Four ideas for your next e-mail campaign
by Harvard Business Review,
2015-11-16 09:27:15.0
WITH $200bn in annual buying power expected by 2017, millennials have become every brand’s coveted customer. But what is the best way to reach them? E-mail.
Consider these ideas the next time you are planning an e-mail campaign and millennials are a key part of the audience.
1. Mobile is a must. Millennials are more likely than any other age group to check e-mail on smartphones, with 88% reporting that they regularly use a smartphone to check e-mail. If you are not mobile first, you are not putting your millennial customers first.
2. Timing is everything. Looking at opens and clicks will not get you anywhere without analysing the day of week and time of day those e-mails are opened and clicked. For example, we found that millennials are more likely than any other age group to check e-mail while in bed. Why not experiment with sending e-mails first thing in the morning or late in the evening with content relevant to that time of day?
3. Pictures are worth a 1,000 words. A third of millennials believe it is appropriate to use an emoji when communicating with a direct manager or senior executive, so it is a safe bet they are even more comfortable when it comes to emoji from brands. Marketers need to optimise e-mails for images and allow for quick feedback through emoji.
4. Less is more. E-mail marketing to millennials is not about sending more of the same. Many millennials want to see fewer e-mails and fewer repetitive e-mails from brands. Marketers take note — stop spamming your lists and start marketing to individuals by understanding who they are first. Not every millennial communicates the same way, of course. And digital communication is constantly evolving.
Nonetheless, for now it seems safe to say that e-mail is here to stay and will remain a critical channel even for reaching mobile customers. Just do not expect the same old e-mail tactics to work.
(Adapted from "E-mail is the best way to reach millenials" at HBR.org)
© 2015 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp
Picture: THE NEW YORK TIMES/TONY CENICOLA
WITH $200bn in annual buying power expected by 2017, millennials have become every brand’s coveted customer. But what is the best way to reach them? E-mail.
Consider these ideas the next time you are planning an e-mail campaign and millennials are a key part of the audience.
1. Mobile is a must. Millennials are more likely than any other age group to check e-mail on smartphones, with 88% reporting that they regularly use a smartphone to check e-mail. If you are not mobile first, you are not putting your millennial customers first.
2. Timing is everything. Looking at opens and clicks will not get you anywhere without analysing the day of week and time of day those e-mails are opened and clicked. For example, we found that millennials are more likely than any other age group to check e-mail while in bed. Why not experiment with sending e-mails first thing in the morning or late in the evening with content relevant to that time of day?
3. Pictures are worth a 1,000 words. A third of millennials believe it is appropriate to use an emoji when communicating with a direct manager or senior executive, so it is a safe bet they are even more comfortable when it comes to emoji from brands. Marketers need to optimise e-mails for images and allow for quick feedback through emoji.
4. Less is more. E-mail marketing to millennials is not about sending more of the same. Many millennials want to see fewer e-mails and fewer repetitive e-mails from brands. Marketers take note — stop spamming your lists and start marketing to individuals by understanding who they are first. Not every millennial communicates the same way, of course. And digital communication is constantly evolving.
Nonetheless, for now it seems safe to say that e-mail is here to stay and will remain a critical channel even for reaching mobile customers. Just do not expect the same old e-mail tactics to work.
(Adapted from "E-mail is the best way to reach millenials" at HBR.org)
© 2015 Harvard Business School Publishing Corp
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