E-mail or e-fail?

Edit* a lot of emails end up in the junk folder, how can businesses avoid this?

Browsing my inbox 80% of emails are from businesses that I’ve given my email address. Yes I’ve agreed to being harassed with online offers. Most of the time i did it in exchange for ‘$10 off’ or ‘20% off your first order’. The effort of unsubscribing is almost more effort that just deleting the emails from my inbox.

3 hours of my junk inbox

So is it effective? Or should businesses avoid sending emails that anger their customers? Research shows email marketing is one of the top three channels driving sales, accounting for 15% of total sales. Not only can we keep customers loyal through emails but we can also acquire them, with customer acquisition quadrupling over the last 4 years.

‘20% off all items online tonight’

There are five different types of emails that businesses can engage in. These include transaction emails, which would include things like account confirmation and cart abandonment. This suggests a purpose for the business to be contacting you. Secondly, Promotional emails. Like the one pictured above, they want to offer you a one night only special offer, just for you. Thirdly, Content, this might involve a blog post or newsletter they’ve released. Number four is rewards, the aim of this is to keep you loyal and give something back to you for putting up with their constant need to communicate with you. Finally, triggered emails. These are the classic, Happy birthday Tayler! Enjoy a free Boost on us!

Transactional email – order confirmation

For me, emails are just a part of everyday deletion of junk mail. Occasionally an offer will line up with a purchase intention and ill take the 20% off opportunity. Birthday emails are in my opinion are the easiest to put up with. However when I’m getting emailed everyday by the same clothing stores, I’m feeling harassed.

So what do you think? Do emails from businesses annoy you? Have you clicked on an email and made a purchase? Are some types of emails more annoying than others?

Try this on for size!

I recently received an email from Princess Polly, titled ‘Virtual try on’. This got me thinking…

Online shopping. It saves us time, money and we can shop in our pjs. Whats not to love? The real downfall is not being about to try on clothes, and this is a common problem. Returns are high with online businesses, with people ordering two sizes then returning the one that doesn’t fit. So, can virtual reality offer a solution?

The Princess Polly 3D technology works by using your entered information, weight, height and bust size. You can then see how any article of clothing will fit your body. The ‘continue’ button then allows you to purchase.

Sephora is also using virtual reality. The software, available online and as an app as well. This allows you to try on makeup based on your skin, hair and face shape. You have the option to use one of their models or upload a photo of yourself.

This technology is a huge advantage for online shopping. This is one of the main reasons that i am reluctant to buy online rather than in store. This new technology is going to increase the willingness to shop online. This will have a huge impact on retail stores as this was there main competitive advantage over online shopping.

What do you think? Have you used it? Would it encourage you to shop online rather than in store?

Social media bot or not?

Edit* Boost has received some serious backlash for the behaviour of their chat bots. They have been slammed for ‘normalising predatory behaviour’, even likening it to online grooming behaviour. Their response? ‘What offends someone might not offend someone else… our intention is always to enlighten someones day’.

The ‘messenger bot platform’ is a tool that allows brands to understand customers in a more complex way than ever before. Introduced in mid April this year (2017) businesses have been falling over themselves to create their own chat bot. So what can we use them for? According to Facebook’s statement they can be used for anything from automated subscription content, customised communication such as receipts and shipping notifications, and live automated messages.

So are they effective? Which businesses have been using them? I tested boost juice’s chat bot that has been rolling out over the last week. They used the ‘live automated chat’ option to give out vouchers as well as entering a competition to win a trip to Japan in exchange for interaction. So how did it go? See the following screenshots (all replies are automated, you’re given 2-3 options to reply):

8 messages later…

In my opinion there was too much back and fourth before receiving something in return, however communicating with the brand on such a personal basis was something that I haven’t experienced before. This has allowed boost to really personalise their communication messages. This platform is such a valuable tool as they grab your full attention as other brands are removed from your screen.

What do you guys think? Have you used other chat bots run by brands such as Nike, CNN, and Disney just to name a few?

 

Wait until pay day? Or afterpay?

As many of you may have noticed, many online retailers are offering afterpay. This take on the ‘Lay-by’ system lets you collect your items immediately. You then pay off your items for 6-8 weeks. All sounds great right?

However there are some catches that shoppers should be aware of. Firstly, if you miss a payment theres a $10 fee, if a payment is then not made within one week another $7 is charged. This can get pretty costly.

You are able to skip payments. BUT be careful here too, a retailer may sell the debt you owe on to a third party collection agency. Sounds scary right? Debt collection agencies have been investigated on numerous occasions by the ACCC. This was for hassling people with calls, threatening letters and defaulting credit, so better to not get involved with them! 

Searching afterpay on Google, customer forums pop up with unhappy customers. The main issue people found was the communication and customer service they provide. Because the retailer is using a third party business to process the transaction, if anything goes wrong the customer has to contact afterpay.

Many retailers are introducing this form of payment. Not just online but in store as well. In February last year there were just 100 businesses using After Pay transactions, fast forward to December 2016 there were 1500. Its fast growing and consumers are loving it.

What are your experiences with after pay? I’m a bit reluctant to use it as it would encourage me to spend more than I should. Does it make you more likely to purchase an item?

Medibank’s social media presence

Insurance is boring. Its a service that we ‘need’ but how much contact do we really have with the insurance company beyond making direct payments to them every year? Or even not knowing what insurance we have as are parents take care of that?

Scrolling through Facebook I noticed this sponsored ad:

I clicked on it, wanting to know what the 5 secrets were, then i realised Medibank was sponsoring the article? Over the past few weeks I’ve increasingly noticed their ads coming up in my newsfeed. So i checked out their Facebook page. More and more ‘relatable’ articles are popping up on their social media.

This is a classic example of an organisation trying to connect with their customers in a more two-way communicative platform. The ability for us to voice our opinions and share comments on their content increases our awareness of the brand, and for me its educated me on a health insurance provider that i would otherwise not even been thinking about.

All the posts have a central theme ‘for better health’ which is their tag line. They have over 85,000 likes and its growing everyday as people share the article content they post. While their page doesn’t focus on selling you insurance, its all about brand associations. When … or if I have to think about insurance in the next year ill remember their brand. They’ve used celebrities such as Michelle Bridges to engage in free public events. All these activities combined create a community of Medibank customers.

Do you think Medibank have been effective in taking a mundane, uninteresting service and making it a little more interesting? Would you ‘like’ the page to see their content? Do you know of any other examples where social media presence has made a product or service more interesting that its fundamental purpose?

$2150 for an IKEA bag?

Fashion house Balengciaga’s new collection has received a lot of media attention. Why? Their version of the ‘IKEA’ bag has people talking. At $2150 its a fail for the brand, however a massive opportunity for IKEA! Social media was buzzing with comments about the new merch.

This accidental viral campaign was too good not to take advantage of. The response from IKEA was not only expected, but exactly what the brand needed to take advantage of accidental viral attention. The fact that people are in tune with the signature IKEA bag shows the value of brand association in the social media realm. The potential is endless and the publicity is free.

IKEA was quick to release a statement and played along with viral joke. “We are deeply flattered that the Balenciaga tote bag resembles the Ikea iconic sustainable blue bag for 99 cents. Nothing beats the versatility of a great big blue bag!” a spokesperson said.

This all sounds great, free publicity and an unplanned viral campaign. IKEA took it one step further. They quickly introduced a campaign that followed on perfectly, ‘How to identify a real IKEA bag’.

This creative genius took an accidental opportunity and absolutely milked it. Why was it successful? Timing. The digital world moves quickly, and an opportunity like this doesn’t happen twice. This begs the question, can organisations plan for events like this? Is it necessary to have 24/7 monitoring of social media? How can organisations harness the potential of viral marketing.. and what makes it so effective?

Instagram: Dough-nut underestimate its potential

Recently Instagram CEO, Kevin Systrom celebrated 1 million advertisers. Just 12 months ago there were 200,000 businesses using the platform, this growth is massive. He singled out one particular business run by a 16 year old entrepreneur named Morgan Hipworth.

Morgan joined Instagram when he was just 13, sharing his passion for baking and has since used it to gain follower momentum for his pop up stores and now his very own retail space. What does he specialise in? Doughnuts. With over 25,000 followers his doughnuts look delicious and sell fast!

We’re in a digital age where if you don’t post a pic did you really eat that doughnut? When searching #bistromorgan there are almost 3000 photos of his donuts, shared by customers, talk about invaluable advertising. He sees Instagram as his key marketing tool.

So what does this mean for retailers? They have to ability to go worldwide with very little resources invested and are able to reach more customers than ever before. 80% of Instagram users follow a business account and over 120 million users used Instagram as the first ‘touchpoint*’ for a business.

The negative implications? The ability to reach more customers means that is works both ways. Businesses are competing in a highly saturated market and consumers are choosing between more and more places to spend their disposable income.

So my question is, Do you respond to advertising on Instagram? It is effective in getting you to buy and how does the organic, user generated nature of the platform affect your purchase decisions?

 

*touchpoint: A point of contact or interaction

Tigermist: Social media riches

Tigermist is just another online clothing store… with almost 1 million followers on Instagram. It all started in 2008 as a small clothing boutique in Melbourne and now it’s a successful global business utilising social media to be bigger and better every year.

Stevie (Right) & Gypsy Pallister Owners of Tigermist

Tiger mist shows just how social media has changed the retail space. Tiger mist co-owner Stevie Pallister says ‘we got on the Instagram bandwagon quite early’. It worked. Two platforms are focused on: Instagram and Snapchat. These platforms are creative and encourage user generated content. Posts include not only clothing but relatable quotes, celeb style inspo and general #goals which spark comment after comment.

Stevie and Gypsy are Instagram Queens themselves, with almost 90K and over 180K followers respectively. They know what to post and how to post it to get their follower’s attention.

Social media has been utilised to gain a loyal customer base. Currently the clothing brand is shifting their online shopping focus to retail opportunity, opening a new store and stocking their brand in major department store Myer.

Social media is making it easier for small boutique retailers to gain a significant following and allows a huge opportunity for growth. What impact does this have on traditional retailers? Is being on social media a pre requisite for success in 2017?

Kmart: Daggy to cool?

Kmart is an American born company and has been in Australia since the 1960s. Recently Kmart has created a buzz, people love it! How have they achieved this in a low-cost segment?

Well firstly they’ve let the customers do the talking, people share their #KMARTHACKS and products they’ve bought online. Searching Facebook comes up with pages called ‘Kmart memes’ and ”Kmart lovers Australia’. The result? A community of Kmart shoppers who love the brand.  The Kmart official Facebook page has almost 730,000 members, that’s a lot of loyal customers.

#everyvisittoKmart

People are using hashtags such as #Kmartstyling and #Kmartlove. Chief operating officer John Gualtieri says “We’ve just let it happen“. This is a prime example of the brand communicating with the customer, but then the customer is responding, this time the brand is listening! Social media and it’s increased usage is facilitating this change, and its successful.

Kmart Memes Facebook page

However their success is no accident. Since 2008 Kmart has developed a smarter price- product strategy, the number of products sold are being reduced every year, focusing on the best-selling categories. Kmart also knows its target market, with a simple focus on stylish products at affordable prices.

The results speak for themselves, with revenue growth up 8.9% (February 15), competitors are struggling to keep up with Target’s revenues down a whopping 17.7%.

Kmart has become a ‘how to’ in using social media to communicate with their customers. Do you follow Kmart on social media? What do you think of Kmart, is it really cool?