Amazon.com doesn’t market themselves on TV and they don’t spend much on mailers. They are an online company. That doesn’t quite state the magnitude of their business though, because when the #1 online retailer speaks we should all listen. Anyone who’s shopped on their site knows that they do an excellent job of remembering who you are and suggesting products that you might be interested in. But their algorithms don’t stop there, Amazon.com reaches out to you with specifically tailored emails that might peak your interest. Let’s take a look at how this web-retailer keeps you coming back with emails:

Sender
It may seem intuitive but Amazon.com always uses their company name in the “From” field. Every single time the “Sender” column reads “Amazon.com”.

Subject lines
The most important part of any email is its subject line. You have to grab the attention of your customer immediately or they won’t bother clicking to read further. Amazon.com utilizes three marketing techniques to reach out to their different customers in an attempt to get them back to the online store shopping.

Amazon.com’s most popular subject line pops with how much you could save and where so that if you read no further you immediately understand the point of the email. Take a look at the subject line most often used by Amazon.com:

“Save 34% at Amazon.com on [title of book]“

They actually use the number 34% quite a bit, which probably has more to do with their pricing than any direct correlation to a consumer’s price-point of interest. The implication of value is a tried-and-true marketing technique that Amazon.com uses quite a bit. Another variation that is commonly used is reversing the order and starting with the company name:

“Amazon.com: [value proposition]“

Using a similar format but different technique is the subject line for newly released products:

“Now available: [product name] by [product manufacturer]“

Value isn’t the important message trying to be delivered here, rather a sense of urgency. Consumers like having stuff right when it comes out and would pay a little extra to make that happen. There’s a sense of setting a trend if you are the first to purchase. A similar method is used before a product is available:

“Pre-order Your Copy of [product name] by [deadline to order]“

A third, and much less frequently used, technique is the “expert” approach. Perhaps you have a few dollars burning a hole in your wallet and aren’t sure what to spend it on. With so many products it makes sense that Amazon.com would know more about what they have so trust their advice when they say:

“Amazon.com recommends [product name] and more”

Content
Intuitive subject lines seamlessly translate into clear messages within the emails. Most of their headlines match the subject lines, which trickles down to the content. There’s nothing ground-breaking there. What stands out the most, and is what helps Amazon.com stand out from other companies, is that they offer you more products in case the first doesn’t interest you. It’s their way of saying, “I grabbed your attention but it wasn’t what you wanted. Have you considered one of these other things”. If the initial and secondary offers don’t interest you they back off and wait until the next email. Too much can seem pushy.

Most of the time they greet you with “Dear Amazon.com Customer” which is a telling of the professional attitude they take in every point of contact with their customers.

Formatting
Varying between 600 and 650 pixels wide, Amazon.com always starts the email with their logo in the upper left corner. Most of the time there is a one pixel border around everything but makes exceptions. They use Verdana 12 point font for their body copy and reduce it down to 10 point for their legal text at the end. Links are always blue (#003399) and underlined and the emails always include some form of the Amazon.com website navigation at the top. In other words, their emails are mini versions of their website.

Email Statistics
Amazon.com sent 87 marketing emails over a period of 260 days, just about one email every three days. Although the largest file size was 93k and the lowest 8k their average was 35k with nearly 60% being under the average. Most months Amazon.com sends between 8-10 emails but, not surprisingly, increases that during December to 15 emails.

For a company that made just under $15 billion in 2007 and has a market cap just shy of $30 billion it’s safe to assume that they are doing some things right. There might be better solutions out there but perhaps you should take a look at how you run your email program to see if there are ways to improve or ideas to polish.

Not bad for a company that doesn’t run any ads on TV.

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After the blundering of Exec’s at Yahoo! it’s harder and harder to look at the company with promise.  They couldn’t get a deal done with Facebook – open raw egg – they are left in the dust by a company they helped get started (Google was used as their search provider) – pull arm back – and Microsoft bids to take over the company – thrust unformed chicken goo at face.  It’s especially embarrassing when Yahoo!’s CEO Yang comes with out with the proclamation that they are undervalued because the acquisition of Yahoo! would add significant value to Microsoft.  Ummm, yeah… that’s why they want to buy you.  Is there another reason to spend billions?

So where does Yahoo! go now?  Are they really going to fall so fast that they will quickly become a trivia question answered by Alex Trebek?  Google seems like the clear leader in “Search” and I don’t think it would be fair to compare it to Yahoo! because that’s not really what they do anymore.  They aren’t really a great starting point to find information.  I think they excel in providing information.  Instead of categorizing them as “Search” or a “Portal” I think it would be best to describe them as “Media”. So if Google is a phone book then I’d say Yahoo! is a magazine.  If you have a purpose and want to find something begin with a phone book.  If you have nothing to do and would like to have interesting information brought to you then pick up a magazine.

Yahoo! and Google just aren’t comparable and I believe that Google will continue to grow more than Yahoo! Nevertheless, there is certainly a demand for an Internet-Media site and Yahoo! is probably the best out there right now.

Google is probably more comparable to Microsoft because it acts more like an online operating system for its users. It’s an interface that makes it easier for users to do what they want.  That’s why, if the leaders of Yahoo! weren’t so biased against Microsoft, the deal between Yahoo! and Microsoft makes sense.  Society is always looking to be entertained, which is why Yahoo! is such a good idea.  So, Yang, wipe that egg off your face and get a deal done that will help keep Yahoo! the premier media site online for a long time to come.

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