SPAM Concerns Limit Loyalty Communication Options

By John Hennessy

ReleMail, a Cody, Wyo. e-mail monitoring and certification service, commissioned a survey on e-mail attitudes. The survey reported that 87% of respondents say they believe that, if they subscribe to an e-mail newsletter, they will be spammed. Not surprisingly, 78% do not always believe companies’ e-mail privacy statements.

“These data point out that people are increasingly skeptical of self-published e-mail privacy policies,” ReleMail founder Mike Adams says.

Moderator’s Comment: Is there a need for a third party to validate privacy policies on behalf of shoppers? Would you subscribe to such a service if it
helped get shoppers to subscribe to your email newsletter?

It’s tough to promote loyalty through any kind of dialogue when your message is ignored. It happens to shoppers when they present loyalty cards with nearly
every purchase and are not provided any unique benefits or acknowledgement in return. It happens to marketers when their messages are deemed noise and ignored.

One way to get through the clutter is to make sure the messages you send are relevant to your audience. Maybe a weekly mailer is too much for some shoppers.
Maybe a daily mailer is right for others.

Content should also be versioned. Families without infants shouldn’t have to skip through offers for diapers. Households with pet allergies shouldn’t get
offers for pet products. Shoppers who have demonstrated fanatic loyalty to a brand shouldn’t receive enticements to cheat on their favorite brand.

John Hennessy – Moderator

BrainTrust

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