At Quibblo, we have routine discussions as to what the right level of email volume and frequency is when it comes to communicating with our users. We really try our best to limit automated, newsletter, and other communications to our users to times where we really have something of value to offer them or something crucial to their usage of the site. It isn’t always easy, as every end user has a different pain threshold when it comes to receiving email from sites or companies. In my opinion, the key to having an effective B2C email communication system (to communicate with existing customers, not to acquire new customers), is to allow the user to easily control the frequency and type of communications, and to only communicate with the user when you have something of value to bring to them. Flub up either of these two things, and you are going to piss off a lot of your customers, which I don’t need to tell you, is a bad thing.
One of the zillion email lists, newsletters, update thingys I am on, is the weekly fare specials from Delta. I fly Delta a fair amount, and am always open to taking an unplanned trip if I see a really cheap ticket, so I set my alerts to come once weekly, showing Delta special fares originating from Boston and New York. For the first 6 weeks or so, things were smooth. Good fares, once per week, I liked it. I even contemplated if it was worth going to Cincinnati on a whim, simply because the fare was low (I didn’t).
However, for the past 8 or so weeks, my Delta weekly fare special email has looked just like this.
If you look closely, you will see that right in the middle (right where the fares used to show), it says:
Looks like we’re not running any special fares for you this week but maybe you will see a great deal for your family or friends. Take a look and let them know.
Having no specials is one thing – I get it. It happens. But why send me an email every week for nearly two months, telling me that you have no specials for me at all? To me, it seems like a crappy way to communicate with me as a customer. In addition to sending me a worthless email that I have to delete every week, it lowers my expectations of what Delta has to offer (No specials? Everyone has specials!) and begins to shape the way I rank Delta in my mind value-wise when I next go to purchase an airline ticket.
Two quick thoughts on how to improve this would be
- Clearly say on the newsletter sign up page that there will be NO email sent out when there are no advertised specials in my area.
- When there are no “specials”, just show me some of the cheapest fares originating from Boston each week, regardless of whether or not they are classified as “sale” fares…just show me SOMETHING!
In the meantime, I am just going to unsubscribe. Sorry Delta…
