Why You're Getting Black Friday Emails on Halloween

Answer the following questions...
How many emails do you get every day?
How many of them do you really open and read?
What e-newsletter do you subscribe and why?

...do you still think email is dead?


Email Is Not Dead

Due to the flood of social media channels and mobile apps, people tend to underestimate the power of emails. I admit that I also used to think email was an old school stuff. However, US customer-acquisition of email has increased since 2010. In addition to that, email has a higher ROI of 122% than any other marketing format, which is four times more than social media, direct mail or paid search, according to Direct Marketing Association.

In the age of digital, everyone has at least one mobile device. It also plays a significant role in making email marketing effective. Before I got my first smartphone in 2011, I rarely checked my inbox. If someone told me he/she emailed something, then I logged into my account. What about now? The first thing I do as soon as I wake up in the morning is to check my three email accounts. First, I look through if there is anything urgent to react/reply to promptly. And then, I read e-newsletters and promotions throughout the day.

You've Got a Black Friday Email

From a few weeks ago, I started to get promotional emails and news articles regarding Halloween. Holidays and other special days/events are a very good bait to attract customers for marketers. Now go to your inbox and look at them thoroughly... you've got a Black Friday email!

Earlier this week, I found an interesting article about email marketing, Black Friday Emails Coming Early As Christmas Creeps In On Halloween. It explains well why you're getting Black Friday emails and the recent trends in emails. Here are main points of the article and my comments on each of them.


1. Be ahead of the rush

Right. This is exactly why you got Black Friday emails this early. No one wants to directly face heavy traffic (a.k.a. bloody competition). According to data collected during the holiday season last year, marketers concluded that there would be no negative aspect of sending out emails earlier. Rather, it would be less annoying for recipients. Yes, I would definitely open the promotional emails and start to plan holiday shopping. I'm not sure I will make a purchase, but at least I will remember those first emails.


2. The more emails, the less engagement 

Holiday emails have increased over the past two years, but average open rates have decreased. As 'the day' approaches, we get bombarded with countless of marketing emails. The engagement of emails that has a subject line with "Black Friday" drops due to email fatigue. If you want your emails stand out of many others, come up with fresh and creative subject lines, and customization. Don't bother your subscribers by throwing emails over and over. It's time to play smart and be a little tricky. Always think in the perspective of customers.


3. Know your target

Marketers should analyze their email metrics and focus on target audience who engage more. Here customization is recommended again. For some people, just one email would be so annoying, but for some other people who are more loyal to or interested in your brand, one or two more promotion would work. Look at your data and divide your email list into segments based on its response. And target them with customization. You will successfully be positioned in their minds.


4. Be a friend with "unsubscribe" and "email less" 

Don't worry, it's not a suicide. Don't bury your 'unsubscribe' button. I get even furious when it's hard to opt out of your email list. Why don't you provide one last shot, email less, before letting people go? Customer acquisition is so much harder than retention. Let some people stay inside your zone even though they are far away to reach. Make a separate segment with the people of 'email less' option and send more critical emails to encourage their engagement.


Heena's Review

Look like email lost to a rising star, social media, but in reality, email is the most effective and the least difficult marketing tactics. As the holiday season comes, my inbox will be flooded with promotions. This year, I'm going to pay attention to what's happening why it's happening. As a marketing student, I'm a bit excited to check them out to see the trend in email marketing, which would have been a headache if I was not a marketer.

The Job That Fascinates Me The Most... Is My Archetype?!

Surprised and excited.

The job that I have admired turned out to be my archetype.
Can you guess?
I'm an Architect!


My Architect VS Their Architect

An architect is like a magician. Architects make something - humongous, complex and sturdy things - out of nothing. To make things happen, architects should be equally 'right-brained' and 'left-brained'. Right brained people are described as creative, and left brained people are known for their math skills. An architect is a creative thinker, designer, mathematician, physicist, and engineer. On top of that, I'm personally interested in architects, so I idolize and admire architects. That's why I was so excited when my archetype turned out to be an Architect!

According to How to Fascinate, an organization founded by Sally Hogshead who helps people to discover how the world sees them using its own test, The Architect, a combination of Prestige (a primary advantage) and Mystique (a secondary one), is defined as a skillful, restrained, polished, for insiders only, and sterling person. I totally agree with everything except the first adjective, skillful. It's half true since I pursue a strong skill in a certain thing, no matter it is related to my job or hobby. However, I've never ever mastered something. Most of all ended up with tasting or being intermediate-level. Scary enough, How the World Sees You (Below is how the world sees me) exactly describes my personality!

What am I consist of and lack of?

My primary advantage is Prestige that helps me to earn respect from others, pay attention to the smallest details, be motivated by a competitive spirit, and expect the highest quality. I agree that I always want to be perfect, which drives me to work very hard but at the same time stresses me out. This is one the reasons when I do assignments at work or school, it takes a long time to finish.

The secondary advantage is Mystique that drives me to communicate selectively and purposefully with a minimalist approach, rarely shows inner emotions, and works independently without disclosing insider process. I admit that I'm more likely to save my words for a very important moment to speak out, especially when I work with others. Also, I tend not to express my inner emotions too much and prefer to work independently.

All pretty boxes were opened so far. Now it's time to open the other box not appealing at all. I found a card saying that my dormant advantage is Trust that I'd like to rename the other side of a coin called 'not-showing-emotions' or 'independence'. I think it is based on my relationship philosophy, 'people come and go, so let things happen'. So I try not to expect too much from people, which might shape me as a 'simple-outside-but-complex-inside' person.

A Good Motivation

I'm very interested in psychology, which is the strongest trigger for me to study marketing! I enjoy reading books in psychology and philosophy to understand more about peoples' emotions and personalities including myself. This archetype test was a good reminder for me who knows and understands a lot about myself since it re-confirmed my strengths and weaknesses that I already know and suggested solutions for improvement. It worked out as a really good motivation to see me more objectively and encouraged me to more release inner feelings.

Fascination = Love at First Sight

"What do you think about the idea of Fascination as a marketer?"

Before I watched Sally's Ted talk, I thought the fascination is falling in love at first sight. You just admire, want and like something so bad as soon as you find it. It doesn't take that long; around ten seconds. Interestingly, Sally also started the Ted talk with an example of online dating, especially the first introduction. 

Yes, so true. In this flood of countless options in every market, we need a strong hook called fascination to catch peoples' attention in nine seconds that were given to us in attracting eyeballs. On top of  beautiful images or interesting video clips, powerful contents that engage target customers the most should be the key factors. You are more likely to have a long relationship with someone whom you can talk to over an hour and hour rather than with a crazy-good-looking person whom you can't continue a conversation with even ten minutes.

Welcome!

"Get Your Hands Dirty"

This is the purpose of my blog. No matter how hard I study in my Master program, I will end up reading principles and theories over and over if I don't try blogging by myself. Thanks to my Digital Marketing course, I finally started marketing blog!


Let's Share...

I like to share my experience and thoughts as much as I like to listen to your stories. After joining a book club which I had had a negative stereotype toward because it sounded nerdy, I realized that I love to share thoughts and opinions with others. It was impressive that people feel and think differently based on their personalities and experiences.

This interesting activity motivated me to start my own blog in Korean - I was born, grown up and educated in South Korea - to share some parts of my life with others who have similar interests and experience to mine. Contents of my blog include my graduate school life as an International student, reviews on marketing conferences and workshops I attended, stories of people around me who motivate and inspire me, book reviews, and a little of other personal things, such as feelings, activities, and study plans.


Let's Learn...

There are two goals that I want to accomplish through this blogging. First, getting comfortable creating contents in English. Even though I like reading, writing, and talking I feel intimidated when I have to do all these in English. On top of that, in this age of digital, everything I created using digital media remains forever, so I was scared to post things and spread them out. However, only practice makes perfect. I strongly believe my writing skill will get better through this blogging!

The second thing is the implementation of Google Analytics. In this semester, I take Web Analytics course that requires collecting and analyzing web traffic data of my own blog using Google Analytics. I can test out which promoting method works better, which specific content people engage more, how to improve my blog based on the data, and so on. I'm excited to see!


Welcome aboard Heena's Blog!

About Me

Marketyst

Aspiring integrated marketing professional equipped with in-depth knowledge of marketing analytics, digital marketing, and brand management. Detail oriented and organized, I observe situations and problems carefully, and develop new ideas and solutions. Always asking “why”, I am not afraid to express curiosity and have a passion for learning.


Pioneer

My life is full of trying new things! I love to meet new people from various backgrounds - please tell me your stories. I'll try to learn your language and your culture. I learned Mandarin and studied abroad in Shanghai for a year. Also took French 101, but now I remember 'Hi, my name is Heena'. My future plan includes learning Spanish, so let me know if you're interested in helping me out or learning Korean from me.


Life Lover

People, books, music, and nature are resources of my inspiration. Having a fun conversation with you, finding a book that I want to read over and over, all kinds of music including my singing at a karaoke, and going hiking make me cherish every moment in my life.