Ideal Customer or Worst Nightmare for E-marketers?

Dream Customer

I am female. I’m between the ages of 25-44. As a DINKY, my buying power is pretty decent and I have disposable income. Want some?

For the brands I love (and some I just think are interesting) I sign up for your emails and follow you on Facebook and Twitter. Oh, and did I mention that in the past 30 days I’ve made at least a dozen decisions – many to purchase – about your products and services based SOLEY on the things you sent me electronically? In short, I am your dream customer.

Worst Nightmare

Or am I? Because I work for a digitally-driven marketing company, I know what a good e-mail looks like, and I know best practices when it comes to spoon feeding me information via social media outposts.

If you don’t use these vehicles well, you won’t get my cash and I'll probably gripe about your crappy e-mail to the Lifecycle team here at OMA and ask them why they aren’t in charge of your e-mail strategy. Hibbs hates it when I do that. Worse, if you do something really bad, I will also gripe on Twitter which feeds into my Facebook page and to countless friends and family.

If you do it well, however, your subject line alone can get me to come in to your store for a stupid reusable bag when I spend "Just $10 on Saturday." Thanks to Cost Plus World Market, I now have two of these bags and spent much more than $10 each time (see dozen decisions above), AND I made a special trip that wasn’t planned – for a bag that likely only cost you $.10.

The Right Stuff 

So what does “doing it well” look like for me as a consumer?

Subject Lines are King: Put something in the subject line that will get my attention (Duh, I know, but many of you screw this up and I delete your SALE THIS FRIDAY e-mail because I have no idea what’s on sale, how much is off or why you are yelling at me.) Tell me you have $59 flights and I might pack up and go to Denver for the weekend (another one of the dozen decisions).

Images Can Suck: If I have to download every image before I can see your e-mail message: FAIL. I don’t have time and don’t punish me because my email is on lock down from The Man. This is a perfect example of creative driving marketing. Listen to your interactive guys instead and let strategy trump pretty pictures. Works every time. Cost Plus, you are lucky your subject lines work because this is where you stink. (Love ya!)

Timing is Everything: My dirty little secret - I delete every email that isn’t from a colleague or client and arrives between the time I stop checking my phone at around 10 pm to when I get up around 6 am. Want your email to be the first thing I click? Send it to me after I’ve already settled in at work and had a cup of coffee. Your best bet - between 10 am and 6 pm.

Be True to Your Brand: I want the same experience electronically that I get when I interact in your store or with salespeople. It is this brand loyalty that creates a million zealot customers (read: de-facto marketing people) and they tweet about your huge annual sale, Macy’s, and the fact that the online store prices are amazing. Decision 12 = pretty blue purse with free shipping.

Bottom line, I may not be your target audience if you sell clothes for teenage boys. But, I’d be willing to bet that if I am your demo, you’d like me as a customer. If so, do yourself a favor and find someone to handle your customer lifecycle and social media that knows what the hell they are doing.

Invest in communicating to me on my terms. I promise you, it will pay back ten-fold. 

About the Author: Carol Klimas

Carol Klimas brings a diverse background in both corporate and agency public relations to her position as director of public relations for Off Madison Ave. With a career emphasis on healthcare, business-to-business and technology, Klimas’ work for her current clients includes national media relations, strategic counsel and crisis communications.

View more blog posts from Carol Klimas >

Contact Carol

<< back to blog