With all due respect to Spam the product, Spam the marketing technique of sending emails with insufficient consideration of the recipient, is not well-received. I have received many email messages from wine retailers that are a variation of:
“Exciting news! We have just received a limited supply Wine ABC. We believe you will like it! Drop by and buy it before it is all gone!”
On what basis do they think I will like it? Just because they have it? I have bought wine at the sender’s store, but they have not analyzed my purchases to see if the wines I purchased have similar taste characteristics? Nor have they determined that the wine they are suggesting to me has those taste characteristics? They have simply sent the identical email to everyone on their list.
Imagine if Amazon sent an identical email to all its customers saying “We have just received a limited supply of The Principals of Cloud Computing (replace with any book title), and we recommend it to you.” The book will appeal to some, but not most. Amazon would not consider recommending a book to you with no knowledge of what you like to read. Rather, they make recommendations that are based on your past purchase history.
Here’s the good news: Wine retailers can do the same thing. Technology exists to track the taste characteristics of every wine in your store. If you are tracking your wine club members’ purchases, you can determine common taste characteristics in their purchase patterns. You can determine which wines in your store they are likely to enjoy – based on their specific tastes. When you send emails then, you can personalize each one to each customer. It sounds like a lot of work, but with current technology, it is not really.
Imagine how much more effective the following email could be:
“Mr. Jones, we have just received a limited supply of Tikal Patriota, a Malbec/Bonarda blend from Argentina. It is full-bodied and dry and features tastes of red berries and crème brulee. Drop by and take a look.”
If Mr. Jones’ purchase history shows that he tends to buy full-bodied, dry wine with tastes of red berries, the email will be powerful. If the same email were sent to Ms. Smith, who tends to buy light, off-dry whites with tastes of citrus, the email would be useless. Of course, you would have a different email for her.
Here’s more good news: wine buyers like receiving recommendations. Store after store tell me how effective email marketing is. As customers are now receiving more emails from wine stores, the intelligent emails or online recommendations will be the ones generating walk-ins, clicks-ons and purchases.