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2.3 How It Works

Learning Objective

  1. Understand the different types of e-mail and how they are used.

If you consider marketing as communicating with current and potential customers, you will see that every e-mail that is sent from your organization should be considered as part of your holistic e-mail marketing strategy. Does that sound a little complicated? Consider an online retailer, http://www.zappos.com. Zappos is an online shoe retailer. What are the ways that, as a customer, you might receive e-mails from Zappos?

  • Transactional e-mails. When you place an order, there will be a number of e-mails that you receive, from confirmation of your order to notice of shipping. Should you need to return an item, you will no doubt communicate with Zappos via e-mail.
  • Newsletters. These are e-mails that are sent to provide information and keep customers informed. They do not necessarily carry an overt promotion but instead ensure that a customer is in regular contact with the brand. These build relationships and foster trust between customers and their chosen brands.
  • Promotional e-mails. Should Zappos have a summer sale, they will send an e-mail relating directly to that promotion.

The following are examples of other e-mails sent by Zappos:

  • E-mails to suppliers
  • Communication with affiliates

All the communication sent out can be used to convey your marketing message. Every touch point will market the organization. However, here we will focus on commercial e-mails.

There are two types of commercial e-mails:

  1. Promotional e-mailsMore direct and geared at enticing the user to take an immediate action.. These are more direct and are geared at enticing the user to take an immediate action. They always feature a call to action and are designed around a specific goal.
  2. Retention-based e-mailsAlso referred to as newsletters, these may include promotional messages but should be focused on providing information of value to the user, geared at building a long-term relationship with the user.. Also referred to as newsletters, these may include promotional messages but should be focused on providing information of value to the user, geared at building a long-term relationship with the user.

As with all eMarketing activities, careful planning is called for, as is careful testing and evaluating, so as to optimize your revenue. E-mail marketing may be highly cost effective, but the cost of getting it wrong can be very high indeed.

Key Takeaways

  • There are two types of commercial e-mails: promotional e-mails and retention-based e-mails.
  • E-mail can be categorized as follows: transactional e-mails, newsletters, and promotional e-mails.

Exercises

  1. Search through your e-mail in-box. Can you find an example of a newsletter? Of a promotional e-mail? Of a transactional e-mail?
  2. Using an advertiser of your choice, write mock copy that may be used in either a promotion e-mail or a newsletter.
  3. As indicated above, the cost of getting e-mail marketing wrong can be very high. Can you think of an example where that may be the case?