A few weeks ago I bought a computer from Dell. I had been a subscriber to their email offers for quite some time, because they had great offers so I waited patiently for the right one. Dell’s email offers arrived in my inbox pretty frequently but I found them tolerable. After my purchase I thought to myself they can now stop sending me emails. But they didn’t. Which was ok, because maybe I wanted to buy some accessories, or software or even a TV. After all, I’m a loyal consumer, right? Apparently they’re not aware.
I chuckled to myself for the past few weeks as I received promotional emails for more computers. I gave them the benefit of the doubt – maybe I’m an IT professional who buys several computers. Today, I received an email for a deal on the exact same computer I bought which hit the head on the nail that Dell, as great as a computer company they are, does not know email marketing.
Considering I had to login to their cart to make my purchase, and considering I used the same email they message to as my login, shouldn’t they make the connection that I just bought a computer and I will likely not buy another one tomorrow? If it were a sandwich shop or a dry cleaner, I might want to make another purchase tomorrow, but I might not buy a new computer for a couple years.
I’m not saying they should stop sending me emails. There’s a huge opportunity for them to send me more emails promoting the things I am interested in. They know which product I bought, so why not send me an email with a deal on accessories, or software or peripherals? I received nothing and I do need to purchase some accessories for my new machine. Coincidentally, my cart on competitive sites is full of those accessories.
The problem with email marketing, is that for some reason companies refuse to learn to do it right. Email marketing has been around for several years now. The email marketing tools available are extremely sophisticated and email marketing is still a very viable method to reach your customers. So why don’t companies, especially large companies, do it better? I’ve noticed that some companies do it well and have been for quite some time. The rest of you sleeping giants need to wake up.
