#86. Crisis Emailing | Podcast

Alissa: 0:18

Welcome to Email Einstein, a podcast by Flowium. It’s time to start honing your inner marketing, Einstein. Tune in for the data driven tips that’ll make you a marketing genius. Here you’ll find email marketing formulas and tips straight from the brilliant mad scientists at Flowium. It’s time for your emails to start earning more money. It’s time to unleash your Einstein.

Vira: 0:41

Hey everyone. We are email marketers at email marketing agency called Flowium and we are very passionate about email marketing. As you can already hear if you’ve been with us for, gosh, 86 episodes. And because we love what we do, we want to share our insights with you. Flowium is one of the fastest growing email marketing agencies in the world. We specialize in providing premium full service e commerce email marketing experience to all of our clients. We deliver the right message to the right person at the right moment. And that’s what we are all about here in Flowium. And today’s episode will be specifically about, like delivering the right message at the right moment. Right? Because today we will be talking about, well, Alissa, tell us more.

Alissa: 1:26

That deliver the right message to the right person at the right moment. That’s really important. And I know some people think that maybe that phrasing is cliche, but we’ll get into that. So today’s episode is just a touch different. We’ll still talk about email marketing, of course, but as many of you know, last week we actually didn’t release an episode for the first time in nearly two years. If you know anything about our team here at Flowium, we are a global team, which means that we are literally plopped in different areas of the world, all over the world. And if you’ve been keeping up with the news lately, you are probably aware of the current situation that’s going on in Ukraine. And we here at Flowium, we actually have quite a few team members who are based in Ukraine. And we also have many team members who aren’t based in Ukraine, but have parents, grandparents and loved ones that are over there. So these last couple of weeks have been really, really difficult for our team. And with that being said, we are dedicating this podcast episode to our team members over in Ukraine. Anna, Vadim, Olena, and Max. And Olena. I call her Lenochka. So if you’re listening to this, Lenochka, hi. We love you guys so much and we are sending you as much love and support as humanly possible during this truly impossible time. Just for those who are listening, thankfully everyone is safe and we have been able to keep in touch with them periodically and actually Anna sent us a message last week just kind of giving us a bit of a breakdown of like how tragic everything that’s going on is. And one of the things that she mentioned was actually the main inspiration for this episode. So she said something along the lines of we are still receiving emails from different stores with sales or some advertising content. In the middle of a war, you sit in your basement and you start to understand the importance of a relevant message. We’re going to be talking about the importance of relevant email marketing, especially in the middle of a crisis. So today’s episode is short and sweet. Vira is one of our team members who has family over in Ukraine, so it’s been particularly a hard time for her too. So today we’re keeping it short and sweet, but we didn’t want to go longer than a week without reaching out to all of you, sending a special message out to our team members in Ukraine and also hopefully sharing a message of email marketing, but also love and support because that’s really important in times like these. So Vira, I’ll let you take it away with the first key key note that people should remember about relevant email marketing.

Vira: 4:02

Yeah, well, segmentation you guys, it all comes down to segmentation. But in this case using the location properties to send emails is crucial. So in like current case you wouldn’t send a buy one, get one free sample email to someone who’s in Eastern Europe. I’ll tell you more. My parents are still very much in Ukraine. They are in the heart of Ukraine where everything is happening. They’re like listening to bombs like daily, nonstop. And yeah, they did receive a few sales email and emails and that’s bizarre considering we don’t even have delivery services in Ukraine, if that matters. You know what I mean? It’s like right now everything has been shut down. So A, it’s insensitive, but B, your email will not convert. Sorry. It will not. It affect your metrics, it affect your, it will affect your bottom line. So don’t even bother. I’ll, I’ll tell you more. Obviously everyone has been like affected at some level in the world, but people in like Eastern Europe, like Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, like, like that countries, even like Germany, Austria, those guys, they’ affected the most like informationally, emotionally, they are dealing a lot, like economically. So just like don’t bother sending the email to them. Maybe you can send something else. That’s a good idea. But not a promotional email, that’s for sure. And funny, my mom mentioned. I just, I love these people. They are like in the time of crisis, but they still come up with this like funny memes and this like funny jokes and stuff. And yesterday. And the funny part, it’s not even joke, Mom. My mom like went to some like sort of like news website or something and she said there was like a horoscope on of it. Like Libra, this is your. This is a good day for you to start something new. And I’m like this Ukrainians, you just can break them horoscope. Like really? Yeah. So don’t be like that news website. I mean you can, but just as long as you’re not sending sales emails. If you can somehow help Ukraine in that situation, maybe you can help those people. That’s a different story. But not no sales, you guys. No, don’t, don’t, don’t even.

Alissa: 6:26

They’re not really interested in the buy one, get one free lipstick right now. And if you use a platform like Klaviyo, for example, you can use a country code as well to help kind of segment based on. Based on parts of the world that someone lives in. So what you can do is you can send out to your usual group of people, your usual list, and then just make sure that you add an exclusion in there that avoids anyone who is located or has a property of the country code that belongs to Ukraine, Poland, the countries that Vira mentioned. That’s definitely a helpful thing to do again because those emails just simply won’t convert at this time. So number two is to help people manage their preferences. And this was something that I felt like I would have definitely appreciated. So last week when we heard the news and we understood kind of the level of impact that the current situation had on our team, I was getting all of these emails from these brands and I was like, gosh, you know, like, today is just not the day. Tomorrow’s probably not going to be a day that I want to hear about any of this. So I just need a break from you guys. I don’t want to unsubscribe. Totally. I just needed a break. So if I had received campaigns from different brands that said, like, hey, we know that the current situation is tough. Feel free to manage your preferences. You can snooze your emails for the next 30 days. I think I would have taken everything a little bit easier in terms of what I received in my inbox. I actually got a really nice email from a maternity brand called Kindred bravely where they started it off and they said, hey, you’re probably pretty stressed with everything that’s going on. A lot of people are panicking with everything that’s happening. So if you just need to take a little break, feel free to just close out this email. So they didn’t necessarily give me the option to manage my preferences, but the messaging just felt a little kinder given the state of things. Um, we’ve had a. We’ve talked about in previous episodes the importance of a preference page. So this is something. Once you create or host a preference page where people can either hear from you once a month, hear from you once a week, snooze all emails for 30 days, or just unsubscribe altogether, we provide those options of frequency within the preference page. So that’s something that we would definitely recommend doing. And if you haven’t created a preference page, make sure you check out our podcast episode. We’ll have it linked below for you to actually listen to more information about a preference page. But what I would recommend doing in the context of everything that’s going on is you would send out an email that just says, hey, things are probably pretty tough right now. If you’d like to not hear about what we have going on as a business in terms of sales, promotions, product launches, just general content, feel free to go ahead and snooze your emails for the next 30 days. We’ll touch base with you again in 30 days, see where you’re at. And if we need to continue or prolong the snooze, that’s totally fine. Because ultimately what we’re talking about here, and if you’re an E commerce business owner, it’s important for you to understand this. We’re not saying that people need to stop normal activities and stop business. That’s not the purpose here. You know, like, sadly, there are parts of the world that are affected or impacted really horribly, but the rest of the world still has to continue on to a degree, you know, so we’re not saying to stop business, but just be a little more mindful of the audience that you’re reaching and give people the opportunity to determine whether or not they want to hear from you in the way that you need to continue communicating with your customers. So, yes, you have promotions going on. There’s a lot of spring stuff happening because now we’re in March, people are getting excited for the new season. And that’s fine. That can all continue. But just be mindful of what’s going on and let people know, like, hey, you have the option to opt out for some time. And then when you’re ready, you can come back and we can resume business as normal, you know, so that’s definitely something that’s important that I wish more brands were kind of taking advantage of because it’s a very simple email to put into place and it doesn’t take a lot, but it go. It speaks volumes to your brand and who the people are behind your brand. So that’s definitely something that we would encourage to do as well, is just encourage people or let people or give people the opportunity to manage their preferences, especially when things are going on like this.

Vira: 10:41

Yeah. And like connecting with empathy is like, now it’s more important than ever. Listen, this episode is not about like Ukraine, Russia, war, right? It’s about general, like crisis emailing this year or over the past two years. I must say, it feels like the world has been throwing like so many unprecedented events in the last couple of years at us. Right. First it was like pandemic, then pandemic part two, three, for, I don’t know, then the wars. And like a lot has been happening over the last few, few years. So just try connecting with empathy because empathy really matters when you get down to the nitty gritty, right? And this kind of stuff really makes us all, like, reconsider and reevaluate our priorities in life. And the biggest priority, like for me personally, is that people matter the most. And sometimes it requires higher than normal levels of empathy. And that’s where business can really show who they are. Right. So maybe you can change the wording a bit. Like the way you talk to your customers, maybe you can show your more empathetic side to your customer. I mean, we know that marketing is important, right? But maybe you can talk as a human, just like to put that like, human feeling into your emails for a bit. So instead of like sending another email, sending like another sale, or like pushing another product, just like check with your customers, even like a plain text email on behalf of your CEO. Something like asking you how you’re doing or like doing a pulse check. Sometimes that’s all you need. Not just in time of like this crisis, but unfortunately or fortunately, it is what it is. We will have those like, types of crisis in the future. So this little pulse check emails, there, they are nice, they’re good. They remind us all that we are all humans. Maybe you can even like create initiative that support a cause or like that supports those who are struggling. You can do something like buy one, get one free, and the, and the parts from the sales will go to like, ABC organization or maybe you can like, support like Red Cross or like medical supplies being shipped to Ukraine or something like that. In hard times, like being business owner and wanting to make money, it’s important despite everyone wants to essentially, like, do that. It’s important to show others that you care and not just show, you know, it’s. It’s important to. It’s important to care because as. As cliche as it sounds, we’re all in this together, you guys. So in hard times, it’s like your chance to show who you are and who your business are is. And it’s. It’s your chance to connect with empathy with. With your customers and like to build that relationship, nurture that relationship with your customer even further.

Alissa: 14:07

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, for sure. Being empathetic is very, very, very important. It’s an important trait, definitely. So this last point, this is actually an example of a really good email that we wanted to share. And this kind of feeds off of Vira’s point about connecting with empathy. So this email is actually from the brand. Really good emails. If you haven’t subscribed to them, they’re amazing. It’s four super cool guys. It’s Matt, Matt, Matthew and Mike.

Vira: 14:43

Matthew.

Alissa: 14:44

Yeah, Matt, Matt, Matthew and Mike. And therefore really, really awesome dudes who started a brand called really Good Emails, where they basically take really good emails and showcase them. And it’s actually something that we use a lot for our clients. And in terms of like, new clients who come in, we ask them to kind of pick out some really good emails that they like from their website. And it’s. It’s just a very resourceful brand to be subscribed to and see what they’re up to and see what they’re doing. So make sure that you do subscribe when you get a chance. Really good emails.com, we’ll add the link in the description as well. But every Friday they do a weekly roundup or feel good Friday, so they’ll do a YouTube video where they kind of review some cool. Some really good emails. But they also send out usually an email that just kind of rounds up the week and shows you, like, a cool gift, some awesome info. They’ll do like some. Some funny copy. Their copies, excellent. But last Friday they did something a little bit different. And I got their email Friday morning and it really touched me. So we wanted to share it with you guys because we thought it was very fitting and their message was great. So we wanted to share it with all of you. So this is the email I’m going to read it directly so it says, hey, friends, this is Matthew the nerd who started really good emails. There have been a few times over the last few years that I’ve just put a kibosh on the normal stuff we send and just tried to connect as a human being instead. This is one of those times. I’m curious how you’re feeling today. Most of us still have to work. We still have to show up for relationships and life, but maybe you’re feeling the stresses of our world going from pandemic into maybe war. Certainly if you’re Ukrainian, you’re feeling it acutely today. Take a moment, put your hand on your heart with me. Seriously, do it. It’s good for your nervous system. And take three big breaths. Breathe in. I can love myself today. Breathe out. I am willing to forgive myself today. Even just for something small. Breathe in. I can love my neighbor today. Breathe out. I am willing to forgive my neighbor today. Just being willing can be enough. Breathe in. I am sending love to oppressed people today. Breathe out. I will try to do one thing today to support someone who’s suffering in this way. Breathing doesn’t save anyone from invasion, but it might bring a little more peace to a tumultuous world one person at a time. Is this email about marketing? Nope. Is this email about how to send a better email? Nope. Is this email what you subscribe to really good emails for? Probably not. Is this what we believe is right to do? Yep. Ukraine and everywhere else that’s being unjustly invaded today we are for you. Please, my friends, be really good. Yours, Matthew. And yeah, I got, I got the email and I was really emotional about it because, yeah, I know them. Well, I don’t know them know them. I wish I knew them knew them. But I went to their conference end of January and I got to know these guys and it was just cool to see them bringing even more of like the human element into an email that goes out to hundreds of thousands of people every week. So it was just great to see someone use their platform in a way that is just to be a human and be empathetic and kind to other people. So whenever you get a chance in any or in all of your emails, make sure that you take advantage of the platform that you have and reach out to people in a way that’s human because that’s so important. And yes, this isn’t necessarily about how to make money, but you will, you will create a base of loyal customers who love your brand and are willing to do whatever you need them to do because you’ve shown the human element of your brand and you’ve also shown that you have empathy and you care about others and you care about what’s going on in this world. So make sure that you do that whenever you get a chance. And yeah, that’s our, that’s our podcast episode today about emailing in a crisis or crisis emailing. So thank you guys for listening.

Vira: 19:06

No, thank you for sharing that last email. I loved it. I loved it, Alissa. I haven’t seen it myself. I haven’t seen any emails in like a week except for my work once. Seriously. And that’s probably how like most people are in Eastern Europe. So don’t even like bother sending like a lot of salesy email in that time just because people won’t even like open them. Right? Yeah. But yeah, we’re getting back to our normal programming as much as possible. Right? So don’t forget to subscribe, don’t forget to share this podcast with your friends. And if you want to get involved in the community of email marketers, e commerce entrepreneurs and email marketing nerds, let’s be honest. Join us at flowium.com/community.

Alissa: 19:57

Yeah. Love it. We are trying as best as we can to get back to our normal programming. So next week we’ll be talking about the five best SMS marketing platforms and we’ll be comparing them to each other and hopefully we’ll come to a winner of who is the actual best. So make sure that you stay tuned and yeah, thank you guys for listening and hope you guys have a great day.

Vira: 20:18

Thank you for listening.

Alissa: 20:19

Yeah.

Vira: 20:19

See you next week.

Alissa: 20:20

Bye.