While preparing its last newsletter, the We Are COM team asked itself this funny question: with the advent of social networks and the emergence of instant messaging, is email still relevant today? To remove the doubt, we sought an expert in direct marketing. We hastened to question Denis Diebolt, boss ofACTIVECOM. Now the team is reassured! 🙂
Let's be direct Denis: is the email dead?
For 10 years I have been hearing this prophecy and the figures contradict it ... Email has reached maturity and is recognized as the most effective channel due to its ease of use, its low cost and the relevance of the statistics it provides. 'it generates. However, if more than 80% of French people think that email will be the preferred means of communication in 10 years (Morar Consulting study for Mailjet), we believe that it will be necessary to put a stop to certain intrusive and non-ethical practices. We have always fought spamming, which is totally counterproductive. This electronic harassment by unwanted emails cannot be a communication technique and the National Union of Direct Communication (SNCD) - of which we are members - should act more severely.
It is true that we are all prey to unwanted emails. At the same time, we look forward to some of them. How can a medium be so endured AND desired?
The craving or rejection of a newsletter by its recipients are the result of two parameters: targeting and content, logically at the hand of the newsletter sender. To allow it to make the correct settings for these two parameters, we offer various tools and functionalities resulting from our work in R&D. We have innovative solutions both on the segmentation of content according to the affinities of recipients and on the dynamic management of contact lists. Concretely, the statistical returns and the automation requests make it possible to automatically recompose each mailing list before each new sending.
The future of email would be generic newsletters with content chosen by the recipient?
Yes, it is already a reality that can be activated by our customers! Faced with the surge of Big data, which between us we can say that it respects little privacy, we offer online profile management by recipients who can define themselves their centers of interest as well as the volume and the frequency of the shipments. It's here " Yes data », Which requires the participation of those concerned and seems to us much more ethical, right? It can be used in internal communication to prevent the sending by different departments or subsidiaries of information that is duplicated or does not reach the "right" recipients. It is obviously flexible so as not to set aside important information that is useful to everyone.
Let us all be the promoters of smart mailing
So can the newsletter be a support for internal communication?
It is, in my opinion, the ideal medium: reactivity and traceability of its distribution in the company (open rate, click rate, etc.), who could say better? Each department of the company (communication, marketing, human resources, finances, etc.) can use it for its own use, archive the shipments by recipient with "acknowledgments of receipt" (ideal for sensitive social or heritage information) , or even compile its content with those of other departments to produce a common newsletter. Rest assured: you don't have to be a coding expert for all of this! Our back-office has been designed for “user” and offers really simple ergonomics.
And how do you see new media like Time To Sign Off (free newsletter) or Brief Me (paying)?
These are “smart” newsletters, chosen (by targeting) and carrying great added value (by content). This approach is virtuous for a company whose bfactory model is either to market its newsletters and / or its database, or to generate subscriptions. Beyond your examples, thee-mailing finds fields of application in many fields such as commercial animation or customer relations which are not "marketable" fields. Let us all be the promoters of smart mailing getting back to basics: sending the right message, at the right time, to the right person; while being able to collect information that will enrich his profile with his consent in order to improve the personalization of the message and therefore the benefit for the recipient.
The newsletter becomes a select club!
Above all, it is a great tool for communication and building loyalty. The community dimension can develop over time on condition of respecting community codes and having real ethics. At the house of ACTIVECOM, we have been supporting our clients for more than 10 years in their digital marketing projects. Because we are both COM veterans, passionate designers, developers and engineers, we are able to adapt to the specific demands of each advertiser for well-identified targets and precise objectives.
To conclude, what are your expert tips for a perfect newsletter?
My motto : "When it's simple, it works! ". So here are 5 tips to make it happen:
- > Make you want recipients to open your message by working on an enticing subject ...
Stop objects such as "Newsletter n ° 34 of the month of June"; - > Offer a clean graphic in line with your charter and always responsive...
Stop boilerplate templates; - > Call on digital experts for content production and layout ...
Stop au print modeled on digital; - > Beware of MS Word® and its proprietary tags…
Stop copy and paste; - > Segment, target and personalize your message as much as possible (from subject to articles) ...
Stop approaching top-down.
For MY ideal newsletter I would add a dose of videos, a fun GIF, short news and why not an interactive summary towards a webzine ? Everything is possible 😉
