We are entering a world where every for profit and non-profit entity could conceivably and justifiably have an email marketing program. Gone are the days where only the big brands are present in email marketing. Today Enterprise, Mid-Market, and Small... More

We are entering a world where every for profit and non-profit entity could conceivably and justifiably have an email marketing program. Gone are the days where only the big brands are present in email marketing. Today Enterprise, Mid-Market, and Small Business entities are present. What is also interesting is that not only are smaller companies having a presence in the email channel, but they are also starting to use some of the same best practices that larger entities have utilized for years.

 

A great example of a small business doing it right is Kitchen Kaboodle. They are a locally owned retailer of cookware, kitchenware, dinnerware, furniture and accessories for the home. They have a small website that allows purchasing online and five neighborhood stores. As a subscriber to their email program, I've received an every week promotional campaign for several years.

 

This week things changed.

 

I received a great email with the subject line: "We hate to say goodbye..." The email was intended to grab my attention - which it did - but more importantly, they were introducing a new "Insider" program for all subscribers; especially those that have been inactive like me. Yes, I admit to being over-whelmed by email and not opening or clicking on their emails regularly. Thus, I'm sure, the reason I received the "Dear John" email.

 

Suffice it to say, I clicked through and am now happily a part of the "Kaboodle Insider" group; even yesterday I received my first "Insider-only savings" (10% off). Now granted, this offer would have likely been extended to everyone -- Insider or not -- prior to the program being re-branded; however, Kitchen Kaboodle was able to reinvigorate a somewhat stale program with this straightforward and *smart* marketing tactic.

 

To recap, Kitchen Kaboodle successfully:

* Re-branded their email program to play up its exclusivity ('Insider')

* Re-activated a dormant population (me!) and removed assumingly many non-responders

What's your favorite small business email marketing program?

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There has been a lot of talk in marketing circles regarding the appropriate amount of email to send to a consumer. Should you send once per month, once per week, multiple times per week, whenever you want, etc... And often over-looked part of this discussion is who ultimately is responsible. Is it the marketer or is it the consumer? Often, I think as marketers, we tend to answer this question not as a marketer, but instead as a consumer. Just like every consumer in the marketplace we are inundated with email messages from work, home, other marketers, transactional messages, etc... The last thing anyone needs is another email message. As such, I think we tend to error on the side of "send less". That being said is it really the marketer's responsibility to be 'sensitive' to how many emails a consumer is receiving in mass? Or is it really more of the consumer's responsibility - they did at the end of the day sign up to receive them? More

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