Guest comment: Priority inboxes should be our priority

Simon Robinson, marketing and alliances director, Responsys, explains why priority inboxes are good news for marketing.

The news that Gmail will launch a priority inbox service to auto-filter emails based on importance, may strike fear into the hearts of some marketers. But I would argue that it’s a move that the industry should welcome.
Priority inboxes will reward companies already executing relevant and engaging email campaigns, and its great news for customers who will be relieved of information that is not relevant to them. Ultimately it’s helping marketers to become more targeted, and has the potential to improve the reputation of direct mail.
Gmail is not the only email service offering customers this functionality; Hotmail is also adding a greater level of intelligence to its existing solution. Both priority inbox services will determine the deliverability of emails based on past online customer behaviours, helping to make them more ‘intelligent’. As email continues to be the killer outbound channel of choice for most companies, and inbox sizes continue to grow, I expect to see more email providers follow suit.
Below are some top tips for marketers looking to stay out of the spam box:
1. Set up preference centres – encourage customers to share their preferences including email frequency, favourite products and the channel they engage with such as social and mobile. Preferences should inform campaigns by offering customers content that is relevant to their individual needs and tastes.
2. Develop customer segmented strategies – group customers into segments according to preferences, and develop marketing strategies for each group to keep campaigns relevant.
3. Test and learn – test priority inboxes to see which emails get through to the customer, and adapt strategies accordingly to boost success rates.
4. Disengaged groups – understand why disengaged groups start interacting differently and find out what you need to get them back into the fold.
Priority inboxes present a unique opportunity for marketers to up the ante, gain a competitive edge and be rewarded for best practice. But the changes are not going to exclusively control the emails customers see, and we don’t yet know what will be considered as “priority” thresholds.
What we do know is that it’s more important than ever to get to know prospects and customers by recording their preferences to boost campaign success rates.
By Simon Robinson
Marketing and alliances director
Responsys
www.Responsys.com