Bottom Of The Barrel

When is too often, too often?

We all get marketing emails from companies we like doing business with offers and reminders and promotions and everything else they want you to know about. The questions is when is too many email offerings too many? I like getting my photo's [and photo related products] printed online by Kodak Gallery [formerly known as ofoto.com]. They produce excellent prints at reasonable prices and they offer other products like calenders, photo books, mugs, mouse pads, puzzles and just about anything else you can imagine printing a photo on.

Recently I have begun to notice many more emails being sent as part of their normal business. They used to email me about every 30 to 45 days with their offer of the month sort of thing. Over the summer they ramped up their messaging to a few times a week with photography articles, tips and contests. Now they are back to dropping just email specials in my inbox but instead of monthly, it is now 2, 3 or 4 times a week - with different offers. I know the Christmas season is coming [and don't get me started on the fact I saw Christmas decorations at a local store in early October] and cards and gifts are probably a big part of their year round business, but do they really have to send me so many emails?

I have begun to ignore them, which is most likely the complete opposite reaction they are expecting from a loyal customer. Maybe they could just have a specials page online, which I can review when I log in. Or maybe they could have a single weekly email with all of their current offers? If more companies head toward this type of emarketing, our inboxes will begin to swell and their messages will be lost in a sea of emails or even worse, a empty waste land known as the deleted items folder.

posted by TheWino @ 11:17 AM