Timing Is Everything

Email marketing can be a powerful tool. Like all tools, you need to use it carefully.

This example wasn't a disaster, but it did make me laugh...

I was sitting on the Eurostar train in Paris, waiting for it to leave and my Blackberry buzzed to let me know I had new emails. So, without much else to do at the time, I checked the email.

It said "Just got back from Paris? Tell Ted all about it."

Great timing eh? I know the new train link is fast, but it's not that fast!

The email continued....

"You've walked down sun-filled
boulevards. Dined in some of Europe's
finest restaurants. Watched the sun set
over a city, spread before you like a
bejewelled cape.

Now you're back in the real world
and bursting to tell everyone about
your experiences. Even Ted from the
accounts department.

Try telling Ted and you could win a
weekend break to the Eurostar
destination of your choice"

It should have read....

"You've walked down crowded metro
platforms. Dined in one of Paris'
cheap creperies. Dodged the rain
through narrow pavements to get back
to a cheap hotel room.

Now you're heading back home to your
real world and dying to see your family
again. Work is over for another week
and Ted from the accounts department can wait.

Tell Ted how little you spent on your trip
and you could go back again soon to the
same fleapit for another meeting, (but
you'd rather not if you had the choice)"

Two lessons learned:

Email marketing should always
- have content relevant to the audience
- be sent at an appropriate time

I don't mind though, it made me laugh.