• 2 01.27.10

    Oops Marketing

    David Loewy

    Oops Marekting

    There seems to be another scammy trend brewing in email marketing. Recently I’ve been receiving email promotions from brands with subject lines apologizing for a mistake or retracting a misstatement. I like to forgive and forget as much as the next guy, but when the apology requested is nothing more than a trick to get me to open an email, I’m opting out.

    Okay, I admit it, I’ve fallen for the trick a few times. Most such emails are from smaller companies hurting for revenue, but some are from brands that are well established and trusted. Just recently I received an email apology from TripAdvisor (a site I always use when planning a trip, by the way).

    TripAdvisor’s subject line was: “Oops we had a glitch.” Inside was a copy of an email I had received the day before about its Travelers’ Choice 2010 Awards, which I had clicked through earlier without a glitch. The message said:

    “Our Travelers’ Choice announcement was so popular this week, many readers couldn’t access the results. They’re available now.

    Apologies and many thanks,
    TripAdvisor.”

    It’s hard to believe that TripAdvisor’s sophisticated servers crashed due to the high volume of visitors from this email campaign, but let’s give it the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the company really had a “glitch” and should apologize. Was there a better way to handle this?

    My first recommendation would be to make the subject line less ambiguous–and, in fact, less intriguing. If it’s really an apology, save me time and let me know directly in the subject line that there was a problem with the Travelers’ Choice 2010 Awards. Brands should be honest and accountable for their mistakes—but if this is a tactic to improve open rates disguised as an apology, it will ultimately diminish the site’s credibility.

    TripAdvisor could easily have promoted its awards within another value-added email promotion, by using search marketing, on its website, or through other avenues. Brand loyalty must be earned over time, but it can be destroyed quickly through overzealous marketing.

    Customers form their opinions of you based on your value and how you treat them. Treat them with respect and they’ll be loyal forever.

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Comments

  • Erin Leitten 02/18/2010

    Had a similar issue the other day with a client. Due to budget cuts, they have opted to use templates that we have created for them. They are suppose to send a test email before releasing but did not. Needless the say, when we and the database received it, it was erroneous everywhere. We of course suggested if they were to resend it, it include an apology.

    Appreciate your post, haven’t shared the same experience regarding other apology emails, at least none have entered my inbox, but getting to the point in the subject line is agreeable and optimal.

    Could you elaborate on how you would define search marketing? Social? Contextual ?

    Love to hear more…thanks for sharing.

  • David Loewy 02/18/2010

    Thanks for your comment Erin. My search marketing reference above was a suggestion on how Trip Advisor could further promoted its Traveler’s Choice awards. Possibly with a pay-per-click campaign.

    You bring up a good point though, social media marketing such as tweeting the story, posting YouTube videos or Facebook updates could also drive the traffic they seemed desperate for.

    Email apologies are fine provided that they are sincere and not a way to boost open rates.

    Lastly, take control of your clients email blasts to ensure test flights and A/B testing. They’ll thank you later when you prove better results.

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