A few days ago I received an email from an airline. Nothing unusual there, as they email me special offers from time to time. However, this particular special offer was a little surprising. They were offering me a flight from Heathrow to Edinburgh to watch the Scotland v England Rugby match. They didn’t explain how I was supposed to get from Aberdeen to Heathrow in order to fly back north! An added incentive was offered – an England rugby shirt. Now, I don’t wish to sound ungrateful, but I don’t know many Scots who would be motivated by the offer of an England top!
To be fair, they did send an second email a few days later apologising for any offence caused. I was more amused than offended at this classic example of blanket mailing without thinking or checking, but presumably some of their other customers were.
It is so simple and so important to segment your database. You can split it in many different ways – geographically is probably the most obvious, particularly for an airline – but you can also segment by products purchased, by lifestyle/interest, by income, by company size, or any other category which is relevant to your business.
Once you have your customers split into groups you can send them tailored messages which will grab their attention more effectively than a standard one-size-fits-all mailing. You can also offer them relevant and genuinely motivating incentives. What’s more, you won’t offend them!