The Los Angeles Times Interviews AIS Media on Opt-in and Opt-out Email Strategies for the Travel Industry

June 5, 2010

The LA Times turns to AIS Media CEO, Thomas Harpointner, to discuss the legalities behind opt-in and opt-out emails in the travel industry. His comments included in excerpt below:

“Marketers need to recognize that sending emails to customers without their express permission is simply not a good practice,” said Thomas Harpointner. “They run the risk of damaging customers’ trust and confidence in their brand, which can be extremely costly to repair.”

Key Points Covered During Interview:

• Increasing Email Conversions: Marketers will see higher conversion rates when email offers are sent to customers who’ve requested them by taking a specific action, instead of an inaction. For example, when a customer places an online order and the option to subscribe to also the company’s email newsletter is pre-selected for them, more customers may subscribe to the email newsletter simply because they may not have noticed the option. This can grow the email list faster but when customers begin receiving emails they did not expect, complaints and unsubscribes can substantially increase.
• Maintain Customer Confidence: A consumer must feel confident in your brand or else they will forgo it. Attempting to trick customers into signing up may can raise customer skepticism and cause serious damage to the company’s brand reputation.
• Focus on Lifetime Value of the Customer Relationship: What is the full lifetime value of a loyal, long-term customer? Additionally, how many other customers can one satisfied customer refer? How many can they refer? Obtaining repeat business from an existing satisfied customer is often much less expensive than acquiring a new customer. Therefore, marketers should carefully consider the potential negative impact of any tactic used for short-term gains — email marketing in particular.

Click here to read the full article: On the Spot: Opting out of ‘travel protection’ with Travelocity