FTD = How Not to Do Email Marketing
I’m always hesitant to criticize brands as an agency guy. Who knows if it will cost me a pitch someday? (I’ve had a scathing yet thoughtful review of M&T Bank in my draft folder for about six months that may never see the light of day.)
But a big part of me knows that good marketers monitor social media and welcome customer comments that might help them improve. So here goes…
Dear FTD flowers,
Stop emailing me daily and make it easy to opt out.
Just because I bought flowers on Mother’s Day doesn’t mean I want flowers constantly. You can’t possibly provide value to my life every day — you’re not Groupon.
Ironically, I bought from you because of Groupon…or maybe it was Living Social. Not to digress, but Groupon really won that naming contest. Imagine if some paper company launched “Living Snot-free” after Kimberley Clark created Kleenex? To me, Living Social will always be selling Groupons.
Back to FTD…your opt-out process is borderline illegal. Why should I remember yet another username and password just to change my preferences to “leave me alone”? You have my email address. I want it back in one click. You’ll save money and your metrics will look better.
Plus you’ll get fewer people blogging or tweeting something negative to their friends, family and colleagues.
Having said that, thank you for making my mom’s day. The flowers were lovely.
Sincerely,
Eric
