Direct Flight
Email marketing is a direct and effective means of forging or cultivating a relationship with a customer, while simultaneously heralding the qualities of a company in a prodigious light. The format of an email is clean, bright and instantaneous, suspended upon a screen that creates an interface scenario, similar to the interaction experienced between people. This serves to mimic the steadfast loyalty that occurs within relationships, vital to the survival of any business.
Email marketing is also a cost effective way of distribution and is preferable to the concertinaed leaflet, pushed half-heartedly through a letterbox or shredded and scattered around the room by the family dog. The email is a more unobtrusive solution to marketing, softly stepping into an inbox folder, with a headline that halts skimming eyes rather than the dispassionate gaze that results from the bold invasion of indistinct flyers. Just as curiosity is maintained by snippets of information, the email’s elusive yet applicable headline will serve as a teaser that will initiate an insatiable curiosity. By enticing the customer through a digital door that will be unlocked in a click, the email’s interior will be decorated with eye-catching images, in keeping with a company’s tone and style that is key to granting the attention of the recipient. Uncompromised design that is lifted from the theme of a company’s existing website will ensure continuity, whilst reinforcing the essence of a brand. The information will be succinct in order to avoid a recipient from losing interest and exiting without a purchase.
It could be said that email marketing is a digital rework of the carrier pigeon, which was dispatched to specific locations, communicating information in a targeted manner with traceable results. Along with useful information the pigeon provided a frisson of anticipation, as the sight of the rolled paper attached purposefully to the pigeon’s leg drew nearer. This premise still exists with all forms of communication, as the prospect of new insight is coupled with the remedial effects of contact. Although the carrier pigeon was a revolutionary embodiment of effective correspondence; it is now a distant silhouette that flies way into the mists of time. However, the email has adopted some of the carrier pigeon’s unmistakeable charm as messages are personally gifted, with the attachment of a tailored message that perches itself at the top of an inbox.
The feedback that is available with the use of email marketing is also similar to that of a carrier pigeon, which would return without a message as confirmation of its delivery. Emails provide immediate feedback on a broadcast, as well as being able to target individuals on a global scale. The value of carrier pigeons was especially important in war, acting as a lifeline that transferred crucial updates. The famous French carrier pigeon Cher Ami is an example of the carrier pigeon’s resilience; awarded for its heroic bravery which was doubly impressive due to its serious injuries. Its name translates as ‘Dear friend’, which relates to the familiar opening line of many correspondences addressed to a comrade, as well as referring to the pigeons esteemed role as a dear friend who remained loyal throughout adversity. This demonstrates the valued position of communication, which is loaded with bridge building properties. It is therefore true to say that any communication between two parties, cements a bond. Email is no different; by communicating new offers and welcoming customers into the fold, a relationship takes root. It is true to say that people are more likely to respond to a familiar company who has kept in contact, just as if a familiar friend were to maintain contact, a trust would grow.
The vast distances pigeon carriers could fly, up to one thousand miles is exceeded by the world wide reach of the email, which does not rely upon the intended location remaining fixed. The private interaction that exists between a messenger and receiver seems to be an unrivalled approach, in terms of affectivity and impact. Although the carrier pigeon retains a romantic wistfulness, its return could not feasibly compete with email marketing, which delivers packaged beauty, appeal and machined efficiency.
Tags: Email Marketing