targeted campaigns.

Customers who are comfortable with parting with personal information also forward mails to their friends. Most of them also make offline purchases after seeing a relevant email.