Digital Profiles Part K: E-Mail At A Crossroads

The e-mail community look at e-mail as the most important relationship-building tool that exists, one with the best ROI (when measured as a percentage of sales).

Can we look at e-mail within the context of Digital Profiles? Certainly!

Too often, we look at customers who possess an e-mail address. More important, of course, is the customer who purchases after clicking-through an e-mail campaign.

Let's count how many customers purchased via e-mail in the past year, by Digital Profile.

• Gold Mine! = 3,194 customers.
  
• Multi-Channel Mavens = 2,227 customers.
  
• The Digerati = 1,447 customers.
  
• A Long Drive = 2,637 customers.
  
• Shop Online, Buy In Store = 1,114 customers.
  
• Direct Newbies Looking For Eight = 1,040 customers.
  
• Online One/Twos = 1,908 customers.
  
• Ship It To Me = 671 customers.
  
• Retail Fanatics = 1 customer.
  
• Retail 4/5/6 = 0 customers.
  
• Retail 1/2/4 = 0 customers.
  
• In And Out = 0 customers.
  
• Retail 1/2/3 = 0 customers.
  
• Retail Newbies Looking For Eight = 0 customers.
  
• Retail 1/2 = 0 customers.
  
• Rotary Phone = 0 customers.
  

Look at that darn "Gold Mine!" segment ... once again, it is truly a Gold Mine ... about 20% of the customers who purchased via e-mail belong to this Digital Profile.

Now tell me, dear e-mail direct marketers, how does this change your perspective on e-mail marketing? Do you treat these customers the same way you treat a customer who has an e-mail address in the "Rotary Phone" Digital Profile, or do you treat them differently? Heck, you already know the answer!

Within the "Gold Mine!" and "Multi-Channel Mavens" Digital Profiles, your e-mail marketing message is likely to highlight products and benefits that apply across all channels.

Look at the "A Long Drive" Digital Profile ... that's where the second-most active e-mail buyers exist. If these customers don't live near a store, don't you think the marketing message should be calibrated to the online experience, satisfying the customer via convenience ... this customer doesn't have to drive a long distance to retail stores, you're bringing the store directly to this customer!

There are 1,114 e-mail buyers in the "Shop Online, Buy In Store" Digital Profile. The name tells you what the marketing message needs to be ... your job as an e-mail marketer is to stimulate this customer to get off her butt, get into a car, and visit a store!! It's the opposite message of the one provided to "A Long Drive", isn't it???

E-mail marketers frequently talk about segmenting customers, personalizing messages, using trigger-based campaigns, you name it. Why wouldn't you, if you are an e-mail marketer, apply Digital Profiles to your database, leveraging the results to your benefit, and to the benefit of the customer?