Interactive

While I’m subscribed to the email lists of several members-only sales sites, I have to say I’ve never really gotten into the swing of the concept.

Most of them seemingly offer amazing deals on designer goods, but I’m never quite sure if the “deals” really are deals, since 95% of the time I’ve never bought or priced out anything by any of the high-end brands offered.

So, when I saw the banner ad for Deniath, I was intrigued. This, I thought, might finally be a sale site up my decidedly nerdy alley.

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It’s July, and it’s really, really hot outside.

Yeah, yeah, I know this isn’t exactly a newsflash to anyone. But I feel like someone should tap some of the major restaurant chains on the shoulder and remind them that when it is hot out, people don’t like to cook. And when they don’t want to cook, they want to get takeout, making it the perfect time for email offers for dinner specials and discounts.

My inbox has been starving for such offers. I typically love to cook, but since we don’t have air conditioning at home, I’m loathe to fire up the stove when temps shoot past 85-90 degrees. Luckily, my husband is very skilled in the art of take-out-food-pickuppery (it’s one of the reasons I married him).

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Brands can line up all the tools they want to give themselves an edge in social media. But sometimes the lesson is that no matter how much you spend, you can’t control the end result.

McDonald’s has a very effective Twitter program in place, and they use it to great effect, both to get people talking about their new menu items and campaigns and to add a very personal level of customer care when things go wrong. more

Many folks are looking for beach reading options, so it is no surprise that my inbox this week is full of messages from marketers wanting to be the purveyors of my own personal summer book club.

Barnes & Noble sent a great message highlighting what’s available for the Nook, such as extras for Angry Birds and exclusive “Cars 2″ books. They also offered up a 15% off coupon for one title over the holiday weekend—a nice pitch, but would have been nice to see different titles and creative featured each time it showed up in my inbox.

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Timing isn’t everything in email marketing, but it does count for a heck of a lot. Do your messages hit the right notes, at the right time, or do they make your audience wonder just what you were thinking?

This past week, not surprisingly, my inbox has been filled with missives related to summer and Independence Day.

Kraft, for example, this morning sent an email full of recipes perfect for July 4, such as a strawberry and blueberry topped Wave Your Flag Cake. more

A recent interaction with Clinique.com provided a great first-hand view of the right way to provide integrated customer service, across social media, phone and email.

Now mind you, I don’t wear a lot of make-up but I do have a few favorite brands, Clinique being one of them. And since I am of Scottish descent and this thrifty by nature, I only buy when there’s a free gift. Thus, when I was in need of foundation recently and saw that Clinique.com had a “pick your favorites” free gift offer, where shoppers could choose what went into their gift, I naturally placed an order.

My joy turned to irritation the next morning, when I saw on Facebook that there was now a code for Facebook fans—unavailable the day before—to add two additional items to the gift. I’ve missed out, I thought, grumbling to myself…until I started to scroll through the comments.

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