The future of cookies

You might not have heard of the Government Digital Service (GDS), a new quango within the Cabinet Office that will probably have a significant effect on email marketing and online sales. Its first public act has been to publish a long awaited update to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guide to the new cookie law which will be enforced as from 26 May this year.

The new guide, the Implementer Guide to Privacy & Electronic Communications Regulations (PECRs), defines types of cookies and deals with the new consent requirement for their use. Not before time you might think.

Whilst the impact on email marketing is hardly massive, most of us will have integrated websites campaigns.
The main point of the Guide would appear to be the classification of cookies. These run from ones the ICO are not concerned about to those which are seen to be beyond the pale. Where ones useful in email marketing fall is not exactly clear but somewhere in the middle is all we can say at the moment.

There has been a decision as to how the regulations will be enforced. The classification of cookie will define the level of consent required from the browser.

The Guide suggests that implied consent is a problem and should not be depended upon in the main. However, it carefully (and no doubt deliberately) backs away from defining what is required.

The GDS wants websites in the public sector to take on the role of public informant. There is an assumed ignorance in the general public of the nature and function of cookies and they require such websites to carry explanations. There is nothing to preclude you publishing something similar although, perhaps, with some modification to the one seen here.

You could let the public know how badly their browsing experience will be affected by disabling cookies and how secure their personal details are.

Whilst the legislation does not specify email marketing images, it seems it would be best to include information, perhaps with a link to a more detailed page, when customers subscribe.

The enforcement appears to be moving towards a lighter touch than feared.

Measuring reactions

Email marketing software gives an insight into the unconscious minds of you subscribers, something that occupies MRI scanners for some hours according to a recent television programme. It would appear - according to Horizon - that most people do not react logically. They just react.

There is a lot of evidence, although not sourced via medical machines but by the more dependable email marketing software returns, that the offer price is the main consideration when buying online. Ignore this at your peril. However, competitive pricing alone is not enough. You need to support it, to give yourself an edge, and have something which grabs readers and their wallets.

Much research has to be completed before anyone can say what triggers the unconscious mind but that is of no concern to us. All we need to do is work out what works best for us. The method is quite simple.

If you have any sense you take a bit of time and trouble to source and then choose the images that you include in your marketing emails. You use logic and taste to come to your decisions. If you are selling wine then a panorama of vineyards, the sun setting and casting intriguing shadows, would seem to be a safe bet. Who could fail to be influenced by such emotive images?

Remember that your marketing email is not an advertisement. Although many of the processes are similar, your need is to encourage your subscriber to click through. If logic is of little help then you might think it is little more than luck when it comes to design.

Think again. Luck is unevidenced whereas we have email marketing software.

Try different images in every campaign. Vary them with age groups. To remain with wine, your customers might want a particular vintage to add to the ambience of a special dinner at home. So why not try a dinner party with obvious ambience. They will hardly glance at such a picture but, it would appear, a glance, even half of one, is enough to trigger an unconscious response.

Email marketing software will show you if you chose well. Leave MRI scanners to those who want to make TV programmes.

Atmospheric conditions

I went with the opposition recently and visited a shopping mall. Three in fact. The number of shops that had closed was testament not to the recession but email marketing. Even in the shops that were open there were short queues at the till. Crowds were thin. Yet most shops remained open and business seemed steady.

Despite being the archetypical miserable bloke when shopping, I have to say that the experience was far from depressing. The old days of crockery left on coffee shop tables have gone and I bought three DVDs that I could have found cheaper online. I was irritated at my lack of sensible shopping. I had fallen for the atmosphere of the mall.

There were bright colours in certain shops, others were rather laid back and all pastels. There were pretty pictures in some which suggested that I could enjoy a fulfilling lifestyle if only I would buy a certain (but not very cheap, pair of trainers.

Even at the till I was confronted by other offers. Despite being experienced in email marketing, I was not immune from impulse buying and picked an item on a whim.

So what do email marketing customers get when they click through to buy the product? Or more to the point, what do your customers see?

Most landing pages are austere and clinical. This was refreshing in the early days. Price and speed were everything, at least everything the high street was not. Perhaps now is the time to make the experience more friendly rather than just user-friendly.

As you leave high street shops you will see other offers. You do not have to read through them, take it all in and delay your exit. But you can if you wish. Email marketing’s biggest hurdle, getting the subscriber to open the email, has been completed. Do not waste the opportunity. Try pushing other items.

Care needs to be exercised. Do not slow the process. The tortuous routes to the check-outs; favoured by most mall retailers is not for us.

Shops have been at this selling lark for longer than email marketing has been around. Learn from them. Pinch their ideas.

Royal patronage

There are opportunities during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations for those willing to try their luck with souvenirs. There is a tremendous choice of items and you will need your email marketing software to discover which give the best return on investment. More to the point, unlike the Olympics, there has been a lightening of the restrictions on what you can use.

If you are to be patronised by anyone then the Queen, or at least her commercial representative, is the one you would probably choose. In the guidelines for Royal Souvenirs there is a requirement that they are in good taste. There is also a requirement that they be permanent. Apart from that, they must be free of advertisement as well as any implication of Royal Custom or Approval. If you can comply with all of that then they can be identified by such phrases as The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee 2012 or The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee 1952-2012.

The Royal Symbols that may be used are limited to the Royal Arms, the Arms of the Duke of Edinburgh or component parts thereof. Further, the Cyphers of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh may be used, as can approved photographs of them. For photographs of other Royals individual permissions must be sought.

Your email marketing software will tell you which particular reference to the diamond jubilee your subscribers prefer. As for their preference in textiles their choice will be somewhat limited. Tea-towels, aprons and t-shirts with Royal Insignia are banned. Only carpets, wall hangings, cushions and head-scarves (of course) are the only textiles to be so graced.

There are further restrictions on the use of Royal Symbols with regard to promotional advertising for souvenirs. The sole exception is as part of the advertised souvenir if this is featured in a photograph incidentally to a picture of the souvenir itself.

There are other restrictions and before embarking on costly design you should view the guidelines issued by the Lord Commissioner’s Office. If after studying the restrictions you consider them unduly rigorous you should take a look at those for the Olympics.

Go for it. It is a gift.

The spirit of the Olympics

Those looking for an opportunity to run with the public interest in the Olympics would have been disappointed when they studied the limitations placed on the use of anything remotely resembling a sport. Email marketing is used to restrictions but you might think that the International Olympic Committee has gone too far. However, it is not the only game in town during 2012. In fact there is a national event.

In a move that the IOC might well regard as reckless, those controlling the branding of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations, the Lord Chamberlain’s Office (LCO), have actually relaxed some of the limitations, specifically those on souvenirs. The rules with regards these will be covered in a subsequent blog.

For the moment let us look at the restrictions that can apply in email marketing.

1. Do not claim, even by implication, that your product or service is endorsed by the Royal Family, or any other royal source, unless it is. To do so you must obtain written permission from the relevant royal personage(s). (CAP Code 6.1)
2. Members of the Royal Family must not be shown without their prior written permission. (CAP Code 6.2)
3. Avoid Royal Arms or Emblems in email marketing unless you already have written permission from the LCO. Souvenir regulations differ and will be covered in another blog.
4. If you want to mention a Royal Warrant then check with the Royal Warrant Holder’s Association. (CAP Code 3.52)

Not much has changed for the Queen’s Jubilee with regards the four points above. However, on a more positive note, incidental references to the Royal Family unconnected to the advertised product, or references to material such as a book, article or film about the Royal Family, might well be acceptable.

Whilst this might seem all a bit depressing given the proposed jubilant celebrations, the Queen’s Jubilee provides lots of opportunities for email marketing. If your product range includes objects that might be desired by those partying then you might well regret failing to have a go.

Fun at last

You might think that email marketing is all about counting, statistics and return on investment. To a great extent you would be right. Every now and again though you get to do something creative. A few minutes playing with email marketing templates can be as refreshing as a drink of cold water on a hot day.

There is a serious side to all the fun. You will have split your email lists into a number of groups but to make effective use of them you will need to create specific emails for each one. Anything else is a waste of time. It is just as well that it is so easy.

Email marketing templates allow you to change pictures, copy, arrangement, the offer, in short everything with little more than a click of the mouse button. You can move blocks of copy around, enlarge pictures, swap their positions or import an entirely different one.

Your offer of £80 as opposed to the regular price of £120 can be described as a reduction of 33%, normal price twice as much, a reduction of £40 or, perhaps, the cheapest price on the internet. One group might prefer one thing, another, another.

Certain subscribers could be tempted by the specifications, so you might consider putting that at the top and using the price as the clincher. You will know what attracts those on a specific email list by the criteria you used to segregate them.

Whilst this seems like fun, and indeed is fun, email marketing templates have to be used with discretion. The first essential is a plan. It is no good pushing bits of the email around until it looks nice to you.

For instance, that case of wine can be presented as the latest thing to hit the scene for youngsters but you could insert a picture of a sunset over the vines for those who have endured a bit more of life. The basic email layout, and the main body of the copy will probably remain the same and all you have to do is pick the particular point to emphasise. Email marketing templates make this easy to do, as well as fun.

Telling subscribers apart

Email marketing software allows you to classify your customers so that you can target them with the precise style of offer that will entice them to buy. All you need to do is pick the relevant criteria. Here are some you should consider although, as ever, much will depend on your product.

Personal

Take care with generalisations. Gender, age, location and employment are very broad brushes. If you are selling items to be used on holidays you might think that surfboards should be sent to the younger subscribers and deckchairs to the more ancient. However, email marketing software will show those who defy age and gender stereotypes.

Many subscribers might not tell you their age but the returns will let you classify them by their responses. It is their purchasing preferences that provide essential data.

Timing

Even those new to email marketing know that timing is vital. The best open rates might come on a specific day, or time of day. Your product might be triggered by an event. Study your returns then group your subscribers by way of their preferences with regards opening emails.

History

There is a norm for the lifecycle of your subscribers. After, perhaps, a year most might tend to lose interest or look elsewhere. A special offer at a tested time could keep them in the fold. If someone has bought a printer then they might well require inks after a couple of months.

B2B

The specific role, regardless of job title remember, of a subscriber will define what kind of offer you put before them. If they make purchasing decisions all well and good, but what about those who have to make a business case? Will they appreciate a different style of email?

Your product details, such as whether it is seasonal or if specific occasions increase demand, are the kind of things that differentiate subscribers.

This just skims the surface of segmenting email lists. Much will depend on your product, your capacity and, most importantly, your returns from email marketing software. Remember too that a subscriber might fall into more than one category. The days of sending out the same email to all your subscribers should be in the past.