I have been a fan of Southwest Airlines for years. They seem to truly want to please their customers and are always making changes to the way they work to make processes better. Some recent changes that they have made for the better include assigning a boarding range instead of everyone in the boarding group crowding together, taking credit cards for in-flight services, accepting online check-in 24 hours prior to your flight, allowing some pets in the cabin and now improving the post-purchase phase of their email program.

One pet peeve I have had with Southwest in the past is that once I purchased a ticket for a flight online I would get an email confirmation at the point of purchase, but nothing else. My confirmation would then get buried deep in my email inbox. When the time came for my flight and I needed my confirmation number, I would have to go “deep inbox fishing” to find it. This confirmation could be buried under thousands of emails. Now Southwest has changed this process for the better.

Here’s a closer look at what Southwest is doing now:

Read More »

Newsletters and standard promotional messages are by definition more broad in their overall appeal, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t add extra value in the form of relevant informational content.

Looking at three recent messages in my inbox, it’s clear to me that retailers and media companies are not afraid to go the extra mile for their email subscribers. In each of the four examples below, we see how companies are enhancing standard promotions and newsletters by providing further insight and expertise that goes beyond just product display and calls-to-action.

CHEFS Catalog adds a neat little bonus feature to their promotional emails in the form of a related dinner recipe that makes use of the products featured in the email.

By including the “On The Menu” recipe link above-the-fold, CHEFS boldly invites customers to see how their products add value (in the form of delicious food, no less!) to their customers’ kitchens in a practical manner. It’s a great way to explain how a technical cooking product works without getting technical at all – you just show them what they can make with it and tell them how they can do it easily themselves!

Extra kudos to the CHEFS team for making the recipe landing pages insightful as well; once a clicker lands on the recipe page, the landing page links to related cooking products needed to make that particular recipe.

Brooks Brothers takes a similar approach, offering a promotion on their neckties and then coupling that offer with a tutorial on “How to Tie a Tie.”

It’s a simple trick that allows Brooks Brothers to play the role of a friend or informational resource rather than just a vendor of goods. This is a classic “value add” message that goes a long way towards improving customer relationships. I’d also be willing to bet that their knot-tying tutorial micro-site is a great way for Brooks Brothers to introduce their brand to younger potential customers who are looking for a last-minute guide to tying a necktie before the prom.

Read More »

The highly-anticipated 2009 NFL Season is now upon us. With free agency and today’s transient popluation, many fans show their allegiance to specific players rather than teams – and over the past years their loyalties have poured into their fantasy football leagues.

Experian Simmons reviewed data from its Spring 2009 National Consumer Study/National Hispanic Consumer Study to gain insight on Americans who play in fantasy sports leagues. For this report, this consumer is defined as being very or somewhat interested in the NFL and having participated in a sports fantasy league in the last 12 months. Certain trends were uncovered specific to this group, including:

• Fans that work full-time and are employed by others are the Americans most likely to have participated in a fantasy sports league during the last 12 months.
• Those who are most likely to have participated in a fantasy sports league are between the ages of 18 and 44; and close to a third of them are between 25 and 34 years old.
• They are most likely to have never been married.

Read More »

So you or your organization has a Twitter account. Great! But you might have a question or two that needs answering before you can really create synergy between your email program and Twitter.

Here are some common questions email marketers may have about promoting Twitter:

• How do I entice my customers, potential customers and other interested individuals to follow me?
• Is my organization struggling with how to promote our Twitter presence?
• I know that a great way to promote our Twitter account is using email. But what should the email look like?
• What should my email subject line be?
• Should I include an offer? If so, how will the offer work?
• Why would someone want to follow me on Twitter?

These are all valid questions and concerns worth considering before diving into Twitter promotion.

Read More »